How it went down...
2 weekends ago, my parents were across town all day on Sunday, so they asked us to check in on their pets. I decided to take that opportunity, in the open space of their living room (with access to a laundry and dryer unit), to Once and for All tackle my absurdly large clothing collection... boy was THAT an undertaking. My husband was dutifully on board and helped me to load up our Trailblazer (TWICE) with boxes and bags of clothing, towels and bedsheets.
Admittedly some of this collection was his wardrobe, and while we BOTH need to pare back, I'm willing to admit that my half was more like 75%... and with a two-person household, filling a hatch-back SUV twice is really just Too Much Stuff.
The Wardrobe Project:
Items collected:
First car-load (From our spare bedroom, ALL mine, other than what accidentally was mixed in of my husband's):
12 boxes4 bags
Second car-load (collected from our bedroom & small scatterings around the house):
4 hamper baskets
2 extra-large laundry bag
6 garbage/large shopping bags
Various little bags of items from around the house
This is a photo from the second trip (not as full as the first):
This is what was in our car to start...
When we spread things out in the living room, you could see just how MUCH we were dealing with:
How the room normally looks...
I immediately threw some towels in the wash and got to sorting. We put towels, sheets, kitchen towels, pet stuff in a pile just inside the kitchen. Next I began to sort through my clothing - one box/bag at a time.
In the past I have sorted by color: I would wash separate loads till everything was done, then sort through what I was going to keep or donate. Since everything was clean I could box it up or put it away. Not this time. I didn't want to wash EVERYTHING, I just wanted to sort and wash what would be needed. I could always wash donation stuff or seasonal clothing as I had time, adding an extra load or two throughout the week...
When sorting my clothing, I have always put clothing into categories: Pants/Bottoms, Dresses, Short-Sleeve Tops, Long-Sleeve Tops, Tanks, Over-wear, Workout and Swim... etc. But this time I wanted to try something different: I started sorting by Season. For some items this was obvious; a Christmas sweater, a pair of shorts - for other items it became a game of "when would I most likely wear this color?" Since a light-weight long-sleeved top can be worn most times of year.
After 7 hours of sorting and washing (which doesn't include loading up, cleaning up, or drive time between houses) I managed to sort through about half of my clothing. I was able to pack up three solid boxes of washed donation items - with a few things from my husband, and several items my mother had given me just over a year ago. I had held on to her stuff because it was name-brand and in good condition. I had planned to sell some on a resale app, but after a year of storage at our home, it just wasn't worth it anymore.
We managed to throw out One Bag of torn, tattered, junky clothes and packed everything up. Then we fit everything back into the car... in one giant puzzle-stacked car-load... except the donation boxes, which had to be stored in a spare bedroom of my parents house to be picked up later. And after a loooong day of sorting and washing, we ended up with just a few sets of sheets, some towels, and a couple loads of laundry completed for the week. And a FULL vehicle of boxes and bags we didn't want to pile back into our house.
~ ~ ~ PART II ~ ~ ~
What I learned...
I cannot take on large projects in one day, or in a weekend, without being overwhelmed. Much like studying for a college exam, I need to break things down into manageable sizes. I can't pull an all-nighter and come out the other side with a manageable solution. After YEARS of over-purchasing and over-collecting, clothing - without effectively utilizing them in my wardrobe - I thought I would Nike up and "just do it". Wrong.
For those of you that already have a capsule wardrobe (or at least don't own half the crap that I do), this may not even register for you... But I literally have boxes of clothing that I have been storing in our "spare room" because my bedroom floor was getting so congested with all of the dirty laundry... when my husband packed up all of the boxes and bags from the extra room, and everything that was on the floor and in laundry hampers from our bedroom, we were able to fill our Trailblazer TWICE over! With a few extra things tucked in among our clothing, mainly returnable bottles, it was at least 1½ car loads.
Where things are now...
Honestly, they're not that much further along. I will be three weeks on Sunday from our initial sorting, and I haven't been able to tackle things enough to say that I am finished or even satisfied with my wardrobe breakdown. I still have some boxes in the car, my clothing next to the bed is overflowing in my "seasonal sorting boxes" and laundry is still piling up with no clear place to go, since my hampers are full of clothing to wash, and my clean clothing doesn't all have a home to go to, the clothing falls to the floor. Every few days we clean up a bit, wash some more laundry, change our bed sheets... but this is just the pattern of survival that we've fallen into. It's not resolved.
A Plan for going forward:
If you read my previous post on July 1st, you may recall that I mentioned having an interest in trying the Project 333 for my wardrobe; trading in my big closet for 33 items that I would wear for 3 months. That is STILL the goal, with a slight twist:
Step One:
I am planning to go through my wardrobe and decide on my Core Items.
These are the items that don't really change season by season - it might include a pair of black leggings, a pair of jeans, a solid t-shirt, etc. I expect this to be somewhere between 20 and 25 items.
Step Two:
I am going to pick out my seasonal embellishments.
These are the items I will trade in and out seasonally to adjust to the changing temperatures, refresh my wardrobe, and give myself new options of self-expression. I'm expecting these items to be somewhere between 15 and 20 items.
Step Three:
I will box everything up.
Anything out of season is put away, and items that didn't make the cut will be donated. I have held on to SO MANY things for so long, it's really time to draw the line on what I'm willing to let take up space in my home.
Modifications:
Something that I would personally like to try is the concept of a Project 445 - literally just the same idea with different numbers - I would like to pick out 45 wardrobe items to wear over the course of 4 months, rather than changing every 3 months.
My wardrobe changes would follow this outline:
June-September: Warm-weather/Summer ClothingOctober-January: Colder Styles / Holiday ClothingFebruary-May: Cool-weather/Spring Clothing Lighter
I have NO idea if this will actually work, but I'd like to try it. My reasoning for this is simply based on where I live and how the seasons tend change. Also when I tend to change my clothing style in the season. I also really like the idea of only having 3 rotations, and therefor only 2 boxes of storage at any given time.
A Different Approach:
The main difference in my approach to projects going forward is this: Breaking everything down into smaller parts, with daily tasks, and having a goal date for completion. I have a whole house to declutter, so I can't get caught up on one thing forever. And I can't waste a whole day or weekend on just one thing. So here's what I plan to do for clothing for the next week:
1) Daily Sorting - 30mins
2) Focus Tasks (in order):
~ Sort thru Socks, Undergarments & Tank Tops (I have an entire hamper of JUST these items)
~ Create "Core Wardrobe" 20-25 pieces
~ Pick out Summer Items (current season)
~ Pick out Autumn/Winter Items
~ Pick out Winter/Spring Items
~ Create Storage System for Clothing
I may not complete ALL of these items this week, but I expect to be at least half-finished by next weekend. Expect an update (with photos) on how things are going!
*** *** *** *** ***
What do you think of my wardrobe process? Is this a problem area for you?
What method(s) have you tried? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment