Organizing at its finest. Dual purpose closet.
In my home, sardines couldn’t be closer. No matter how tightly you jam the hangers together, there’s only so much a closet can hold. My greedy self has just spilled over to the closet in the office space and that’s plain silly. My sweet husband worked patiently to divide it in half, providing five roomy shelves for supplies on the left and space for his wife’s clothes on the right. All the while being happy as a cluck with the half closet he’s been “allotted” in the bedroom.
◊ Disclaimer: Whereas it’s still mainly women who have clothing “issues”, men do have their own accumulations to sort through. Toys? Tools? Anything with a motor, for instance.
The realization that I had to commandeer this office space spurred my latest surge of de-cluttering. And it’s surprising how ruthless I turned out to be. As a dedicated treasure hunter, aka thrift store fanatic, I’ve accumulated a lot over the years. But the truth is, freeing myself of stuff I no longer have a use for is starting to border on obsession. If my husband wants something to stay, he better nail it down because decisions are getting a bit TOO easy now that I’m on a roll. The word “rampage” come to mind!
De-cluttering: Purging Possessions Keeps a Home Meaningful
The caution to this growing obsession is that I see “clutter” everywhere. When I’m having coffee with friends in their living room, I’m often thinking, “Does someone actually sit in that uncomfortable chair over there?” Then, because simplicity is my thing — also I can’t help myself — out loud I might say a more tactful “Does that chair get used?” Because my home is very small, a lovely imaginary blank space appears whenever I look at the furniture. If it isn’t useful or something that’s meaningful, it’s begging to get the boot.
I’ve become especially ruthless in the clothing department and now drop questionable clothes into the “green box” instead of hanging them back in the closet.
My rules for wearables:
♣ If it constantly needs pulling down or adjusting for comfort – out
♣ If I can’t raise my arms comfortably into spin position for Salsa. (Dancing demands that body parts move freely!) – out
♣ Armpit health. If I bought it because of the color and ignored the fit (often), I get what I deserve. Gripping armpits – out
♣ If it won’t stay tucked – out
♣ Color. If it now makes me look like I just died (gray) – out
If I obey all my own rules, I’m hoping to end up with a manageable, functional, gorgeous wardrobe. One can dream.
Today I made the thrift store happy!
Purging is definitely on my mind, so here’s a little tally of my latest pile of donations: 23 DVD’s because we now stream movies from Netflix, 5 tee shirts, 4 Halloween masks, 3 kitchen gadgets used once because they were a pain in the butt to wash and to store, 2 turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree.
Then there’s that bra that never felt quite right. Nothing’s safe around here anymore!
What I weeded out this week:
Physical clutter. The upside to weeding out the closet is that fewer choices means fewer decisions need to be made. How I love simplicity.