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| My Closet: Before and After |
How It All Started
On Monday, July 20th, a friend at work mentioned a book to me: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. Little did she know, she was planting a seed that would change my perspective (and my apartment) in a way that I couldn't have imagined before.I downloaded both the Kindle and Audible (Whispersync) versions for less than $11 total and I finished the book in two days. You see, I'm very busy during the school year, working full time and taking classes, and I wanted to start this next school year on the right foot: clutter-free! This book helped me wrap my brain around a new way of thinking when it comes to de-cluttering your life. Essentially, ask yourself whether each item brings you joy. If it doesn't, discard it. It's okay to let go. Surround yourself with the things you love.
Part 1 of The Tidying Project
On Sunday, July 26th, my boyfriend and I pulled all of our clothes from every closet, drawer, and storage bin in the apartment and put them on the living/dining room floors. We arranged them (in our own respective piles) by category: tops, bottoms, dresses, coats, socks, belts, ties, etc. We held each article of clothing in our hands and made the decision whether to keep or discard, while, for the most part, following Marie Kondo's guidelines. Each discard item was tossed into the far corner of the room to be folded for donation later. The pile grew rather quickly.We also evaluated our shoes and discarded a few pairs each. Then we pulled out all of our bags (handbags, duffle bags, tote bags, etc.) and consolidated. They now all fit in the one big plastic tub in the hall closet!
My closet before tidying:
No More Naked Lady Parties
For the past couple of years, my downfall in acquisition of clothing has been through "Naked Lady" parties (or clothing swap parties), where all the invited ladies go through their closets beforehand and bring the clothes they no longer want to the party. All the clothes are put into a big pile in the middle of the room and then the ladies pick out items they want to keep for themselves (often trying them on along the way - hence the [nearly] naked part).I would often have a pile of Naked Lady Party clothes to add to my closet afterwards to replace what I had gotten rid of, and, often, those would be the 'better' items from the pile, but not necessarily what is the best for my body type or style. Most of the time, I would wear a Naked Lady Party item only once or twice and then never again because it was either flawed in some way, or it didn't make me feel my best when I wore it. The result was a full closet and a lot of guilt over feeling like I needed to keep these items because they're not terrible and I might wear them someday.
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| My discard clothing items, folded for donation |
More Space - Everywhere!
Since so many items are out of my closet, there is no longer a need for a large bin at the bottom for winter clothes. Two of the storage bins at the top of the closet are now open to store the things I actually need to be more readily available than buried in a tub at the bottom of the closet. I can see the floor and all the way to the back!New Mindset
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| All discarded coats, shoes, bags, and clothing ready for donation (from both of us) |
Thank you, Marie Kondo, for writing this book and for inspiring me to take a giant step in accomplishing my goal for the summer. And thank you to my friend at work who told me about the book in the first place. :)
