Coming Clean II

Today, I tackled the closet.  Just to put things into perspective, my closet was so crammed with clothes that I was not wearing, that most of the stuff got wrinkled just from being pressed up against the other clothes!  And good luck fitting everything in there.  Oftentimes, you'd find my shirts and pants hanging over the backs of chairs because there was just too much stuff and not enough space.  Well, not anymore.  I got rid of 25 shirts, and I have a few more that are in the "consideration" pile.  Now, Kondo does not suggest using a consideration pile, but I'm not quite ready to commit to just tossing or keeping...at least, not just yet.  What I've decided to do is put the items that are up for consideration back into the closet, and once I go through all my clothes, I'll do one more sweep and see how I feel about them at that point.

It was hard to get rid of a few things.  Mostly, because I really liked the item, but A.) It doesn't fit, or B.) It's out of style.  But, I'm feeling pretty good right now, even after a few of my old favorites went to the donation pile.  Kondo points out that this is okay.  The memories you had of this outfit will still be there, and what is the point of keeping a shirt you'll never wear again?

I'll be honest, I've never liked cleaning, but I'm feeling pretty exhilarated about this whole process!  It's exciting, and I like seeing the drastic change.  My usual procedure is to get rid of one or two things at a time, pause, wipe the sweat from my forehead, and think "Well, that was a job well done!" and then go back to my cluttered little life.  This was a lot more involved, but I feel much better about it.  Plus, I was able to find some old t-shirts that would make great pajama tops, and I can discard the pajama tops that I'm currently using.  It's a win-win :)

Next, I'll be tackling the miscellaneous clothing left on the backs of chairs and stacked in piles when I didn't have room in the closet.  After that, the dresser, and then I move on to my books.  I'll keep you posted!

Until next time :)

 

Coming Clean

My living space is something of a mess.  Now, I wouldn't call myself a slob, per se, but I tend to be messy.  This is mostly because I'm something of a clutter-bug.  I stock up a ton of stuff, and just can't bring myself to get rid of it.  When your cleaning routine is basically just shuffling too much stuff into different spaces, you're not doing it right.  Now, I've cleaned my room many times before, and had it looking amazing.  And then, six months later, its back where I started.  My mom has stepped in once or twice and cleaned it.  And it has reverted the same way.  After a certain point, we both decided that it was probably never going to change, and no one has touched it since.

Then, while I was hanging out with a friend, she mentioned that one of her other friends had just read Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and supposedly, it changed her life.  So, finally fed up with tripping over the same pile of junk while trying to get to my slippers, I went online and requested it from the library.  It's a small book--just over 200 pages (including the index), and I'm almost done with it.  This book has the potential to change everything.

Of course, that sounds silly.  How can one book change your life that drastically?  Well, remember--I'm a book person, and books do have a profound effect on me.  But, there is a simple beauty in Kondo's theory for tidiness which makes me think that this could work for me.  My biggest issue with getting rid of things is quite simply guilt:

• I never wore this, so I feel like I wasted money if I give it away
• This was a gift; I didn't like it when I got it, but I don't want to make that person (who probably forgot they gave it to me) to feel bad
• I'm going to get rid of something and someone well-meaning says "Oh, are you going to get rid of that?  It's so [insert word here: awesome, nice, cute, sentimental, etc]

Kondo's approach is to take each thing in hand, and decide if it brings you joy.  It sounds silly, but makes a lot of sense.  That skirt I bought but never wore doesn't make me happy.  It hangs in the closet like a guilty reminder of money poorly spent.  Those books given to me by family and friends that I read once, didn't like, and never want to read again?  Of course they don't make me happy, since they take up space and I didn't like them.  Or, that outfit I used to fit into but got just a little too chubby to wear?  Doesn't make me feel good to see a constant reminder of my weight gain.  Cleaning these things out not only helps me to clear out clutter, but also helps me to clear out the clutter in my heart and start fresh.

Kondo recommends starting with clothes, and dumping every single piece of clothing you have in the middle of the floor, and going through all of it at once.  I'll be honest, that's just too big of a project for my current schedule.  So, instead, I'm tackling one thing at a time, and I started with my sock drawer.  And I'm blown away by the change.

Now, these are not actual pictures of my sock drawer, just images I found online, but I want to show you the difference:

Before:

 (If you can believe it, this is not as messy as mine was)

After:

When I went to clean the drawer, I could hardly get it open.  Once I finished, I didn't want to close it, because I was too busy admiring my work.  If this is what it will feel like to keep cleaning, then I can live with that.  I got rid of a ton of stuff, and while this new method does not allow me as much room as before, I feel better having less stuff.  My methods of storage were great, since they allowed me space for more things, but more things means more clutter, and I feel so much better right now.

Stay tuned for more cleaning updates.  I'll be tackling my closet and dresser soon, so this should be interesting......Part II: Shirts!

I'm Back!

Hi guys! I'm finally back from my long vacation! Although I'm rested, tan, and happy (we went to Florida), I'm a bit overwhelmed by all the stuff I still need to do now that I'm back home. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some exciting stories later, but right now, I'm just trying to get used to my normal life again.

Hope all of you are doing well. I came back, and had at least 40 emails, and am still reading over all the blog posts that I missed while I was gone. Sounds like everyone had a pretty exciting time, too!

Well...Got to go. There is a ton of cleaning to do...and my last copy of the P.G. Wodehouse Society's Wooster Sauce is sitting on my bed, waiting for me to pick it up. (Sadly, I had to let my subscription go...my lack of a summer job pretty much screwed me. But, I'm hoping that my parents could renew it for a birthday present later on. Yeah, I'll have missed a few issues, but I could always order them as back issues...)