Out of the Closet

I’ve been working on de-cluttering and organizing my life for the past few months. All the while singing the praise of my magical book. If you have had contact with me in the past 6 weeks or so, you’re probably sick to death of hearing about it. I don’t even care, I’m going to keep talking about it. The book has changed my life. Get the book!

I defiantly want to talk to you guys about my journey and how this book has changed my life. First, I want to show you results. This whole concept seemed so unrealistic to me, I actually became physically ill when asked to remove every last thing from my closet. The KonMari method starts with clothing. Probably because it is the least sentimental for most. Not me! My closet is my soul. Dressing myself, dressing others, it’s a part of who I am. The clothes that I keep just because they were gifts from buyers or designers. I earned them for doing my job well, just like a paycheck on a hanger baby. The picture is simple, it’s me on the floor of my walk in. An empty bottle of chardonnay in one hand, a vintage Vera Wang in the other. OK, it obvious I have real issues, but let’s move on to the before pictures.

My closet on any given day.

Shamefully, I’ll admit, I had already removed a lot at this point. I also only photographed one side. My husband is a clothes whore too, so his side was just as bad.

Learning the KonMari method of tidying taught me that I was not honoring my possessions by haphazardly throwing them in my closet. They weren’t just taking up space in my closet, this mess was creating clutter in my mind. I would become frustrated every time I would try to find something or pick out an outfit. That is both annoying and time consuming.

STEP ONE: REMOVE EVERYTHING

This is everything on my bedroom floor. With this method you will remove every last item in a certain category to begin the purging process.

I started with clothing and moved on to bags, then shoes, then socks, swimsuits, etc. The book gives you an outline in which order to move.

Super overwhelming! My mission was following through with keeping only pieces that gave my joy. Thanking my other pieces for their service and passing them along. In this process you must physically handle each piece before deciding to keep it or not. I know it sounds crazy but I swear it works. Get your garbage bags ready !!!!

THE RESULT:

I donated a lot of things and sold a lot as well. I made a promise to myself that once something was in a garbage bag it had to leave the house, it could not come back to my closet. I’m not going to lie to you , I had a few relapses, but all and all 20 garbage bags full of things left my house. It felt amazing!!!

My husband generally thinks I’m bat shit crazy when I go on these rampages, but even he joined in.

THE RESULT:

These are now all the shoes I own.

I have stayed away from most traditional closet organizers, but I really like this shoe spinner. I purchased it at Wal-Mart years ago and it serves me well.

The KonMari method shows you how to fold things for more efficient storage and use boxes to compartmentalize small items. My drawers are my favorite part of this whole deal because it looks like drawers at a store.

I can see every bra, swimsuit, sock that I own. This saves so much time you wouldn’t even believe it. I also started folding workout clothes, jeans, shorts, sweaters and lounge clothes.

Since I rent most of my dresses these days, I kept very few.

Blazers & Jackets & Vests

Confession, I did move my winter coats and suits to another closet. That’s not the KonMari method, so don’t tell her I cheated.

Mari encourages you to make your closet a personal space that you enjoy going into. I loved that idea so I used a antique crystal bowl to house my hair scarves.

I also framed a few obscure photos and hung them around. I reserved my stacked shelves for personal items that make me happy.

I even spruced up the husband’s dresser situation.

The closet really does feel like part of our home now. Not only do I save so much time getting ready, but I can shop without wondering “do I already have something like that?”. I’ve noticed I’m a lot more careful with what I buy too because, I don’t want to clutter my space again. I swear you guys, buy this book and try the KonMari method, you will not be sorry.