Back to our (ir)regularly scheduled programming. I’m backing up to week sixteen even though I worked on this project awhile back. My closet had become the storing ground for all of E’s new room items in waiting, plus the whole thing is constantly jammed with items that are waiting on another home. It was overdue a spruce up.
We added a dresser to our room awhile back, but of the four enormous drawers, only two of them had room for clothing. The other two were holding files and paperwork and computer related items that needed a home once we converted the home office into a nursery. I’m noticing that this loss is a recurring theme on this blog. Anyway. We have this enormous wall of storage – which is great, and I’m not complaining. But it’s currently storing so many other things that would be much better suited to other places in the house, and of the entire wall of storage – this was the amount of space that was mine, just mine. I did a quick calculation and it’s around 14% of the wall. The dresser drawers below are full of art and drafting supplies from the former studio, the cabinet above has some books and other random holiday items. M has a double rod closet to himself and three drawers and a few other shelves on the wall (completely unbalanced, I know). But even his space is being encroached on by printer supplies and various cameras.
The new bookshelves are going to be a really huge change in the way this house looks and works – I’m not convinced the rest of my family gets my excitement over the prospect yet. But they will.
So back to the closet. After the mad filing I did a month or so ago, I had another drawer in the dresser to play with. I was able to fit all my casual shirts and sweaters in that drawer, plus shorts. I did a ton of picking through and cleaning out to really whittle out the things that I no longer wear. I used to keep a giant stack of paint clothes, but my painting days are few and far between now so it wasn’t really necessary. There was a time in this life where I honestly needed a week’s worth of paint clothes – but those days of round the clock renovation projects and laundromat visits are thankfully in the past. One pair of messies are enough. In that vein I continued.
I realize that all the closet specialists would chide me for not having the appropriate spacing between clothing so that it hangs and breathes correctly. I’m okay with this spacing though. In my opinion clothes do not need more square footage for their existence than I do. If the hangers fit, that’s all that matters.
There are still piles of books and empty photo albums in the back of the closet, but again – that’s short term. I’m pretty jazzed to have the rest of the closet area clear of extra stuff, with room for my newly added-to pile of jeans.
Which really leads me to the second part of this to-do list. One of the things I’ve been wanting to do for awhile is to really go through the things that I own and think about what I wear on a daily basis, and to do my best to spend money on the things that I truly love and will get a lot of wear out of – and to not buy things that I won’t really wear.
One of those things that I wear a lot (because I can get away with it at work where we are fairly (put-together) casual) – is jeans. I’ve been taking some time to really look for and find jeans that I like rather than just grabbing the same thing off the same shelf because it’s easy and I have a kid in a stroller who’s distracting me. I’ve watched for some good sales and stocked up on some more expensive, but really cute jeans.
I’ve got some good basics going on now, and I’ve been adding a few things into the mix. Occasionally my mom or my mother-in-law will take me shopping and I’ll pick up a few things here and there…
creams and blacks…
pinks and grays…
my fall soccer game sweater – when you really want to just wrap up in a big afghan on the sidelines…
…and even some dresses. Try to hide your shock. I think I’ve been so conservative with spending money on clothing that I had fallen into the trap of thinking that spending money on a dress was a splurge. I’ve gotten a ton of wear out of these dresses, and you can’t wear a dress if you don’t have one, right? I could live in my latest acquisition – the one on the right. It is a pretty thick fabric, with three quarter length sleeves that you better believe I’ll be layering through the fall. If I were the burying type I’d like to be buried in that thing. I’d live an eternally comfortable life. That middle one is also amazingly comfortable – stretchy lining with a lace overlay – and then I throw that pink belt on that my sister gave me. Look at me, talking like I know what I’m doing.
And lest you fear I’ve left my knit stripes behind me, fear no more…
…they’re still around.
(Also – look at that creepy foot reflection in the drawer front above. Weird. Just noticed that.)
This will likely be the last post I ever have resembling any sort of style post, but I’m very happy to have an (almost) clean closet, as well as the prospect of a little more breathing room in the near future. I’ll be redoing the wardrobe downstairs at some point so we can relocate our winter coats out of our bedroom closet and then maybe all of our clothes will breathe a little easier. And try not to be so shocked if you see me out and about in a dress!
