Tag: Closet

21:12 – Oh, my lovelies!

It’s been a few days since my barbecue party. We had a great time, hanging out and catching up. Now, I don’t know what’s going on every time I decide to throw a barbecue party…  this is the third party in as many years, and two out of three times it’s been raining. And we are not talking a small drizzle either!

The first time (on my 50th birthday) the heavens opened and there wasn’t a dry anything within miles of my house, seriously it was not pouring down, it was crashing down.

Then last year, it was actually somewhat decent, a bit cold, but at least not much rain. Which brings us to this year, and we’re back to rain again 😦 Happily we did get to grill most of the food before it all started, but we had no choice but to stay indoors most of the evening.

Now, if I was to be a betting woman (and I could be 😉 ), logic says that next years party will be outdoor (well a girl can hope can’t she? ) and I’m so looking forward to that.. and if I’m really gonna be optimistic, I’m hoping for shorts and flip flops 😉

Speaking of party and footwear!

A few years back, for my younger brothers big 40th birthday bash, I got my hands on some really pretty shoes. I saw them, fell in “love” and they not only worked perfectly with my outfit, they looked good on me 😉

Fast forward too today… the lovelies (I did mentioned I really really think they are pretty, yes?) have been sitting in my closet unused for some time. They are still just a lovely, I still kinda “love” them.. but… I just don’t use them.

I rarely use high heeled shoes to begin with, and the last few years (since I got sick) I’ve used high heels even less than before. High heels hurt my foot and I have found a really cute low heeled pair in almost the same color, that I now use instead, on those few occasions where pretty shoes are needed.

So I have decided that (regardless of how I much I like them and think they are pretty) that it is time for them to leave the premises. I could off course keep them for the sole purpose of admiring them, but that’s just silly now, isn’t it?

So here I am, on day 12 – sending a pair of shoes of to the salvation army, for someone else to use.. hopefully more than I have done!

One cute pair of shoes going out-the-door! 

Which brings my grand total for 2017 to 707

 

 

21:09 – Another closet purge!

2017-21-day-9It’s day nine of this years first 21 day declutter challenge.

Over the last three or four years I’ve been chipping away at my closet.. and I’m finally making some headway (according to where I want my closet to be).

Now, mind you! My closet have never been particular huge. How can I say this? Well, every time I have found myself looking at what my friends have in their closets, mine has been positively “minimal” (sort off).

Even so, ever since I returned from Houston (where I had amassed a brand new wardrobe in addition to the one I had in Norway) I’ve felt the need to downsize my closet.

I’ve been reducing clothing and shoes as I’ve moved along this minimalist journey, and I am slowly getting to where I think I will be happy to leave my closet alone.. the only “problem”… my level of minimalism seem to change as I move further along on my minimalist path 😉

I think this is something a lot of you are familiar with, as we declutter the spaces around us (physically and mentally), we seem to shift the levels of where we would like to get to.

Now, I do not aspire to become a minimalist with less than a 100 things (well secretly I might be 😉 ), but I do aspire to get to a level, where there is a good flow of energy around me, where I could easily move house without getting totally stressed, where I could just pack a bag and never look back, because I would have the most important things with me and the things that didn’t fit in a bag, could easily be taken care off by someone else.

But I digress, lets get back to my latest wardrobe purge, a purge that have now brought my wardrobe down to a total of 263 items, which includes everything clothing and shoe related (even things like flip-flops, caps, buffs, bike and golf gloves, garden attire, etc).

I know.. still quite a bit, and I can see another purge in the horizon.. but for right now… hey I’m below 300 pieces, and that was a goal in itself 😉

And what’s leaving the house? Let’s see now… 

closet-purge

1 Dress
8 t-shirts
2 long sleeved t-shirts
2 pants
1 top
3 bras
1 scarf
1 belt
1 pair of flip-flops
1 pair of gym shorts
1 buff
3 pairs of socks
1 bikini top
1 bikini bottom
5 stockings
3 leggings
1 robe
3 long armed shirts
1 pair of dress pants
1 cardigan
1 blazer
1 outdoor jacket
=

That’s 43 items out-the-door! 

Which brings me to the grand total of = 613 so far this year.

PS. I just tallied up all the clothing and shoes I have gotten rid off since I started my “official” deluttering in 2015, and guess what, including this purge, I have more than halved my wardrobe (all of 315 items of clothing and 19 pairs of shoes, have left these premises) 🙂

21.14 – Wardrobe time!

day-14We’re at day 14 of my 21 day declutter challenge.

It’s not easy to stay with item topics on this decluttering spree, and I thought I had to write up another random items post (they will come). That was until I found out that my wardrobe cleanup from a few days ago, magically consisted of 14 items out-the-door.. which is perfect for today’s post 🙂

Funny how things work out 😉

And here we are… 14 pieces of clothing going out-the-door!  

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1 jacket
1 pair of pants
3 fleece tops
1 knitted jacket
1 sweater
1 t-shirt
1 pair of thick socks
2 bottoms
1 swim bottom
1 swim top
1 bra
=
14 items

 

I’m being joined in this challenge by:
– Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff, joined for 14 days, her last day, before leaving on a trip. Her total count? 146 🙂
– Melinda, at PurpleSlobinRecovery, check out her declutterathon, day two, three and four
– Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog, getting her groove on, decluttering a few more bags.
– Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder, check out her day 13, part 1 and part 2, she is working like a whirlwind 🙂

Closet time again!

The last few weeks, I’ve been chipping at my closet again.

One of our fellow bloggers, Becoming a minimalist is impressing the heck out of me. She has her closet under iron control, being down to a couple of shoes (shucks, I have about 24 pairs if I count all including flip-flops) and about 30? items of clothing. She follows a rule of three! 3 pair of pants, 3 cardigans, 3 t-shirts, 3 jackets and so on.

In my heart, I wish I could be on her level, but in my head, I realise that it’s not going to happen 🙂 It’s also not really practical, considering how I do my laundry.

Living on my own, it takes a bit of clothing to fill up my washing machine. As I separate my clothing into dark and light, my machine don’t run very often, since towels, and bedding is done separately from my everyday clothing. Now that I’m home a lot, I live in the same stuff all the time.. and the machine runs even more seldom than normal.. which means that I need enough underwear, socks, t-shirts and pants to last me at least a fortnight.. no rule of 3 for me.. no siree…

Like most people, I tend to use the same items of clothing over, and over again, and I’m your typical t-shirt and jeans kinda girl! Now, girl, might not be “politicly” correct as I just turned 50, but never mind, I’m sticking to my original statement,  I’m your typical t-shirt and jeans kinda girl 😉

But even for me, there are occasions where I need to dress up a little better. A meeting at work with vendors, a birthday or Christmas… you know what I’m talking about. So there are a few staple items I have no choice but to keep in my closet – unless I want the wrath of my mothers (yes both mum’s) to fall on me – even at 50…. Hey, don’t laugh at me.. you all know how mothers can be 😉

So with that in mind, T-shirt and jeans for me, pretty clothing for those couple (or ten) occasions a year, and having enough to fill up my machines, I’ve been attacking my closet, weeding a few more items out of my pile…

Last year I got rid of around 100 pieces of clothing and about 14 pairs of shoes, you’d think there wouldn’t be anything left for me to find! But there is! Even with my goal in mind, I still end up with 7 pants, 10 shirts and enough t-shirts and undies to start my own store… not to mention the sweaters, tops, sports attire, sleepwear, socks, belts…. and shoes… those darn shoes…

There is obviously no hope for me as I still have ways to go 😦

But here at least, is my latest instalment of clothing out-the-door! 72 items

  • 1 dress jacket
  • 1 green dress
  • 1 jacket for the green dress
  • 1 long summer dress
  • 5 shirts
  • 1 thin sweater
  • 1 thick jacket (my dads)
  • 1 thick fleece (my dads)
  • 2 shorts
  • 4 decorative scarf
  • 3 t-shirts
  • 2 sweaters
  • 1 fleece
  • 3 tank tops
  • 1 pink top
  • 1 workout top
  • 1 scarf (dads)
  • 1 pair of gloves
  • 1 pair of Welly warmers (which just didn’t ever work, as they came out with my feet when taking the boots off)
  • 1 cap
  • 1 rain jacket
  • 6 hankies
  • 1 pair of cosy socks/indoor “shoes”
  • 2 golf gloves
  • 2 belts
  • 8 bras (which I will save you from – picture wise – together with the other unmentionables 😉 )
  • 2 sleepwear shorts
  • 12 undies (Some with tags on. I’m sure I still have enough for the next 30 years, so I really needed to get rid of some 😉 )
  • 1 pair of flip flops
  • 4 pairs of shoes – bicycle, everyday, dancing and office shoes

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My grandfathers cabinet!

I can’t believe I forgot to write about this!

The day before I got on the plane to go to London, I packed up this cabinet and delivered it to a shipping company, to have it sent over to my brother in England. I’ve been holding this cabinet the last 5-6 months or so, for him. The cabinet is a bit taller than me, so its worth writing about getting it out-the-door 😉

My grandfather built this cabinet originally, long, long time ago. He was a “hobby” furniture carpenter. As long as I can remember, he had a workshop in his basement, and would make all sorts of items out of wood.

When my grandfather passed away years back, dad inherited this cabinet and brought it home with him. At that time it was painted and looked pretty “shabby”. Dad found an furniture carpenter in town and had it beautifully restored, including adding glass to the doors. They managed to get hold of “old glass”, which made it look like there have been glass in it from day one.

As dad passed away last year, this cabinet is now going to my brother. From my grandfather, to my father and now to my brother. Three generations of male Sira’s! It’s kinda nice, it warms my heart, this 🙂

I packed the doors really well, and I hope the shipping company gets it there in one piece, so that my brother can enjoy it for years to come.

I think it will fit really well in their small cosy house, together with their other wooden furniture.

Pretty isn’t it… Well done, grandfather… Well done, dad…

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May tally!

Well there it is, the month of May is over, and it’s time for my monthly tally.

If I may say so, I think the month of May have gone pretty OK when it comes to declutter items. Even though I had a week completely under the weather, and a week in London with more sightseeing than decluttering 🙂

Let’s see what this month have amounted to on the declutter scale:

MAY TALLY of things “out-the-door” =  126 items 

53 – items when running amok in my guest room

  • 9 snuggles (stuffed animals and bean babies)
  • 1 empty computer box
  • 1 empty camera lens filter box
  • 1 PC “desk” to use in your lap
  • 5 clothes storage “bags”
  • 1 decorative plate
  • 6 space bags
  • 5 books
  • 3 small paper pamphlets
  • 6 Christmas decoration items
  • 1 hanging shoe holder
  • 2 eagle creek travel gear pieces
  • 1 camera bag
  • 1 dirty linen basket
  • 1 decorative “garland”
  • 1 gym “bag”
  • 1 space saver set
  • 1 travel journal
  • 2 bathroom mats
  • 1 shoulder strap for a bag I no longer have
  • 1 bag of sticky carpet felt (to use under carpets to make them not slide)
  • 1 hanging bag for cloths

54 – items from my closet cleanup

  • 8 shorts – surf shorts and regular shorts
  • 1 swim top
  • 1 bikini bottom
  • 2 knee length pants
  • 1 bicycle t-shirt
  • 1 pair of indoor “shoes”
  • 4 office shirts
  • 3 sweater
  • 1 knitted hat
  • 1 fleece buff
  • 2 regular buffs
  • 1 scarf Stockings – a bunch (counted as 1)
  • 1 par of socks
  • 3 of my dad’s ties
  • 12 unused unmentionables
  • 5 pairs of jeans – 2 worn, 3 unused (but sadly to small)
  • 1 pair of office pants
  • 1 top
  • 1 T-shirt
  • 1 knitted jacket
  • 1 pair of insoles
  • 1 belt

1 pair of very high heeled shoes 😉
16 paperbacks
1 wooden box – and
1 keg/barrel – my brothers – as posted from London

And that’s it. The out-the-door tally for MAY 🙂

Not to shabby…

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It’s closet time!!!

I had a run at my clothes cabinet a couple of weeks back, as a start on my big closet declutter task.

You know how they say we pretty much use only about 20% of our stuff, 80% if the time. I found this very true, when it comes to the clothing I use. I have some pieces that I use pretty much all the time, and some that are almost never (if ever) worn.

So I decided it was time to clean up shop, and continue what I started a couple of weeks ago. So that I could get the clothes out of here 🙂

I use my declutter system for closet clean ups, just like with everything else.

The rule is to be honest with yourself when deciding what to keep.

KEEP:

  • love and use
  • use daily, weekly, monthly or even maybe yearly
  • that they fit, and I look good in them

OUT THE DOOR:

  • have not used the last 12 months
  • will not use the next 12 months
  • no longer fits
  • do not look good on me – even if they fit
  • clothes I don’t feel comfortable in – even if they fit, or even look great on me. (Why would I wear clothes I’m not comfortable in? If I won’t actually use them – they gotta go)

NOT SURE – items I have a hard time making a quick decisions on for the following reasons:

  • might have a use for the next 3, 6 or 12 months – but I’m not really sure because they:
    • do fit, but will I actually use them? I might have an intention to use them this coming summer/fall/winter
    • might not be a perfect fit, maybe even a size down from where I am right now, but there is “intention” to fit into them within the next 6 months. Is that what we call wishful thinking? 😉

So how did I go about it?

I pulled ALL the content from my closet one category at the time: pants, office shirts, t-shirts, jackets and so on, you get the drift.

As I pulled them out, I sorted them into my Keep, Out-the-door and Not sure piles.

Everything in the Keep and Not sure pile, I tried on, to make sure they fit and looked good (or decent 😉 ) on me.

  • Everything that did not fit that bill, went into the out-the-door pile.
  • Not sure items, that survived this exercise, went into my allowance box.

From the out-the-door pile, I pulled out everything that I could give away or donate. I packed them nicely into some plastic bags (since the donate station I use, don’t take boxes), and went down to the donation station with them right away (just down the road).

A couple of tips:  

When you give away/donate, it’s always nice if you can place the items neatly into a box or a bag. Make sure they are clean, and that you have emptied the pockets first 🙂

Before putting anything back in the closet, it might be a good idea to dust, vacuum and even paint the walls if you want a fresh, new look 🙂

How did I do?

Closet TALLY 😉 =  54 items out-the-door

8 shorts – surf shorts and regular shorts
1 swim top
1 bikini bottom
2 knee length pants
1 bicycle t-shirt
1 pair of indoor “shoes”
4 office shirts
3 sweater
1 knitted hat
1 fleece buff
2 regular buffs
1 scarf Stockings – a bunch (counted as 1)
1 par of socks
3 of my dad’s ties
12 unused unmentionables
5 pairs of jeans – 2 worn, 3 unused (but sadly to small)
1 pair of office pants
1 top
1 T-shirt
1 knitted jacket
1 pair of insoles
1 belt

And believe it or not, I still have stuff left in my closet, that I can get rid off! How about them apples?

Oh well, that’s for another day. Now? I think I deserve a coffee mocha 😉

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It takes 21….

It seems like I I’ve gotten into the habit of writing a little “something something” every day, and today is no exception 🙂

Even though I told you a few days ago that I might do bigger declutter bulks, it doesn’t mean I still won’t be chipping away at it. Getting rid of a little something every day is a good routine to get into.

There is an old saying “it takes 21 days to make or break a habit”. Now I’m not a 100% sure on the 21 day rule working for everything. I think it’s very dependent on what habits you are trying to change. Most likely your better off with 30+ days for actually making a habit stick.

But in this instance the 21 day rule might actually apply, this being my 21st day of decluttering (yes I know it’s January 26th, but I have had a few non declutter posts), and because of that, I will declutter 21 items today 🙂

You remember I told you about my fathers stuff? Last time it was shoes, and today it’s some of his clothes. My brother decided on only keeping a few items, and as much as I like some of my dad’s clothes. They neither fit, nor do they look particularly womanly on me 😉

The clothes from dad, that I’m ready to part with today, doesn’t quite make up 21 items, so I’ll throw in a few of my own.

That’s:
2 outdoor jackets
4 sweaters
3 par of knitted wool socks
I tie
3 scarfs
1 pair of gloves
1 buff
2 t-shirts
3 shirts
and 1 belt

So what do you think of that! Day 21 – 21 Items. I’m kinda impressed 😉

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