Project Simplify Week 3: Closets, Drawers, and Cabinets... Oh My!

Closet:

So this week has been a looong week for Project Simplify.  Early in the week I started weeding through my clothing and the boys' old clothes to find items for donation.  My goal was 6 bags (including household items) and I am almost there!  I have four bags of just my clothes for donation, but I forgot to get them outside for the free pick-up so now I have to take them to the Salvation Army truck down at Wal-mart.  No problem.  Here is an "after" picture of my closet:

I have all my hanging clothes that I really love, a stack of jeans, a stack of long-sleeve layering tees, and a stack of PJs above that.  On the tp shelf, I have my lesser worn, seasonal clothes (bathing suits, winter gloves, etc.) separated into baskets, and my heating pad... Hey, they come in handy! :-)  To the right of the pants hanger begins my husband's clothes, so I think I did a good job of fitting my wardrobe to the space available.

Here was the "Before" picture:

It was almost empty because I couldn't open the door! :-(

Drawers to Cabinets:

I decided that for drawers I would go through my scrapbooking things to pare down what I had.  My markers, stickers, punches, etc. were in the yellow drawers from the office. (Pictured in my BEFORE pictures)  While I was sitting there looking at it all, I eyed my nemesis "The Paper Bin."  This is a 68 quart plastic tub filled to overflowing with my 12x12 scrapbook paper.  To say the least, it's overwhelming... actually, I should say it WAS overwhelming.  I downsized! :-)  

I know some scrapbook-making friends would say I am crazy for getting rid of so much, but I just lost all desire to make pages when I faced the daunting task of choosing papers from a 3-foot bin.  I went through and ruthlessly pulled all the prints and colors that I knew I wouldn't use.  I went through the big stacks that come bound and pulled out only the papers I really wanted and threw the rest in a stack.  My god friend is a Girl Scout leader, so she has inherited the entire stack, all 7+ inches!  I also added the stickers, stamps, and punches that I no longer used.  It's such a huge stack, I know her girls are going to love it!  

Now that my scrapbooking stash is much smaller, I was able to relocate it to the living room where I actually end up doing my crafts.  I was able to box everything neatly and even had room for my little printer! Those empty cabinets in the living room sure came in handy!  Here is the "after" picture of my scrapbooking stuff:

Ribbons, thread, and embellishments are on the top with the drawers with my remaining markers, adhesives, and colors.  The second shelf down has my craft sewing machine, stamps and chalks, and inspiration notebook along with the picture album from my childhood that I have been converting to a scrapbook for my brother and me.  The bottom shelf holds all my remaining paper.  This cabinet is only 11 inches deep, so you can imagine how much paper those Girl Scouts will have.  The plastic folio in the middle holds all of my remaining stickers, sorted be theme, and those cute quote books.  Now when I want to make a page or two for the boys, I just have this cabinet to look through and not a huge tub plus drawers.  *sigh of relief*

Now I need to get back to the playroom to finish what I started weeks ago...  

Project Simplify Week 3: Closets!!

Well, actually the week's theme is closets, drawers, and counter tops, but I think I have already mastered the counter tops in our home.  We only have them in the kitchens and tiny bathrooms.  I used the kids' stuff week to contain the kitchen clutter already.

By the time I get back into my pre-pregnancy clothes, I'll probably be ready for new ones, so my clothes should be easy to purge.  I read somewhere that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time... or was that brain power? :-)  I'm positive that I don't wear most of the clothes I have.  I can name at least 15 pieces I don't like off the top of my head.  Don't get me wrong, I don't have a ton of clothing or buy stuff on impulse.  Actually the opposite is true.  I hate clothes shopping, so when I find something I like I buy every color/print it comes in so that I can stop looking!  This means that I have several items that wear at the same time or stretch/fade/go south all at the same time.  I can just round up each version of the item and toss them all.  That way I don't have to try them on either!

My husband on the other hand has a TON of shoes!  I think he holds on to old shoes as "yard shoes" so that he doesn't have to part with them.  I find them in the garage, hallway closet, bedroom...  They are usually all the same too!  he will return to the same store every year or two to get the same pair of shoes!  We are going to get rid of some of the old ones this week.

We are pretty good about getting rid of the clothes that the boys stain or grow out of, but now that we know the baby will be a boy I'm trying to hold on to some of O's hand-me-downs.  He is pretty rough on clothes though and he is the second in line for most of them.  We've been getting big guy clothes from a coworker lately now too, since Ry is going to be 7.  This just enables me to avoid clothes shopping further! :-)  I love it!!  However, I'm sure there are clothes in the boys' room that shouldn't be saved because we just don't like them.  My boys don't like skulls or dark colors much, so we can donate them.  I know we have several pair of little boy shoes that can go now too since the 3-year-old wears SIZE 11 and the almost-seven's kindergarten clothes from last year.  At some point he just started wearing his older brother's clothes and shoes and now we have sizes 9 and 10 in shoes and 2T, 3T, 4T that no longer fit him.

We have a neighborhood pickup on Saturday for the local cancer research center, so this is a great week to get a move on and purge our closets.  My goal is at least 6 bags to donate!

Before:

UPDATE: HERE