Cleaning Out My Closets

So, my big theme for this year is to get organized.  I don't consider myself super messy but there is definitely room for improvement.  I haven't gotten my house organized as quickly as I intended but I've really been working on figuring out solutions and hope that in the next month or so, things will be clean and organized and beautiful at all times.  Part of my problem with de-cluttering and getting organized is that I have a small house with literally no storage.  I have a little linen closet with 3 drawers under it, and closets in the bedroom but that's it.  So, I have no room for food storage, camping gear, holiday stuff, etc.  But I've been buying cabinets to stick places so that will all change.  But all of that is irrelevant to this post, so pardon my rant.  What I am going to talk about is cleaning out my closet and sorting through clothes.  Super fun project!!

I wish my closet was organized and looked something like this:

(or even better - in my fantasies - something more like this:)

or:

But in reality, it is something more like this:

I was going to take before and after pictures of my actual closet but I didn't and am not currently at home so maybe another day.

The initial sweep through of my clothes was a piece of cake.  I just went through my wardrobe and pulled out the pieces I didn't wear anymore, knew I wouldn't wear, was too small, too big, etc.  I ended up with a decent sized pile, not as big as it probably should have been but still a decent sized pile.  Half of it I took to work for a girl that is smaller than me and could fit into my clothes that I've shrank in the wash or have grown out of, and the other half is in a pile for good will.

Now, there are other pieces that I wasn't so sure about.  I don't know why it is that we, or at least I, get attached to articles of clothing, but it happens.  So, I've decided that I am going to wear every item in my closet (season appropriate anyway) and if I am not excited about it, don't love it, it doesn't fit, etc, it's going out the door.  I'm only a couple days into it and have already gotten rid of a couple items of clothes so I think it's going to work.  And then I'll have to repeat the process in the winter to take care of the other half of my wardrobe that I'm not sure about.

I think this is a good challenge for anyone out there that reads this, take a week and clean out your closet, dresser, etc.  It helps to not feel cluttered, it's easier to find the pieces you actually do like and want to wear, and maybe you'll end up with enough space that you can buy more clothes ;)