Jan 1, 2014

MY CLOSET: MYTH, LEGEND, MESS.








  I am not a neat person by nature. In fact, I am super un-organized in some respects. I read these DIY blogs and sift through decorator magazines, and loathe the women with their manicured nails and pearly white smiles, using scissors and glitter and the tears of angels to create cute and fun things to organize your life with. So naturally it occurred to me to make a resolution based around this for 2014 (since apparently that is the thing you do). So the first resolution of the year is to become neater and more organized, so much so in fact, that Martha Stewart would maybe want to eventually invite me over for dinner. So I decided the first step would be…my closet. My closet is revered as the mall away from the mall by some of my closest friends. Which is hilarious, because more then half of my wardrobe is vintage and or thrifted finds. Far from your local F21 (but I am totally guilty of owning various articles of clothing from F21, because admit it, we all are mall whores at some point). Anyways, it is loved by some and than feared by others…especially my mother. Actually, mostly my mother. 

  I have a plethora of vintage sequins, capes, shoes, bags, hats, jackets etc etc. All stuffed into a small, tiny space that can only be described as claustrophobic. Deathly even. At 24, I am more likely to be suffocated by a wall of sequined robes, then say, an act of murder carried out by a jealous lover I do not have. But I digress. It's bad. Something has to be done. 

  I find that my unorganized closet brings about many things: stress, clutter, and an onset feeling that I may one day end up on Hoarders. All of those things combined = not good. So what can I do about this predicament? Well, I have a many a time sold things online. And that has helped elevate space. But I am by nature a messy person. And when in the need of an outfit, it can only go from organized to really, really, really unorganized within a matter of seconds on a Monday morning as I get ready for work. Am I the only person who suffers from closet rage? Is this resolution not resolvable? Am I forever lost with poor organizational skills and owning too much clothing? Well for one, I am in the process of moving soon (give or take late spring, early summer). And in doing this, I will be set up with more space. But at the stage I am at now, moving would be a nightmare. So I need to think in the now.



  So we begin the now by doing one thing: TO THE INTERWEBS!! I have been doing some major surfing of particular blogs. One of my favourites is A Pair and A Spare. Geneva looks like what I wish I looked like in most of my dreams, where I have perfect skin and legs that go on for days. I always enjoyed her take on DIY…it's easy, and her blog is set up so it's super accessible to find older posts from projects she has done. The thing with these blogs is that they have all these fantastic ideas…for an expensive loft in a bigger city then where I am at right now, with crisply painted walls, and sheets that you can fall asleep in and dream about things that probably will happen since your life is so fantastic. But I did snag some cool ideas off her site. A few of them being:

THIS 

  After reading through most of these posts though, I came to one massive conclusion: none of these had to do with closets, and my future death by sequined robe was still imminent. My search wasn't taking me to things that were going to help me. So my continuing google crusade finally brought me HERE. I have no idea who this women is, but I do know that she has nice hair. And really, really expensive hand bags and living room rugs. All things I can appreciate, mostly because I don't have them.  So Arianna Belle (I guess it's possible that Belle IS her last name, but I am going to take a shot in the dark and say it's not) is this smiley lady with the smiley blog full of brightly lit photographs of apartments and houses nicer then my own. That being said, she has some pretty sweet organizational posts on her blog. It seems that she has contributing bloggers on her site. So for instance, a post might be about how Jocelyn organizers HER closet. And then Sandy. Then Katie. Then Meredith. So on etc. The first post that I really enjoyed was the DO'S AND DON'Ts OF ORGANIZATION. It was like stumbling upon the 10 Commandments of Organizational Bloggers. I learned some important things:

1) "DON’T give up before you even start" - Because backing out is for suckers. And let's be real: it's my fault that I own so much shit in the first place. So deal with it. I have to take it one day at a time. Kind of like rehab. Except I am detoxing myself of clutter and clothing worn 2 decades before me. 

2) "DO start with a vision." - I like the use of slated script for the word vision. When I was reading this bit, I read "vision" in a breathy voice. Like I am Heidi Klum, and I want you to really really start with a "vis-on". This bit went on to say that you need to set up some kind of plan. Some kind of map to follow in terms of what you want the end result to look like. Which is essentially why I was reading and collecting ideas off the damn blog in the first place. WINNING! 

3) "DO create sorting categories (Keep, Don’t Keep) as well as sub-categories." What? Sub-categories? I am a raging hoarding-vintage-maniac. And you want me to have SUB-CATEGORIES. Ok pretty blog…this time you win. I GUESS I could divide my stuff from sequined to non-sequined. 

4) "DON’T throw all unwanted items directly into the trash" - This is a rule I can get behind, since most of the stuff in my closet that I do decide to get rid of will either be posted for people to buy or donated. I do have good taste after all with clothing…and I would probably strangle myself if I felt the need to burn all the remnants in my backyard vs. actually doing something useful with them, like RECYCLE them. 

5) "DON’T talk yourself into keeping something that you already have enough of, you never use, puts you in a bad mood, doesn’t fit you, isn’t your style, and/or doesn’t serve a functional purpose for the life you have now." - Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit. THIS is where I hit a wall. I am one of those sentimental fashion people who buys things, and then doesn't wear them more then twice and then hates myself for seeing it hanging there in my closet, knowing full well it will just continue to hang there not worn. BUT IT'S SO NEW AND PRETTY AND I LIKE IT. "But why don't you wear it more often?" my brain will argue. Because I have a shopping problem brain. Duh. 

6) "DO keep items that you love, make you happy, and help you live your best life" - This one has me getting almost emotional. YES WE CAN!!! WE CAN DO IT!!! VICTORY!!! A NEW ME!!! LIFE WILL BE FANTASTIC!!! WHY DO I OWN SO MUCH SHIT THAT MAKES ME FEEL THAT WAY THOUGH!?!? NO STAY POSITIVE, WE CAN GET THROUGH THIS!!!! AHHHH!!

7) "DON’T keep more items than what actually fits into your space." - This one had me nodding my head like I had just come to terms with the gospel of the all knowing in the organizational closet world. God. I have been so blind. At this point, fantasy visions of what my closet will look like have started to flood my head. 

8) " DO work within your space means" - Isn't this essentially saying exactly the same thing as the point before this? Except with a DO instead of a DON'T? Whatever it makes me feel like I am invincible and that I will kick my unorganized closets ass to organized oblivion. 

Ok, so more like the 8 Commandments of Organizational Bloggers. But good points none the less. So, the conclusion I was met with was that I needed to step it up, man the hell up, and dive into my closet of horrors. All with the help of coiffed ladies on the internet with nice furniture. Bring it on 2014. Let the organization begin! 

*Updates of my closet adventure will be posted later on this week, as we trek step by step through embroidered pants and bedazzled vintage shoes, to the top of the mountain of organizational success. If you have any organizational blogs that you think would help me along the journey, feel free to forward them my way! 

You can find A Pair & A Spare here

You can find Arianna Belle here

Photo's via Nordic Feeling


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