Normally on Mondays (or sometimes Tuesdays, depending on how our week kicks off), I like to do a little recap, here on the blog, of our weekend. It’s usually mostly photos, you know, for memories sake. This past weekend however, nothing photo-worthy occurred. There were no trips to the pumpkin patch, there was no apple picking taking place… this past weekend, the only thing that happened around here was a little thing I like to call “The Big Purge”.
Every once and while, I start to feel a little overwhelmed with all of the “stuff” that is accumulating around the house. My OCD starts to kick in, and I begin to feel a little claustrophobic, like the walls are closing in on me.
I’m sure you know what I mean… Mail starts piling up because you haven’t taken the time to sort it, toys are strewn about, and when it comes time to do the seasonal closet swap out, you realize just how long it’s been since you’ve worn that shirt that’s in there just taking up space. Case in point, the size 2 flare jeans from American Eagle that, let’s be honest, I won’t be wearing anytime soon.
Between the 2 kids, and the exhaustion the one on the way has been causing, things have gotten away from me just a bit… but this weekend, I was motivated in every way to take charge, and regain command of our surroundings, which is where “The Big Purge” came in.
If you haven’t already heard of “The-Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, the book that is being posted all over social media, and has made it’s way to the top of the NY Times Best Seller list, consider yourself enlightened. I was intrigued after stumbling across the title several times, so I downloaded it to my kindle this weekend, and dove in head first.
This book gets rave reviews, and people swear by the author’s method for tidying up, and keeping it that way. So far, being the sucker that I am, she has me sold. Shortly after I began reading, I was really motivated to start simplifying… to start surrounding myself with more quality, and less quantity.
Now like I said, I just started reading, so I can’t confidently provide my own reviews on Kondo’s method just yet, but she certainly has the wheels in my head turning.
We spent the entire weekend pitching (donating) all of the clothes, shoes, and accessories that we just aren’t wearing, and the resulting pile of stuff was honestly embarrassing. I feel like I have a tendency to hold on to items based on a “what if” mind set. What if I lose a ton of weight after I have the baby? What if someday I want to wear that dress again? What if those pants come back in style? Yet the truth of the matter is, it’s all just taking up space, and crowding the view of the stuff I really want to see when I look in my closet.
Downloading this book, and getting rid of so much unnecessary stuff has led me to also become curious about this whole “capsule wardrobe” concept. If you haven’t heard of this trend, it basically operates on the idea that for each season a person should only own a certain number of essential items. These items are things that you will love to wear again and again, they are comfortable, and they are versatile… and most importantly, they can be mixed and matched to achieve several different looks.
Naturally I turned to Pinterest for some inspiration, and given the circumstances was mostly drawn to “Maternity Capsule Wardrobe” pins, but I wanted to share a few here, so you get the idea.
All of this has inspired me to come up with my own capsule wardrobe inspiration board, while I think about whether or not the fashion lover in me can really pair down my closet this much, but it’s certainly something worth considering
Have any of you tried this method? I’d love to hear about it if you have. I’ll definitely share the details here if I decide to take the plunge… I just can’t decide if I’m brave enough to do it or not, but I have to say that purging so much this past weekend felt really good, and it’s kind of addicting!
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