Spring Cleaning Part III

As this month begins and the clutter is driving me crazy, I have decided that more needs to go.  This is tough, because I live with a collector that doesn't like to throw things away.   I feel weighted down, so I'm doing the best I can to get rid of the things that I am allowed to.  Starting with clothes that are too small or too big.  Time to go.  Even if it's a cute  concert or pop culture tee.  If it will never fit right again, I am not going to hold onto it.   Below is what I first see when I open my closet door and this doesn't even show the shoe rack that holds 60 pairs of shoes that is on the other side of the door.  Look, I'm already practically embarrassing myself, because it's a mess and I need to do some serious reorganizing.  This will take some time.

But before I tackle my closet, I am working on my linen/tolietries closet, which is full of hair products that I've inherited from my mother.  My mom is a hair product junkie and since we have both gone natural, every month she is trying something new, then passing it on to me if she doesn't like it.  I do appreciate the products, but it has gotten overwhelming.  The good news is, is that I don't need to go shampoo shopping for about a year or two.

Here is the before:

I know, crap is all over the place.  

The Progress:

Getting all the shampoo and conditioner separated from everything else.  Getting all of the leave-in conditioners and gels set apart as well.  

I have nail polish, cotton pads, soap and shampoo hidden in the basket as well. 

Basket two?  Same thing, but this includes brushes, castor oil, Argan oil and maybe coconut oil???

And After:  I can find stuff again and it's a little better, but I still need to work my way through all of this stuff!

Spring Cleaning Continues, and so does the De-cluttering Part 2

And so it's beginning, cleaning out closets. I started with the living room coat closet which consisted of coats, costumes, toys, Transformers, Photos, Purses, handbags, accessories etc.  Pictured above is a fraction of what I am getting rid of and this does not include the four bags of clothes that came from my closet.   This was difficult, because I am one to re-use and recycle.  There was a point in my twenties and early thirties that I had mostly club clothes in my closet.  Spandex, vinyl, lace, corsets, fishnets, fake suede, anything with a Frederick's of Hollywood label and platforms.  There was a reason for this, but not enough to be an excuse.   I needed to reassess my life and change some lifestyle habits.  I was getting tired of the crazy Saturday nights at the Rainbow anyway and decided to kick hard alcohol.   In fact, the clothes at Frederick's of Hollywood at the time didn't seem attractive anymore and seemed tacky.  

I called my friend Josh to talk me through this and he has encouraged me to send him photos of anything that I am on the fence about.  So far, I am firm in the decisions I have made when  it comes to the clothing.   If something seems ugly or doesn't fit right, I'm tossing it.   I am not even starting with my shoe collection yet.  That will be more difficult. 

It just looks like crap just sitting in the bags.  I think I have outgrown a lot of things I decided to part with and this will continue.  I am learning one rule.  Trendy usually equals ugly.  I find myself revisiting the classics as I shop.  I still have not bought a pair of stirrup pants yet, but I have bought stretch pants (and jeggings).  I think I'll end up trashing those eventually and opting for Levi's 501 jeans. Babydoll dresses are back and I have gotten rid of maybe four or five dresses in the past six months.   I have held on to a few unique dresses and anything with polka dots because I just can't let them go.   As I have stopped shopping for clothes, the more I lose interest in fashion and just want to wear jeans.  I will always wear T-shirts, but I am getting rid of anything worn out and stained.   Some shirts, like concert tees have sentimental value, but some of those need to go as well.   The ones I want to keep I plan on cutting them and reconstructing them so that they are wearable again.   

The next section of my closet is hosiery.  I have tons of tights, fishnets, stockings etc.  Whatever is worn out and has a hole, has to go.........

Spring Cleaning Continues, and so does the De-cluttering

As spring creeps in and the sound of Angels' games act as background noise in my house, the spring cleaning as escalated.   I am literally overwhelmed in what I am finding.  As many people in my life know, I routinely donate to Goodwill and Salvation Army and I am always cleaning.   I live in a small place in LA and we are still dealing with the aftermath of downsizing.   We buy, sell and collect certain toys.  Sometimes, things just pile up or we have to step away from a project we are working on.  This is because we have day jobs and have our normal day to day things we do.  The clutter gets stressful at times, so every day, I take a moment to de-clutter a drawer, organize my craft items or clean out a cabinet.   This is a never ending cycle.   On top of that I have four cats.  Two of them I inherited from my mom and step-dad, because they did not get along with their dogs.  Cleaning up after cats is a part-time job in itself.

There are things that we do not buy anymore.   We do not shop in bulk and only buy what we need due to lack of space.  I find that this saves money and time.   In addition, we are changing our eating habits and eating cleaner.  Thus, we have to go buy groceries every couple of days, because we eat fresh food.  All the packaged food has too many additives and takes up too much space in the pantry.

I have gone through my book collection and donate to my library on a regular basis.  Some books I have to keep because I refer to them a lot.  Others?  Well, I do not have a need to keep something I am not going to re-read so why let it collect dust?  I work in a library and live within walking distance of one, I can request a copy and borrow it.   Even libraries weed their book collections.   I tend to pass along my music/entertainment biographies, because those should be passed around.   I do not buy a Blu-Ray or DVD unless I absolutely know I am going to watch it over and over.  We have gotten a lot of TV shows on DVD as gifts and some I will keep.  Others?  They can be sold and/or donated.  If something has been replaced on Blu-Ray, the DVD needs to go.  If not, I will not buy the Blu-Ray if it doesn't have the same extras the DVD has.  It's pointless.

 My fiance is a collector and we are both album hoarders.   I recently read an article about a DJ that sold and unloaded his complete record collection to Amoeba!  The article is right here: http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2013/04/los-angeles-me/cut-chemist-sells-his-entire-record-collection-to-amoeba-hollywood.html  At first, I was thinking wow, I could never do that.   But then I thought about it and I get it.  It's nice to have the actual back up and be old school with the turn table and the Cd player, because computers are not always reliable and you can lose files at any time.   But it's nice to travel light as well.  With all music and just about everything else going digital, it is a smart way to go.  I can imagine how much space he has now in his home!   People always think "Well what if I lose stuff?  Or need it? ".  Well, it can be replaced.  Especially if it's an object or material good.  What we cannot get back is time.

Finding a balance between space, stuff and organization for some of us is more challenging than we think.  We are sentimental and stuff gives you a sense of having something.  Even though you can be completely broke, you have a storage unit and/or a house full of objects that will begin to have no value unless you use it.  I am working towards only having things around that I love and use.