Minimalizing My Wardrobe

I’m not a minimalist.  The idea sounds very freeing to me but I’m nowhere near it… yet.  I own more than 200 things (waaaay more than 200 things!) but I’ve realized that I don’t like stuff no matter what my name implies.  I’d rather accumulate memories from fun experiences than “souvenirs” that I’ve picked up along the way.  Over the past few years, we’ve taken out at least 3 times as much stuff as we’ve brought into our house.  Progress through baby steps! 

Seriously, we do not need 18 wooden spoons.  We’re now down to four.

 Plus, did you know there are plenty of charities that are more than happy to pick up your donations right from your front porch?!?  It’s true!  These guys are great and what a great group of people to help along the way.

Just a little donation.

 Wait!  This was supposed to be about my wardrobe!  I have donated so much of my wardrobe that I can’t even guess how much but I know that I currently own way less than half of what I had when we moved into our house 7 years ago because now EVERYTHING fits into my closet with plenty of room to spare.  I used to have four different places for clothes!  I’ve implemented the one-thing-comes-in-one-thing-goes out model.  That was the easy part – kind of.  

This summer, I’ve added a new dimension.  I’m only buying things in shades of blue or black.  I’ve always gravitated to these colors but then I’d second guess myself and say, “oh, but I don’t have anything pink/orange/purple paisley and buy something that I’d never wear because it wasn’t blue-ish.”  My idea is that if everything is either blue/blue-green or black that most everything should be able to be mixed and matched.  This goes for work clothes too.  Black yoga pants.  Now that’s a stretch.

I can see at least 5 things in there that I could give away today and not notice.

Look even my hangers are blue.  I’ve donated so many hangers that I’ve been able to eliminate all hangers from our house that are not blue, green, or white.  It’s the little things.  They really do add up to big things.  Plus, when something looks good, it makes me feel better too.  Probably most importantly though, it's easy to connect the dots between owning less stuff and being nicer to the planet. 

What about you?  Would you be happier with fewer colors in your wardrobe?

Peace,

Stacey