Spring Cleaning - Part 1

As much as women LOVE to buy new things, I think, generally, we love to PURGE the old!

This past Monday, I decided to get on the ball and do some Spring cleaning. I usually have it done by the first week of May but with 3 of my *Littles* living with me for the past month, I'm a bit behind. So monday was Day 1 and I tackled my closet!

Moving from 4000 sq ft to 900 sq ft has presented some major dilemmas, one of them being...NO CLOSET SPACE! I am an organizational freak and LOVED all of my massive closets in my last house...now, {sigh} I have 2...TWO...DOS...so I have to really be organized! In my last house, we had a master closet that was the size of our spare bedroom (not kidding!) but, alas, I now have one small closet that I use and so I have to use it wisely! (my hubs uses the one in his office!) There are 6 built-in drawers so I went through them as well...ahhhh, felt so good!

I like to launder all of the items that have been in storage before I hang them up so that takes up most of the day. As I emptied the bins, I promptly filled them up with my winter items...putting my shoes into separate bins. MAN, I have a LOT of shoes!! I HATE wearing them and if you stop by my house, I will NEVER have any on...but since I have to wear them in public, I like to have nice ones and I have a LOT!! So my winter shoes/boots filled up 2 huge bins! It was actually pretty disturbing because, as much as I hate wearing them, I hate parting with them even more! So I kept them all...Did I mention that I ADORE hats?? Yep...didn't get rid of any...

Then I started going through ALL of my clothes and made 3 piles. One was the "keeper" pile and they went into the empty bins. One was the "donation" pile which I will donate to our local thrift store and one was the "daughter" pile...yes, my girls raid my closet on a regular basis so I figure I'll give them first dibs on things that I know they want!

It felt so good to pack and store away my dreary winter duldrums in those storage bins...5 in all. My closet now sports clean, colorful warm-weather clothing and I couldn't be happier!...AND, I have room for new purchases!

I am one of these Mix-n-Match kind of gals who buys items that can be transformed into multiple outfits and I must say, I do pretty good at it...but things have gotten out of control and I had way too much! So, since I purged so many, (I had no idea how many items I haven't worn in years, so they are g.o.n.e) I now look forward to going shopping and replenishing my wardrobe...I am going to try, however, to limit myself and shop smartly!

So there you have it! I tossed, gave away and stored to my hearts content! My closet is clean, organized and when I go into it I smile!

Closet √ ...Next, my back storage room...YIKES, Beware, enter at your own risk!!