In December 2020, I bought my first Wool& merino wool dress and I wore it for 100 days in a row. The challenge changed everything for me.
Tagged with: 100 day challenge, closets, minimalism, simplicity, wardrobe, wool&
If you have evening gowns or maxi dresses, you know how they can graze the ground even in your long-hanging area of your closet. That’s bad enough. But if you don’t have a long-hanging area in your closet, it’s really challenging to hang long dresses and keep them in great shape.
I thought I’d pass along a little tip that helped me keep my closet from getting overcrowded. This is no longer an issue since I’ve minimized my wardrobe and cut back drastically on clothes shopping. But back in the days when I shopped for fun, I often faced an overcrowded closet.
Tagged with: closets, minimalism, project 333, wardrobe
Saturday was Day 100 of the Wool& 100 Day Dress Challenge I started on December 4. For 100 days in a row, I wore the same dress, the Rowena Swing dress from Wool&. I’m writing this on Day 101 and guess what…I put the dress on again this morning!
Tagged with: 100 day challenge, closets, minimalism, simplicity, wardrobe, wool&
I’m three-quarters through with the 100-day dress challenge! I’ve worn the same black wool-blend dress every day since December 4, 2020. I’m still thoroughly enjoying the challenge and I absolutely love the ease of dressing that it’s provided.
Tagged with: 100 day challenge, closets, minimalism, simplicity, wardrobe, wool&
Fifty days ago today, I put on my Rowena swing dress from Wool& and took on their challenge of wearing the same dress for 100 days in a row.
Tagged with: 100 day challenge, closets, minimalism, simplicity, wardrobe, wool&
As I mentioned here about three weeks ago, I am participating in a 100-day dress challenge from Wool&, the maker of wool-blend dresses that has challenged people to wear one of their dresses for 100 days straight. Those of us who do will receive a $100 gift card toward the purchase of another dress at the end of the 100 days.
Tagged with: 100 day challenge, closets, minimalism, simplicity, wardrobe, wool&
Last week my friend and podcast co-host, Shannon Wilkinson told me about Wool& and their 100-day challenge. Wool& sells simple wool-blend dresses and they have challenged customers to wear one of their dresses for 100 days in a row. After 100 straight days of (photo-documented) dress wearing, you receive a $100 gift card for another dress.
Tagged with: 100 day challenge, closets, minimalism, simplicity, wardrobe, wool&
It’s the fifth and final day of my Tiny Projects challenge! It’s been fun to look around and identify little projects that pack a punch. Today, I spent a half hour on the Elfa rolling file cart that lives under my desk.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, closets, organizing, paper management, tiny projects
Today, I turned my attention to a tiny challenge that has a big impact: the area of my desk that I look at constantly. I probably view this area of my desk more minutes a day than anything else in my home, except probably my computer monitor.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, clean desk, closets, organizing, tiny projects
Today, I spent a half hour tidying and organizing one of the closets in my office. My office used to be a bedroom and it has a large closet, whose sliding doors I removed, where I store my office supplies. (If you’re curious, I did a before-and-after of that closet a few years ago in this post.) But the office also has a small reach-in closet, original to the 1908 house. In it, I store two rolling file carts, some archival things, and mostly genealogy-related items.
Tagged with: 15 minutes, closets, organizing, tiny projects
I wrote this blog post in 2015, after a delightful visit from my friend Geralin Thomas. I’ve updated it a little, including adding that Geralin is now selling an inexpensive Wardrobe Wisdom Workbook and adding my new favorite resale shop now that the Scholarshop is closed. Geralin is my secret weapon when it comes to looking good. I’m so lucky (and grateful)!
Tagged with: closets, geralin thomas, mindful shopping, minimalism, shopping, wardrobe, worth repeating
Last year, I learned about Holding Hangers , an innovative style of pants or skirt hanger that had just been made available in the U.S. My colleague, certified professional organizer C. Lee Cawley of Simplify You in the Washington, D.C., area, had seen these hangers in Europe and decided to import and distribute them in the U.S.
Tagged with: c. lee cawley, closets, hangers, holding hangers, organizing products
I had one of those great experiences yesterday that reminds me how my clients often feel when we work together. I had met a woman who was interested in pursing a career as a professional organizer but had no experience beyond working in her own home and helping her family members get organized.
Since she was someone I might hire and train, we decided to do an organizing session at my house to see how she liked it and what her organizing style was like. (Turns out she’s a natural!)
Tagged with: closets, decluttering, professional organizer, working with a professional organizer
I’m really excited that my friend, Dacy Gillespie of mindful closet, has created a live e-course that can help you make space in your closet and time in your life for more enjoyable things than getting dressed.
Tagged with: closets, dacy gillespie, mindful shopping, wardrobe
I learned this year about Le Tote , a subscription company that sends you clothes to wear and then send back to them.
For $59-$79 a month, depending on how many items you want, they’ll send you at least two totes a month. (The $59 tote contains three articles of clothing and two accessories.) Once you send back a tote, they’ll send you the next one.
On July 1, 2016 I decided to try out Courtney Carver’s Project 333, an experiment in having a minimal wardrobe. I thought I’d do it for a year, but I think I’m hooked. Each quarter, I select 33 articles of clothing from which to dress for the next three months. The clothes I don’t wear, but don’t want to give away, reside in bins in my basement. I’ve blogged about my collection each time I’ve made the selection.
Tagged with: closets, minimalism, project 333, wardrobe
On July 1, 2016, I embarked on what I thought would be a year-long experiment with Project 333 the minimalist clothing project created by Courtney Carver and followed by people all over the world. I’d heard Courtney speak in St. Louis on her Tiny Wardrobe Tour and was inspired to give it a try.
Tagged with: closets, minimalism, project 333, wardrobe
I see a lot of clients who have trouble keeping up with the laundry. They may be overwhelmed by the sheer quantity. Or the problem may be that it’s too hard to put the clean clothes away, so they end up staying in baskets. Whatever the reason, unfinished (or unstarted) laundry can be a real source of stress.
When I decided to try out Project 333 in July of last year, I decided it would be a year-long experiment in trying to dress with less. This is my fourth quarter, so the year is almost up. I’m still loving it!
Tagged with: closets, minimalism, project 333, wardrobe
In July, I started what I think will be a year-long experiment with Project 333, the challenge created by Courtney Carver of the Be More with Less blog, in which participants dress from a 33-item wardrobe collection for 3 months at a time. I heard Courtney speak here in St. Louis in June and was intrigued.
Yesterday, I spent a little time picking out my clothing for the first quarter of 2017. Here’s the thing that struck me: The longer I do this, the easier it gets. The first two times, I narrowed options down to 40 or so and then had to whittle that away. Yesterday, there was no whittling. My first pass at a collection was less than 33, then I added a couple of things. The whole process took me fifteen minutes or less.
Tagged with: closets, minimalism, project 333, wardrobe
September 30 was the end my first Project 333 season. From July 3 to yesterday October 2, I had only 33 wardrobe items from which to choose when getting dressed each day. In a nutshell, the 33 items included clothing, shoes, jewelry and accessories. It did not include underwear, sleepwear, loungewear, or exercise clothes. It also did not include dog-walking clothes. Please read my August 1 explanation of Project 333 for complete details.
Tagged with: closets, minimalism, project 333, wardrobe
Maybe you’ve heard of Project 333 It’s the brainchild of Courtney Carver of Be More with Less. She designed this challenge for herself in 2010 and encouraged her blog readers to follow suit. It swept the nation and is going strong. It dovetails nicely with the current interest in minimalism.
Tagged with: closets, minimalism, project 333, wardrobe
For the last eight years I’ve been fortunate enough to be friends with Geralin Thomas, a professional organizer and wardrobe consultant who has patiently been trying to educate me on what to wear and how to wear it. (I like looking nice, but I lack confidence in knowing what looks great on me and how to put together outfits.)
Tagged with: closets, geralin thomas, mindful shopping, minimalism, shopping, wardrobe
My friend and fab professional organizer, Geralin Thomas, came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. One of the services Geralin offers her clients is wardrobe organization, which includes closet organizing and wardrobe selection. She helped me six years ago (time flies!) and I leaped at the chance to have her help me with my wardrobe again.
Tagged with: closets, geralin thomas, mindful shopping, minimalism, shopping, wardrobe
If you have trouble parting with clothes, you’re not alone. Even Oprah Winfrey has a tough time, as I explained in this 2010 blog post. Incidentally, I still adore the fact that the clothes in my closet are organized by color!
Tagged with: closets, decluttering, geralin thomas, oprah, worth repeating
My husband and I have lived in our home for 22 years. (Well, four of those 22 years we lived in New York City, so I guess it’s 18 years.)
One of the big frustrations in the house for all those years was the master-bedroom closet had sliding doors. These were oversize sliding doors—in other words, each one was more than half as wide as the closet.
Tagged with: change, closets, clutter clearing, declutter, decluttering
Our old house has two full baths and there’s one that’s primarily my domain. I shower there and get ready for my day. My husband rarely steps foot in it.
So I have no one to blame but myself that the bathroom closet was a nightmare. For something like ten years, items went in and seldom came out.
Tagged with: bathrooms, closets, clutter, declutter, decluttering
There must be something in the air. In the four weeks between February 28 and March 28 I have five speaking engagements. You can read all about them on the Events page of this website.
Tagged with: closets, decluttering, habits, routines, speaking
Thanks to my colleague Jeri Dansky’s fabulous blog, Jeri’s Organizing & Decluttering News, I discovered Closet Visit, a blog from artist Jeana Sohn. She photographs stylish women interacting with their clothing and shoes, and in their closets, with beautiful close ups of things like garments and jewelry.
Tagged with: closest visit, closets
My office is in a bedroom of my house. It has two closets, one of which is a small reach-in closet that’s original to our 103-year-old house.
Tagged with: closets, container store, elfa, sally brown
Cleaning out the clothes closet is difficult for many people. Clothes can represent so much — like music, they can do a great job of capturing a feeling about an occasion or part of life. They also can represent hopes. You hope to wear that size again. Or you hope to have an occasion to wear that evening gown.
Tagged with: closets, decluttering, geralin thomas, oprah
Spring has hit St. Louis. It’s been in the 80s this week. The fruit trees and redbuds are starting to flower. Daffodils are out. It’s fabulous.
Tagged with: closets, declutter happy hour, decluttering, order
There are so many ways to learn. Personally, I’m an auditory learner so I love audio. To me, the perfect info product comes in the form of downloadable calls or teleclasses I can listen to on my iPod Touch.
But many people are visual learners and seeing what is being taught is very helpful to them. That’s why I’m so excited about the new video learning opportunities being offered by my friends at Organizing Connection.
Tagged with: closets, decluttering, organizing connection, organizing products, organizing resources
I had a day yesterday that was absolute heaven. My friend, Geralin Thomas, who among other things does wardrobe consulting, is in town for the annual conference of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization. She came in a day early, arriving at 8 a.m. yesterday morning, to see me and to do some wardrobe organizing and enhancing.
Tagged with: aby garvey, closets, geralin thomas, shopping, wardrobe
Over at Unclutterer today, they have a post on clothes hangers. What are the best clothes hangers? That’s an individual decision, but the Unclutterer article spells out the options.
Tagged with: closets, geralin thomas, hangers, saint louis closet company