The Wardrobe/Closet Disaster Zone Fix

this post is inspired by @ClassyFabSarah  on twitter and her hoarder's closet/wardrobe drama.

here are my top tips on how to clear out a wardrobe :)

before you begin

• pick a large block of time
• get a nice, tall glass of something cool and refreshing
• put some good, upbeat, positive music on, for example, Pink, or Less Than Jake
• find a notepad and pen
• clear your bed
• get a floor length mirror
• fetch a roll of bin bags/refuse bags (this is not drastic, but needed depending on how big your Closet/Wardrobe (C/W) is to get everything from your C/W. (hangers are the exception and have to stay) on the bed- once EVERYTHING is on the bed, put hangers into order, in middle.
• do not throw things on the floor, your back will not love you when you're picking up your 53rd item to try on.
• peel off two bin bags. put one at each side of your bed, the one nearest the door is bag 1, the other, bag 2

For Starters

• when you hang something back into your closet, use a running order, my personal order is colour and type, but some people go for functionality, ie, work, play, night, holiday. If you go for colour, don't put black and navy together. 
• invest in storage; if you are not a bikini/swimsuit wearer for 70% of the year, put it away in a suitably sized box, with your goggles and noseclip.
• if you have things hung up in your wardrobe that you will never again wear but they hold special memories, put them in a pretty keepsake box.
• don't stop. do not leave the room unless you need to go to the bathroom or have run out of suitable cool drink-age, and even then, put it off, once you stop, you wont want to start again, and then it will be very messy in your bedroom!

•  now time to try everything on, one thing at a time, obvs. infront of the full-length mirror.

• if you have worn it in the last 6 months and LOVE it, hang it up
• if its classic and timeless and you love it, but havent worn it in a year, hang it up.
• if its damaged beyond repair pop it in BAG 1 (the side of the bed, by the door, remember?)
• if its grotty, stained, discoloured etc, pop it in BAG 1
• if its in okay condition but you HATE it pop it in BAG 2
• if its in okay condition but has any negative memories attached, pop it in BAG 2
• if its more than 2 sizes too big or small and you're unlikely to wear it again, pop it in a BAG (depending on its condition)
• if you havent worn it in 6 months but intend to, and it still looks good on you, hang it up.
• if it makes you uncomfortable, you wont look good in it because your confidence wont be giving you a glow, so its probably best being put in BAG 2 
• if you've had those shoe for 4 months, and have been wearing them and they still give you blisters. i hate to break it to you but they don't fit. keep them forever and ever and carry on damaging your precious feet. BAG them

The above is the main stuff, obviously not everything will fall into these categories, and half of your clothes will be sat on the bed, make a mental note of what is sat in front of you, and  try and wear it more. else you may as well pop it in a BAG

its not rocket science, but just in case you haven't figured it out, BAG 1 is for your rubbish/garbage bin and BAG 2 is for charity/Goodwill/scavenging friends and family

• don't be too sentimental, your mum may have bought you that dress when you were 15 but now you're 32 it wont look so good. i don't care if it fits or not.
• if you haven't worn it in the past 12 months (a full year, a full 4 seasons, a full spectrum of weather and events) you probably wont wear it in the next 12 months.
• things do come back into fashion. but be reasonable.
• the clearer you set out your C/W, the easier it will be to shop. you may have forgotten about that dress, or that top, those shoes, because they had been missed due to overcrowding. i'm not talking a capsule wardrobe here, i'm just saying, when you have 30 black tops in your C/W, its hard to recall one unless they're all together and easy to browse
• set a pile aside for the damaged, a dropped stitch in a chunky sweater, a worn heel, a broken zip, a hole in an underarm... and fix them! in this day an age, if you cant fix a pulled thread in a sweater, you will have a friend who can, i have at least 4 people. a worn heel is easily replaced by a cobbler, a broken zip buy a dressmaker (or previous handy friend and a zip from a haberdashery) and a hole in an underarm, previous friends may be on call again! - if its all the same friend (not the cobbler) they may be bribed with wine and pizza to fix the lot :)

i love sorting thru peoples C/W's :)

i think at Charlotte's we binned one bag and had 4 for the charity shop. at Helen's we had 2 or three i think for garbage and about 8 for the charity shop, her mum had told her she would buy her something new for every 4th item we got rid of, i think Helen's still waiting for that one haha!

when your closet or wardrobe is looking lovely and you're still buzzing... go thru your drawers, literally! have a good look at your underwear and your socks and sleepy-wear. is it all in good nick? are those off white, broken elastic knickers really your best look?

you know that paper and pen i mentioned at the start? while you go thru, or at the end, make a note of what you need to be on the look out for (some boots to jazz up a few winter outfits, a skirt to set off those tops, a new swimsuit) and try not to buy away from your list when you go shopping (dont add stuff for the sake of it!)

also make a note of what you're getting rid of, ie tops 7, jeans 1, sweaters 3, shoes 8, knickers 15 shirts 4 etc, it will amaze you how much you hoard :)

when you do buy something off the list, make sure its not just a seasonal whim. make sure its something you can wear with something you already own as-well. avoid buying whole new outfits. its a waste of money, you probably already have half the items already suitable in your wardrobe!

if you take the doors off your wardrobe if saves time looking, and you're more likely to keep it in order.

i also have a big box, its called fat-bag. it keeps all my skinny or my really fat clothes if you fluctuate like me. i have another for seasonal clothes.


let me know how you get on!

Hey! long time no blog, im sorry! i hope you havent forgotten about me...?

after the nasty virus computer i have spent less and less time on here. ive deleted loads of stuff off of facebook, and people off there and off twitter and alsorts, im having a bit of a clear out (tho i really need to crack on with my house)

also trying to plan the wedding (so over this, its boring and annoying and i just want to be married AND WHY CANT PEOPLE RSVP?!?!)

and breathe...

so im on holiday this week and trying to get as much sorted as possible. and my hair. my hair. my hair is AWFUL. my roots are fierce and the rest of my hair is YELLOW and GINGER.

and theres nothing i can do. it needs to rest before the wedding. it has GROWN tho. omg has it grown. this past month it must have done an inch, its suddenly past my shoulders. its brilliant!

i had gotten really disenchanted with my dress. when we went for izzy to have her dress fitting, i tried it on again, i like it better once more. ive been having really bad dreams about it being wrong on the day and stressing and such. i cant see the end result. this isnt a room im decorating slowly, or a book display i can swap about, this is a wedding dress and mine hasnt arrived yet, im still only trying on the store copy which is at least a foot too long for me (cos im ickle, obvs) and a touch too tight (cos im a fat bastard) and its currently just wrong. the lady in the shop said this is common, because its out of my control and its not something i can just take home and play with, i just have to wait.

the florist has gone awol. we have heard nothing. i want my quote else i really need to find someone else (if he fails me im just gonna call David Austin Roses in the Midlands for some bits)
and make up? the girl who has been recommended is someone i used to work with in my previous life. she is saccharine sweet and she may be amazeballs but i dont think i want her doing my make up. it wouldn't feel right, so i have called some other people, and only one person has got back to me, i like her but theres not much to see of her work. im waiting to see about the others calling me back atm before i say a definite yes.

im drinking lots today also, for some reason im majorly thirsty, my period has kicked in so i feel shitty. ugh. but so far the week has been good more or less. im going to clear some shit of my hard drive and then go to bed and look at what we cant afford for our honeymoon...

:D

if you know me you know my car is gross inside, im sorry, i neglect it, but thats just me.

but tonight i cleaned it.

no idea why

im on an organizational spree.

if you know me, you know im always a bit of a Monica. infact the boyf takes the mickey on a regular basis.
i like things done only the way i do it.
i like things where i put them.
i like things in order.
everything is mine.
i dont share.
i cook too much food.
i have a closet like she has. that place to be disorganized (until i find me feet in this house thats more than one place atm)


in other news...

i went to Holmfirth Art Week to collect my stuff today!! will put up pics of what i bought, when i charge my camera... dad also took me to meltham to fill my tyres at the petrol station as i went to their house complaining my tyres were creating a noise dogs would hate me for- they were down, really really down to what they shoudl have been, which would explain the screaming and the fact ive been burning petrol!!!

my window still isnt fixed, but should be on tuesday! yay yay there is a man coming to repalce the pane :D

the boyf and i went to Flamborough yesterday, and whilst stuck in horrific traffic on the motorway, i burnt my arm. its horrific sunburn, and worse of all- i was wearing a tshirt so i have a white shoulder cap :( it was the hottest place in Yorkshire yesterday, i cant believe it!

i am currently alphabetizing my dvd collection...

monica

Hi, I don't know if you know me, but... I hoard. I do, I collect everything, I have a quirky sense or style and am a bitch to buy for, but ultimately, I hoard.

I just sat down in my bathroom and for the second time this week had a route thru the 6 drawers in there. And now have an almost full bin, mostly of out of date products. And stuff I don't need. Stuff that cream with me from mum and dads house. From that bathroom cabinet I had that was filled to the brim with stuff. And that shelf that looked fit to collapse. I always knew where everything was, it was brilliant. but I have just thrown something away that expired back in 2007. I'm slightly ashamed. Its a job I love to do, have a clearout, I'm just better at doing it to stuff that's not mine, like mums kitchen, helens wardrobe, and god I wish I could have had a crack at izzys room. That would have been heaven.

For I love to tidy, everything has a home. clean and organize, and as the boyf repeatedly said to me earlier whilst watching friends. I am. Monika.

yay

for starters, my friend from dayoldnews has given me some wonderful wedding starting support/advice and im today off to buy some big card for moodboards so i can pin/stick all my loves to it, as i need to come up with some sort of theme...

yesterday i got a rocket up my ass following mondays cleaning and tidying, and when i got up (stupidly early if you ask me) at half eight (im on holiday grr) and started sorting the attic, which i have to say is now clear! theres Sylvainia in one corner, my art supplies in another, boardgames in a third and a few boxes of toys in a forth, but its clear! yay! first time since we've moved in, and i did all in the sliding storage cupboard up there too, as thats where most of the detritus went!

then, i started on the little room, which has wardrobes with all my clothes in, and up til now, stored all my shoes, boots and books and bags and all other kinds of flotsum and jetsam thats somehow worked its way in... anyway, i started on it, then lisa came over and helped me finish it (infact, she moved most of the stuff before i realised) so now all my books and, ahem, crap are in the room im still sleeping in due to the boyfs shoulder and his sudden horrific snoring... and all my shoes?? theyre lining the stairs to the attic, i have loads, im going to get rid of some... as i have (including sandals/boots etc) over 40 pairs. all my sandals are in drawers in my wardrobe, my boots are sat infront of them... just so many! and 85% i cant wear in this weather, which sucks... too cold damnit!

after that we went to my dentist, lisa signed up and i had my teeth cleaned, then talking to my hygenist, she said she'd just add us on herself this aft and jump the queue for us! whoop! so lisa and the boyf will soon have ace dentists!

then... lisa and i headed off shopping to THE TRAFFORD CENTRE, which rocks, and we did a 'bit' of shopping, i ate sushi first, then i bought a keyring, 4 amazing keepsake photo boxes, theyre like, a thick photoframe that you can pin things inside, like scraps of material, or like, a lock of hair, or a starfish or something, yknow, for holidays or babies or whatever, im well excited, and i got money off! then lisa bought a Denon stereo- well chuffed with that (i love my Denon stereo), she amusingly made the guy play Roots Radicals off my iPod really loud to try out a soundsystem! haha, he looked so uncomfortable!

i bought american magazines, a book on Canada (to go with my USA and New Zealand guides so we can choose a bloody honeymoon!) i bought 2 sweaters in French Connection (cos i dont have enough 'nice' clothes) and many many pairs of socks (6 in The Gap and i think 12 in Topshop) and i also got another 'nice' top in topshop and... in Selfridges at the Cath Kitson consession i got a new hangbag, which is green and spotty and marvelous and some earrings with butterflys on and some tote bags (as if i dont actually have enough), then i came home and had lemon marmalade on bread which is my fave snack atm... mmm

oooh, i didnt tell you did i? there was also candy floss, a bag of- from the popcorn vendor outside french connection... lisa and i fair devoured that... mmm

no so bad hausfrau

yay! the cleaner has just gone, she is lovely! she said ive to give her a ring when i need her again, she said shes not offended if i dont need her on a weekly basis (which i dont really) so i said thankyou and id call her when i needed her!

i dont feel as bad now, cos my house is uber clean and while shes been here ive got loads of unpacking and tidying done and im gonna hopefully manage to clean now!

yay :)

off for my hair doing now :) and to buy some travel books from work for honeymoon ideas!

bad hausfrau

ok, ive given in. i have. im a bad hausfrau.

the boyf said its just til we catch up with ourselves, i'm not totally happy and mmum will kill me... but i got grandad's cleaner to come today to help me with the house, so while im unpacking (STILL!) she's cleaning, i cant catch up with it all, its getting me down living in a dump, hopefully it will just be temporary til we're all settled, unpacked and sorted, then it should be easier. on the bright side, my house will be shiney clean, tidy, shes really nice, quick and cheap :)

i also have a boot full of stuff for the charity shop :)

You've Got Mail and other things...

im watching it right now, its nearly over, but i still love it, i still hate Meg Ryan (tho her daughter, Daisy ROCKS), but i pretend shes not here. tho i do love how she hops around her apartment at the beginning, how its all about fall when the movie starts, the bouquets of sharpened pencils, the books, pumpkins, books, New York. aol. DIAL UP!!! do you remember dial up?


i wish instead of working for my very own 'Fox Books', i wish i could work for a quaint little book store like 'the shop around the corner' that would be lovely. i wonder if thats whats Ottakar's was like, back in the day? i will ask the boyf.


I got my hair cut, i left the salon Saturday looking great, washed it monday and it looks shite. really. i dont know how i cant blow out my own hair. i suck.


i start pottery next monday. 8 days. im very excited. very scared. Kris has told me she will meet me at the door. so hopefully, i wont die of scaredness...


ive had an immensely mental past couple of weeks. i had a day out in bretton with the boyf. then a day out in bingley, work has been quite hellish. i decided to take down all my stuff from the top of my wardrobes, so thats like, hmm, a hundred books or more, and about 30 boxes, all my high school, college and random art work. and a mental amount of dust. ugh. its disgusting. my room is covered in boxes. COVERED. i cant move, and for some reason, my mind is dead and i keep adding shoes and clothes to the mess! i have a day off tomorrow/today (sunday) so i might have to sort it all out, im still trying to throw things away! i need help! i need someone to do to me what i can do to everyone else in my situation. i also need to wrap CareBears birthday present, that has created its own little pile by the door.


Speaking of Carebear, her new babysomething will be born on the 25th of this month. i know that the odds of it being a girl are as much as they are a boy, and that mostly we all secretly want a boy (as long as its healthy we dont give a damn really) but, to family tradition, we've all accepted now that its going to be a girl. same as i will have girls with the boyf and Sally will have when she gets pregnant again. its just the way it goes.


bonus, i found a bag of halloween stuff up there. from last year, i think i took it down when i put my xmas stuff up, the first week of december...! i have also bought more stuff in tk maxx... i cant wait to have a house to put it all in...


its now dawning on the boyf just how much i love hallowe'en


ive fallen out of lust with twitter. but into lust with some new games on facebook... im halfway thru season 6 of star trek TNG, DS9 will be next, but i cant afford it, after work cutting down my hours, and then always forgetting to pay my overtime, im very, very short on money. everything ive had this month has gone on books and food. again.


ooh speaking of boooooks... ive read 3 Janet Evanovich books now! Naughty Neighbor, Manhunt and Foul Play, and last night, ordered the first 6 in her Stephanie Plum series and another romance she co-wrote, so Hot Stuff off abebooks.co.uk (the co written one) Hot Stuff, One for the money, Two for the dough, Three to get deadly, Four to score, High five, and Hot six (i know these all off by heart now) are on their way for £2.50 a piece, all in the same style as the ones i just read, by style i mean, they will go when theyre sat on a bookshelf together, theyre all published by the same house, and they will probably be the same size from the original price. aaaaand theyre in the orginal cover. theyve done three or 4 other covers since the ones ive ordered came out, so im very pleased. and theyre all unread.... yes im sad. i know i am. i need a headcheck. im a pill.

boredom

so i dont get how this works, i have loads to do, and the time to do them in, yet. my body and mind have no will towards doing them. my rooms (bath and bed) desperately need vacuuming yet, im screwed, i cant do it, they also need dusting. my noticeboards need sorting (waaaaay overcrowded now) and my things put into my box of shit memories, my house/recipe/to buy idea box or the bin.
my collection of crap things for the house i do not yet have are taking over my room and thus i need to

a) make the conscious demand to myself to stop buying them and
b) move them to the spare room so i can get to my window!

i told myself today i would have a cooked breakfast and be out the door by one, go to the post office then be at the opticians for 2, meet joberry at 3 and then we can go and paint pottery, like i did last week with lala. theyve also not rang me so id like to know whats going on with my muffin-pot and lala's salt and pepper shakers.

i really hope i achieve all this as its 11.14am

damn!

Summer Clearout 2

well, not really a clearout really, ive had a good throw away of bits of paper that ive pulled from magazines and also thrown a pleated skirt and a blu top at the charity bag. more to come im sure this week.

Summer Clearout 1

2 vests,
2 sun dresses,
a shirt,
a bag

and an assortment of headbands, pots, potions and lotions, make up and generic crap. have had quite a mini clear out today. lots has been binned. will update this lateer in the week when i start on the rest of my wardrobe space!

in other news, we think we've found another house, we're waiting on a survey! im the only one thats seen it, and i put an offer in within an hour of seeing it! weeeeeeeeeeee!

books books books and blah

ok so i may be taking 33 to the charity shop, but this past week read entirely or finished...

Accidentally on Purpose by Mary F. Pols (www.maryfpols.com) which was brilliant and honest!
(i had another copy aswell cos i bought it twice >.< >Irresistible by Rachel Gibson which is a cute little black dress book! (litttleblackdress.com)

Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak which was fun, the movies coming out and i recently got a fab tshirt with the monster on so i thought id read up on it! (omg no pic on google!)

the Twilight Companion by Catherine Hardwicke, which is basically all her notes and shite. it was actually shite.

Avalon High Manga, which i have already so its gone to the charity shop untouched!!

The Eclectic Abecedarium by Edward Gorey- its a page for every letter of the alphabet and you get a little rhyme!

The Complete Aranzi Hour, which was FAB by Aranzi Aronzo, im so gonna buy up all the rest!

so yeh, ive been busy, ive also just worked 6 days in a row and have been sorting out my room, hense the clearout for charity! i look dreadful due to having a horrific period, and am very very very anaemic, i look like a fat crack-whore!

:(

xx

Spring Clearout 2!

ok this was a bit mental...


3 Shopping Bags
1 pair of evening shoes
1 pair of slipper boots
1 top
1 skirt w/belt
1 hat
1 pair pj pants
3 belts
6 necklaces
3 bracelets
1 'bathroom' sign
1 'hangover in process' sign
1 rubber duck
1 bacardi keychain
2 computer games
1 CD
11 DVDs
music trivial pursuit
1 photo frame
2 xmas decorations
1 scary scary decoration (see pic)



1 hello kitty bobble box
1 pair footless tights
5 purses [all completely impractical(see pic)



and

33 books! [mostly out of date travel] (see pic)




the books are off to the oxfam bookstore in town cos theyre all in pretty good nic, and the clothes and shite are all off to the oxfam shop across from where i work cos ive never taken stuff there before, and the charity shop in my village should be pretty full as Lu's mum has just donated her house to it!

argh

today is going so slowly! i'm so bored!
i woke at 8 am and totally couldn't get back to sleep, so at half nine i finally started tidying up and clearing stuff up and clearing stuff out again, yesterday i accumulated a refuse sack of possessions i no longer want or need to take to the charity shop at the end of the week, tho i find it impossible to get rid of books, there is a little pile in there also...

i've had a bath and lazed in the sun in my room and read a bit of The Birthing House (getting creepier), i was annoyed the boyf isn't here to coat me in body lotion tho, so my body is dry...
i've made a vegetable risotto and some sugar cookies (which i shall ice in a bit when they have cooled and decorate- i know they'll be sickly sweet)...
i've bummed about online, i've put on stupid clothes (i so wouldn't leave the house looking like this)...

*fatbag* is looking quite neat and tidy. *fatbag* was a bag at one point, then one of those storage cases, and now it is 2 gigantic plastic boxes, on wheels, that stacks in one of my wardrobes (2x63l) that are full of clothes that are too big, too small, or out of season in one, and the denim/surf shorts of this and my purses, wallets and clutches in another. yesterday i tried on everything in fatbag and got rid of the above, i might put a list up of everything i threw out... and i went thru my entire wardrobe (quite a feat) and updated *fatbag*, and put other stuff right into the charity bag!

i get way too attached to clothes, but yesterday i was a bit brutal...
i've yet to go thru my jackets and such. they're in the vestibule.
i need to remember to do that!

i've listened to lily allen's new album today about 12 times. yesterday about 3. and yesterday i listened to pinks new album 5 or so times. they both rock!

i think my cacti have had it. i watered them all on Sunday (them being my plants in my room, 2 cacti, a weird hair-like succulent and a trio of hyacinth). anyway when i looked today, they've not absorbed any of the water, even tho they were quite dry and the weird cacti (loads of lumps stuck together) was drying up in its body, it kind of inverts... anyway, as usual, ive killed them all...