Minimalist Living Part 1 - Identifying Areas of Clutter

Sunday, March 22, 2015

I've always been inspired by minimalists; from people who build their own seasonal capsule wardrobes to people who live in 200 square feet apartments. As much as I like those lifestyles though, I don't think that is something I can attain at the moment. But there are elements of minimalism that I would like to bring to my current life situation, such as decluttering. 


In this post I wanted to identify the areas of clutter in my life and set goals to aim to reduce the clutter. This is not an overnight project but something that will probably take several months. 

Makeup 
Lord knows I have too much of this. I have already told myself that I would not buy any makeup until 2016 - so far so good. I even cancelled my ipsy subscription this month (yes, I did have it for 3 months of this year but I was too lazy to cancel it). This will allow me to reduce the space that my makeup takes, and also really appreciate the items I have and love them. (I plan to catalog my collection in upcoming posts). 

Hair/Body/Skincare
These products take up A LOT of space. Even though I use it all and I know that I'll go through it, I do have too much at any given time (5 body butters, 3 body creams, 4 lotions, 5 deoderants, don't even get me started on skincare). My goal is to not buy any more until I have run out (which will probably be next year, let's be real). This will allow me more space in my home, essentially.

Clothes
This will be the hardest area to hit. My item count is probably over 300 and that does not include socks, underwear, and jewelry. But I have a very hard time getting rid of something I spent money on unless I've gotten the full benefit out of it or it is damaged (which is why I still have clothes from highschool, and since they still fit, I don't see any reason to get rid of them). After sorting through my clothes mildy, I noticed that I had too many multiples of items; ie 3 hoodies, 8 cardigans, 12 shirts, 10 sweaters, etc. And I really don't need that many, but my little brain can justify every single thing. 
I would like to declutter significantly and only have the clothes I love. What I would love to do is build my own capsule wardrobe, but I feel like I'd have to actually shop to do that, so that's not something I want to jump into without thinking about it.
To help me decide on clothes I no longer want/need, I am going to do the reverse hanger trick: place all the hangers in the reverse direction from how you would normally hang your clothes. Return worn clothes in the correct direction and after a period of time determined by the person, consider giving aay the items with hangers that are still facing the other direction (ie the items that you have not reached for in x amount of time). I plan to do this until January 2016, so I can go through the summer and fall/winter seasons before getting rid of the clothes.


The areas that I am surprisingly good at not cluttering are the following: sheets (I only have 2 sets) and towels. Jeez.




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