The 333 Minimalist Challenge/Project - End

January has arrived achingly slowly and all too soon it's almost over. At the start of October 2010, I thought it would be fun and interesting to limit myself to thirty-three things chosen from accessories and clothes, excluding home loungewear, workout clothes, and undergarments.

In the process, I learned that a smaller selection can be uncomfortable to choose from. However, I had to practice discernment, resourcefulness, and self-discipline. A convenient part was when I wore the same casual dressy outfit to church, meetings, or leadership situations without three thoughts. Fun times included wearing a pair of strappy gold heels in icy cold weather because I was so bored with the classic flats. My brother commented on my footwear that time. Weather-appropriate shoes worn a hundred times will elicit less attention than a single instance of foolery. :P


The week before I ended on the 15th, I was strongly tempted to cut my three months short. Finishing the project gave me a sense of accomplishment that would have been diminished if I had given in, so I'm glad I did not!


Now, I am more grateful for jewelry in particular, and have worn different bracelets in the past three days already. I also have a new appreciation for clothes that are flattering and wear well. Consequently, there's another two bags of miscellaneous possessions and unused garments. Obviously, I needed far less than I had hanging up - might as well get rid of the stuff that wasn't up to snuff.


Happy simplifying :)

Organizing with Purses!

I always like finding new ways to use everyday items, especially if those items are only used to 25% of the time or less. While purses and various bags are not found in everyone's wardrobe, they are most often found stacked, stored, shoved, and hung in a woman's closet. I am no exception. I also have collections of other pretties like scarves and mardi gras beads *cough cough*. However, a bag is a bag is a bag. As such, it is made for holding things, even if it is black crocodile skin and has a little loop for your wrist. With this in mind, I figured they would be handy for neatly storing my other collections:

1. Hair care
2. Hair styling
3. Nail kit
4. Electronics and batteries
5. Sunglasses and prescription lenses
6. Medecin
7. Travel size items
8. Shower things
9. Jewelry 

Hair Care and Primping Pile

Of course, before it could all fit, I had to eliminate a sizeable amount of superfluous things in these categories. I used a grading system of ABC - A to indicate heavy use (more than once a week); B to signify moderate use (once a week to twice a month), and C to show light use (once a month or less). I also added a fourth letter, "D", for those items which were for filing or long-term storage. Then I listed everything in columns under a designated letter.

The end result made me very pleased - what used to be taking up space waiting for me to air it out on the weekend is now working for me everyday. 

Clockwise from top left: Give away pile; jewelry and mardi gras beads;
electronics; nail kit; glasses; shower bag; hair care/tools.

Note: I didn't do this to all of my bags (no black wristlet in that photo). There's actually only two official purses I used, in addition to two make-up bags and a beach bag. Furthermore, a purse wasn't suitable for holding my jewelry, but my old hair accessory holder was perfect!