The before pictures are here!!!

So here we have a photo of my new friend, Joy, creator of Huggable Hangers. As you may recall, I have enlisted the help of said hangers in the scaling back of my closet through the next ten

months. I can already tell a difference in the sections of my closet where wire and/or plastic hangers have been replaced with HH. My one disappointment is that the hangers I bought about 6 months ago from Target are a slightly different color and height than the ones I have been aquiring lately. All in all though, I am pleased with the progress.

And speaking of my closet, I finally have pictures of the "before" to share! As you can see, I have more than enough clothes to last at least a year (maybe more!) without any new purchases. My goal is for the after pictures to look much more organized and well-edited. To the left is where most of my more formal, work appropriate clothing hangs. If you've ever been in my closet, this is on your right as you enter from my bedroom. Above the hanging clothes are (from left to right) sweatshirts, t-shirts, shorts/pj pants, and jeans. Below is my hamper that is on permanent loan from my sister (thanks Lins!) where I can sort dirty clothes into whites, darks, and dry clean piles. To the left of my hamper I have a storage box where I keep purses that I am not currently using.

This picture is what you see to your right if you are exiting the bathroom. Hanging on this side are dresses, t-shirts, light coats, extra hangers, and scarves/belts. Above are a few shoe boxes, a kniting project that I bought years ago but never started, the beginnings of a couple of quilts (more on those later) and shorts/capris. On the wall to the left are some hanging shoe racks. Hanging on the right are drawers. I store my perfume and jewelry on top of the drawers. Below the hanging clothes I have a couple of shoe shelves, as well as a collection of shoe boxes with most of the shoes still in them. Below the hanging drawers I store my backpack and other weekend type bags.

So there you have it~a virtual tour of the space that started it all! I'd like to say that big changes are happening, but in reality it is the slow changes happening everyday in my closet that will make a big difference by July 1, 2011, so stay tuned!!!

My first slip-up!

No, it wasn't a fabulous pair of Louboutins, or a great new cardi from J.Crew. Instead it was a $6 YWCA t-shirt. I sit on the board of directors, and it is a worthy cause, but what I find a little bit scary is that it didn't dawn on me that I was cheating on my plan until I got the email that the shirts were in and ready for pick up. OOPS! I felt a little bit guilty and a little bit disappointed in myself when I realized what I had done. Being a perfectionist, I came into this challenge fully prepared to succeed without any errors. Now that perfection is out of the way (ha!) I am thinking ahead to the next 10 months. In the grand scheme, $6 and one shirt is pretty minimal, but I don't want to make slip-ups a habit. Hopefully this will be the only post with that label!

On another note, Anthro sent me a nice birthday card with a coupon for 10 or 15% (I can't remember which) off my entire purchase at one of their stores this month. I look forward to their cute birthday wishes every year. They have such creative ideas. This time around it was a cream necklace with a little birthday candle bead on it. Sadly, the candle broke in several places in the mail, but it's the thought that counts. I decided to pay it forward and give the coupon to a friend who was headed to the Cities, just in case she made it to an Anthro store. I may not be shopping this year, but it doesn't mean I don't look fondly over the pretty pages of the latest Anthro catelog, gathering ideas for next July!

One month down!

And only 11 to go! So far so good with no slip-ups. I have found that I am wearing things I haven't worn in forever, and I am getting compliments. A plain black dress with an old black and white polka dot scarf=supercute belted dress. An old coco colored sweater shell over a blue button down=polished sweater vest look. Knee length yellow plaid shorts with a plain white tee=course appropriate golf attire.

I've decided to keep the ball rolling by investing in some more Huggable Hangers. At $20 for 20 hangers, they are a little spendy (especially compared to the free ones I get when I have my clothes dry cleaned) but they keep my closet looking more organized, they keep things hung nicely, and they really do take up less space than plastic hangers. The other great thing is that I can keep track of what I've been wearing by hanging newly-washed or cleaned clothes on the H.H. My stack of hangers to donate has been growing!

Oh, and I finally did get around to taking some pictures of the pre-reform closet. Look for them soon! I'm hoping that a year will bring a much more organized looking space.