yuck. my closet threw up.

My friend Colleen of Truly Noted recently introduced me to the amazingly wonderful Young House Love website. I can't get enough. I'm hooked on their beautiful aesthetic and commitment to a simple, uncluttered, green lifestyle. (Look at their house tour right here.) And while I want our house to represent who we are and not look straight out of a catalog, I envy the catalog-like beauty of perfectly organized closets.

That is why when Sherry and John of Young House Love blogged about reorganizing and uncluttering their closets, I was right on board with them. I have been on "stay-cation" this week, so it was the perfect opportunity to spend the day in the hot mess that has become my closet.

I present to you, my disheveled, overflowing closet...

Now, there is NO excuse for this. Jay has so graciously let me have the entire master bedroom closet AND half of HIS dresser, plus my own. I should also mention I have off-season clothes and shoes stored in the basement. *sigh* Yes, I own a lot of crap. My intent is to weed out the crap and only keep what I like, what fits, and what I actually wear the most.

Behold, the after. Ah, I can breathe again.

No more off-season storage in the basement. It's all here. My drawers have breathing room. What, you mean it wasn't normal to have to squish my clothes down every time I closed a drawer?!

And this is what my closet threw up...

Yes, that amounted to the equivalent of 7 (count 'em s-e-v-e-n) huge trash bags worth of clothes, shoes, coats, bags, and jewelry (some only worn once or with price tags still attached - cringe!). I am still hanging onto all this stuff for a little while longer until we have a yard sale this summer. What can I say, I'd appreciate just a few bucks for those dresses with the tags still attached! Whatever is left will happily be donated to Goodwill!

:: this is perhaps my favorite little organizing doohickie ever. So simple and such a great use of otherwise unused space in the guest room closet. ::

Thanks, Sherry and John for inspiring me! This wasn't just an exercise in organization, but in simplifying! I still consider myself far from living without excess, but this was a major step and something I'm vowing to be continually conscious of.