Last weekend, I was blessed by a visit from Jordana, owner of Talk & Tidy – a local home organization business that is about so much more than home organization! I admit I had postponed the visit twice already. Honestly, I figured she would take one look at my house and change her mind about helping me!
I’m a mess. Here’s a little video I made a couple of days before her visit. Please don’t judge...
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For our first challenge, Jordana and I took on my closet—or, rather—my clothing. All clothing in my house – shoes, coats, summer, winter, spring, fall, nightgowns, undies (that was painful!), slips, bras – it all had to come out of wherever it was and be heaped in a huge (and I mean HUGE) pile on my bed. I was exhausted (and humiliated) already. But because everything was on my bed, there was no choice but to work through it, piece by piece.
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Jordana coached me through it.
“Do you LOVE it?”
“No.”
“Then out it goes.”
Seriously? I explained to Jordana that I would be NUDE if I had to throw away any item of clothing I wasn’t in love with. I mean – clothes are functional, right? They keep you warm. They may have pockets that allow you to carry things. They feel soft or tuck you in or push you up or down in the right places. I have one LulaRoe circle skirt that I absolutely LOVE. That’s it. Everything else had other reasons to be in my closet. Certainly not love.
Sorting by Categories
We started by sorting the giant pile into smaller piles, by categories.
There were things I loved but would never wear in a million years – the Little Dutch Girl dress my parents brought back from Holland when I was 10 years old. I felt like a Van Trapp child wearing it. The sequined jacked from 1978 that reminded me about being young and a professional singer. The raggedy old black sweater that keeps me warm when I’m writing in my attic office. The audition outfit I wore in the 80’s in NYC that hasn’t fit for 30 years but makes me smile. My old tap shoes. You get the picture.
To my surprise, Jordana asked me to HANG my Little Dutch Girl dress in my closet, as well as my audition outfit.
“You love these. You should see them every time you open your closet. They’ll make you happy.”
Okay. My hoarder’s heart swelled. Maybe I can do this.
The tap shoes no longer fit. I have permission to keep them (in my closet – not in the trunk where I stored all my old sentimental clothing. Why store things you love, she asked? You should see the things you love, not hide them away.)
I kiss the tap shoes goodbye and wish many broken legs (as in “break a leg!”) to whoever is lucky enough to find them in a thrift shop someday. I throw out the old sequined jacket, remembering the time and locking that memory inside. Why did I think I needed the old jacket to remind me?) I worked my way through the pile and only changed my mind once or twice. In the end, we had 10 GARBAGE BAGS of clothing and shoes to give away to charity!
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Whew! That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be!
But we weren’t done yet. NOW, I had to learn a new way to fold and display my clothing. See the video below.
After 7 hours, I was feeling faint (didn’t realize until the next day that I was actually getting sick…thought it was due to all the closet purging! LOL) and needed to lie down.
I thanked Jordana, who promised she would come back in two weeks to help me tackle our next project – THE BOOKS!!! (This one terrifies me already…I am attached to my old books. They’re like old friends.)
My Closet is Clean--Now What?
I returned to my room, looked at my weirdly organized and now accessible closet, and wondered if I’d ever change clothes again. I was afraid to mess it all up.
I decided to take a nap and think about it later. My bed was clean. I dropped into it and slept for 14 hours!
So it has been almost a week, and I am happy to report my closet is STILL organized. I have gotten the hang of the special folding thing, and I save myself about a half-hour each day now that I don’t have to weed through a packed closet full of clothes that didn’t look good or make me feel good. I know what I have. I like (if not LOVE) what’s in my closet. It’s simple, and it makes me feel good to get dressed now. Easy. Tidy. Yay!
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For information on booking a FREE consultation (a $50 value, for Macaroni Kid subscribers only!) visit her site at: https://www.talkandtidy.com/
Tell her Macaroni Kid sent you!
Part 2: THE BOOKS coming up next! I'll keep you posted!
