Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Buried

I haven't posted in several days. It's because I've been buried. Under a mountain of clothes.

Here's my confession. My Achilles heel has always been clothes and closets. Namely, I love to shop and hate to do laundry. I actually had times in my life where rather than do laundry, I'd just go buy new clothes. Bill may argue that I've never left that period. I'm not sure I'd have a strong counter argument. Especially given the state of the closets these days.

My sister, Tara, has been here for a few days with the mission of helping me get the closets organized and under control. It's quite an undertaking. And unfortunately, before things get better they get worse. A lot worse. Here is what Bailey's room looks like at this moment:


Here is the guestroom right now. I just realized this room is the only room in the house with white walls. I'll have to fix that...but not today. But clearly that wasn't my point. I was showing you what a mess the room is.

The big pile on the bed? That is stuff my sister is taking. She is happily taking away all of my nice Ralph Lauren black label, Jones New York, Calvin Klein, and all the other really nice expensive stuff in the skinny sizes I can't squeeze my butt into anymore.

Here is the closet in that room right now. You can't tell, but that closet goes really far back. I don't have a picture of it before we started this process. That entire closet was filled with clothes from the floor to chest high. One of Tara's girls climbed up into it and could touch the ceiling.


The last few days have been sorting, trashing, donating, and lots and lots of laundry. I took maybe 20% of the clothes to the fluff-n-fold. It came out to 225 lbs and filled half of the mini van from floor to ceiling. It was their single largest order in history. That's not a record I'm terribly proud of holding right now. I'm in big time purge mode and am getting rid of clothes, shoes, and accessories left and right.

So until the closets are organized, the floors are bare, and every remaining item has a home, my posting time is very limited. I have SO much work to do to get there. But I'm committed now that all of that stuff came out.

I just had a moment as I was typing this post. I just realized I would just die if someone came to my house right now and wanted a tour. Yet here I am throwing these pictures on the internet for the whole world to see. Well, you can be certain I'll be posting new pictures once everything is picked up and in order. I'll even show pictures of the insides of the closets. Something I have NEVER in my life done. The rest of the house may have looked showcase ready, but my closets have always been a fright.

I'm really excited to be purging and getting things organized under control. I know it will make getting ready so much easier. It will be much more cost effective (I think I'm up to over 50 pairs of khakis. Is that illegal in some states?). I'll feel a lot better looking at clean, organized closets without so much stuff in them. I've actually discovered so many cute clothes I forgot I had. But the person that will be most excited and happy will be my husband. I'm doing a lot of this for me, but mostly I'm doing it for my family. I'm doing it for Bill. I know how much this means to him, so it means that much more to me.

Thank you Tara for the help!!

Stay tuned for the after pictures! I can't wait for the reveal!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

*high five*

That is AWESOME. Good for you! And how great is your sister to help you. Everytime my mom comes to visit, I make her help me clean out all my cupboards and closets. I always feel so much better, I know you will, too. I look forward to seeing the after photos!

LauraC said...

I can not wait to see what it looks like! 225 lbs of laundry is incredible!

Anonymous said...

Hooray! Tara deserves lots of kudos for her help! Please keep an eye out for my black zip up sweater with a cream horizontal stripe on the front from the Gap. I took it up there brand new, took the tags off the wear it and then coudn't find it! I'd love it if you found it!

Martina said...

you are one brave woman to share your before photos!! lol

-Bridget said...

Mommega and Laura, thanks for the encouragement!

Megan, I haven't come across that sweater yet. I'll let you know if I find it.

Martina, it isn't before photos as much as "in process" photos. My before photos would have been fine because the closet doors would have been shut!

Joanna said...

Wow! 225 lbs of laundry. I'm impressed. It must feel so rewarding to go through all of the clothes and get everything organized.

I'd like to say, there are major benefits to having a sister with good taste in clothes. The hand me downs are sweet!

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Good for you! When we get back from the beach, my plan is to get all the kids clothes and toys sorted for a consignment sale. It is going to be an overwhelming process. But I have to do that before I can "pimp" my school room for the start of the year. I am thinking that blogging will fall by the wayside next week. But this is not something I can procrastinate any longer!

Fullerton Family said...

Wow, what an undertaking! And what an awesome sister to help you.... although, I do think she is being nicely rewarded!! Can't wait to see more pics of your house, it is so beautiful!

Cristie said...

I'm very proud of you...but...hello..can I come over and go "shopping"???? Me wants some new clothes, purses and SHOES!!! :)

Melanie said...

Yeah, I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but I suddenly feel so much better about the mess in my closets. . .

I don't think I could come close to 225 lbs of clothes. :)

You are awesome. I can't wait to see the results!!

Jen said...

Good for you. You go and get organized. Now the tough part will be if you can keep it that way, this is where I stuggle.

scargosun said...

You can never have enough kakhis or white buttondown shirts. I am serious.

Anonymous said...

Thanks!!Now I HAVE to do my closets!! Sheesh! I guess the "nut doesn't fall from the tree"! My daughters inspire me!! Last time I did my closet, Whitney and Lisa found 203 pairs of shoes! I shudder now!!

I'm proud of you BOTH!!

Love,
Mom xoxo

Samantha said...

Wow. That is amazing.

Michelle said...

WOW! I don't think my entire family of four has half the weight of clothes your laundry load was.

I think my khaki total right now is two. Kudos to you to getting it all sorted and cleaned up! And ... long may it last.

Tara said...

I am never too proud to take hand-me-downs from my older sister, who's always had better taste (and more money to spend) than I have. My favorite pic from our chldhood is in my hand-me-down Strawberry Shortcake shirt from Bridget. My favorite hand-me-down from her now is probably my entertainment center.

It's always nice to help your sister clean up. It's a lot easier to throw away other people's stuff than your own. You also never know what you might get to take home!

Anonymous said...

And I thought I had a ton of stuff!! Good gosh girlie! I can't wait to see the after pics!