Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.—William Morris
This month we’re exploring style and beauty in Year of Tranquility. It’s a BIG topic and, of course, we’re focusing on inner beauty, along with the outer. Hence the 7-day detox that started on Saturday! Talk about getting our insides ready for spring!
On Sunday I hosted a TranquiliT spring collection show + tell featuring the five pieces above and shared ways to mix and match various pieces to get multiple looks. You can watch the replay *and* see Gizmo in his hot pink bow tie here.
When I think spring style, I also think spring cleaning. A regular closet review helps to curb unnecessary spending {oops, I already had a white tank!}, let go of unused pieces taking up space, reorganize, and make sure your wardrobe fits your current lifestyle.
Recently I took an afternoon to do a deep closet clean and the results are featured in the top image. To the left are my tops, followed by bottoms {mainly skirts}, and then dresses.
Having a capsule wardrobe helps ensure everything I own mixes and matches well from the denim shirt with a thrifted pink ball gown skirt, to all the black pieces, to the stripes with solids or a thrifted black/white floral midi skirt. Here’s how to create your own capsule wardrobe and here’s TranquiliT’s 11-piece capsule wardrobe.
After the closet reorg, I shipped three boxes to friends stuffed with items I thought they’d like, three bags for my seamstress {she shares the goodies with her family}, and a bag for Goodwill. And, wowza, my closet felt so much lighter! The white dresser holds socks, intimates, leggings, shorts, 2in1 tops, graphic tees, and bed linens.
Here’s my annual closet cleaning process as shared yesterday with Year of Tranquility:
Pull everything out of your closet.
Next, separate everything into assorted piles.
1. Keepers: These are your staples. They fit, look good on you, match your lifestyle, and go with various pieces in your closet. Hang them back up in your closet as you go.
2. Donate/Swap: These are the items that you once loved, thought you’d love, or simply don’t fit you or your lifestyle anymore. Take them off hangers, fold them up and set them aside. I love gifting these items to friends and/or donating to a local charity or thrift shop.
3. Trash: These are ratty or damaged pieces. Let them go. Fold them up and set them aside.
4. Repair/Alter: These are those pieces that need a little TLC. Maybe an alteration would make the item more wearable? Or a stain stick to see if that wine stain will come out? Set these items aside.
5. Not sure: These are the pieces you just can’t decide about. Don’t love them, don’t hate them, but haven’t worn in years. Again, set these items aside if you’re becoming overwhelmed.
Organize your keepers by color and category (ex. tops, bottoms, dresses). Or if you’re doing a cupboard, organize your toiletries by type (ex. hair, face, body) and linens by type (ex. tablecloths, pillow cases, sheets).
Set those “special occasion” items like ski wear, beach wear, and formal wear toward the back of the closet unless you live near a resort or beach. It’s good to have these pieces easily accessible, but not taking up the precious real estate of your staples.
Toss your trash items, pass along your donate/swap items, fix your repair/alter items, and contemplate those not sure items. You may reach decision fatigue during this process, so feel free to circle back to those not sure items. Sometimes a little space with help to make the right decision.
As stated in the upper quote, have nothing in your home {including closet} that isn’t useful and beautiful. Here’s to spring cleaning and style that shows the world who are you. Bisous. x
