remodeling

Living Simply. I Fail Miserably in One Category.

closet collageThis past weekend John installed our closet organizer in our master bedroom. Wow, I can hardly believe what a difference this had made. We have lived in our home for 25 years and the same closet of just two long poles and a shelf above each was in place.

Now mind you, I could have continued to be okay with what we had. But as I wrote in an earlier post about honoring each other in marriage, this was something John felt the need to do (along with a few other projects)  in making our home more complete– as well as more marketable someday.  The nice part of this organizer is that he got much of it with no cost to us because of rebates he obtains from materials he buys at Menard’s as a General Contractor for his construction business. It can add up when you are a remodeling contractor with what was a pretty good year last year.

Another bonus is that now all my clothes fit in one closet. No more hauling seasonal clothes downstairs. Though I have to say, once I got everything in the closet, I couldn’t believe how many clothes I really had!  And honestly, I’ve weeded out through the years and try to follow the rule of one thing in, one thing out.  Then there is “poor John” who got three shelves and about two feet of pole.  As we ladies know though, it truly is all a man needs, right?

As I admire my closet greatly and my secret affair with it lately is to just stand in it and admire it, I realize I fail miserably in the category of living with less stuff when it comes to clothing.  I realize some may look at the photo and think, eee gads, that girl who talks about living simply, sure has lots of clothes!  I also think about tiny house living, which we hope to downsize at some point (from 1,100 ft)–and how I know this will be the hardest part of all for me. I easily justify my clothing addiction to the fact I rarely pay full price or even retail price for things because more often than not I shop at second hand clothing shops.

So as we all are, I am a work in progress.  And unless I suddenly become a dog who needs no clothing (unless I turn into a Dachshund!) I shall have to work on my living simply in the one area I most  need work on.