Weekend:
Asher was away this weekend (he’s still away in Florida at swim camp- it’s going great!) which felt weird! This weekend was probably my first WIDE OPEN weekend in forever- no soccer games or kids events of any kind! Ethan worked 7-3 both days, so with Asher gone, this was extra weird! I was Excited about having some alone time in the house.
We did have a work picnic to go to Saturday afternoon. One of my co-workers is also married to one of our center’s medical directors, so they hosted a combined picnic for both her and his department at their (very lovely) home. It was for the whole family. It was very nice! They grilled burgers and had a whole spread.
Ethan was initially a little meh about coming along (typical almost-15-year-old reaction, I suppose… sounded “boring”…). But, they had a zip line in their yard! So that was fun. There were mostly younger kids there, but he was an amazing sport and played with/ helped entertain the little ones!! It was soooo cute and people were commenting on what a sweet kid he was. Omg- made me so happy.
Ethan would go down the zipline and then the little ones would chase after him gleefully shooting him with Nerf bullets. Hahaha…. They thought it was HILARIOUS to get this “big kid”. Of course he alternated letting them ride the zipline, too.
Also, they had this sign in their kitchen, which I found very amusing:
Closet organization + closet app
My main goal for the weekend was to do a ton of work on organizing my clothes. We leave for vacation on Friday (a family Caribbean cruise to celebrate my parents’ recent 50th wedding anniversary!! And my sister + family are in the air right now heading over from Ireland!! 🎉🎉).
But all of my summer clothes were still packed away in the basement! I had dug a few out for Texas in May, but my annoyingly dinky closet is not big enough for boots + sweaters + pants + shorts + tank tops, etc. all simultaneously. At least not in the quantity that I own. (Which is way too many.)
I basically went into hyper-active mode on my closet. ALL of my closets. (I store the extra/ off season clothes in a couple of basement closets.) I ended up with 2 big bins of stuff to donate, and I weeded and sorted and organized for hours.
And although I did not quite “pack” yet, I sorted through all my dresses to select at least 7 nights’ worth of “dinner wear” for the cruise.
Whenever I do decluttering work, I find it oddly soothing and satisfying to listen to a podcast about decluttering or organizing- which is not a podcast genre I normally listen to. This weekend though I binged several episodes of A Slob Comes Clean by Dana K White. I specifically find that listening to episodes about decluttering CLOTHES inspires me to be more ruthless!!! I am not naturally good at this.
If something is worn out or ruined, it’s easy.
But I have so many clothes and I literally don’t wear 75% of them, I swear. So they are not worn out or ruined. In fact, most are in great condition, albeit oftentimes YEARS and years old. I guess I’m pretty easy on my clothes, because I have things from over 15 years ago that look perfectly fine. (*Well, shirts all still fit. My lower body does not seem to be the same as 20 years ago.) These are the clothes I struggle to get rid of, because… “they fit! they aren’t worn out!” But…. they’re just…. old. So I think I subconsciously pass them over in favor of newer/ more loved things, I guess. The reality is though, many/most of them are not getting worn! So why are they there?!!?!
After weeding things out, I still have too many clothes. But, it’s an improvement.
Acloset app
In an effort to organize and hopefully keep better tabs on what I’m actually wearing and what I’m not, I downloaded the free Acloset app.
Now, I have zero interest in the “buying/selling part”, nor do I care for the app’s AI to give me outfit suggestions.
What I was looking for was a place to:
a) virtually catalog my closet
b) have a way to track what things I’m wearing
c) be able to keep better tabs on what clothes I already have, and which clothes are in my “overflow” closet downstairs- so I can maybe actually use those items instead of forgetting about them?!
In this app you take a photo of an item (or you can search the stock photo online easily, if it’s new) and then it can automatically remove the background for you. Then you can categorize it like, Shoes, or Tops, or Pants, with subcategories of say, “sandals” or “tank tops” or “jeans”.
Then you can further add hashtags to more easily filter your items. For example, I have several lightweight “summer sweaters”, as I call them, which are good for wearing on a cool evening on a beach with shorts, etc. So I tagged those “#summersweaters” to differentiate from my actual winter sweaters, if I want to filter my “sweater” category quickly to just see ONLY which lightweight sweaters I have.
PRO TIP– If you want to try this, a great way to take pics is to hang your items on a wreath hanger vs laying items down.
So far I’ve only added a small percentage of all my clothes to the app- it’s a bit tedious, obviously. But I am going to slowly work through adding more! I love the idea of being able to see fully categories of clothing together, at a glance.
I think this could be helpful if I’m tempted to buy something. I could open this and see, oh, I already have 14 hoodies. I do not need another hoodie. Or, I could see hmm, I really only have 1 black hoodie, and this one has never been my favorite. I’m going to buy a nicer NEW black hoodie that I actually love, pull the old one out, donate it, and done.
For the outfit tracking, that’s also pretty slick. You know I love to track stuff. HAHA. So, it has this calendar where you can add whatever you wore that day!
I like that you can add more than one outfit for a day, too! For example. I wore these clothes yesterday morning for the first half of the day when I got up/ went for a walk:
But later after I showered and went to get a haircut, I changed into “non-sporty” clothes, so I was able to add those to my day, too.
When you click on an individual clothing item in your closet, it will also show you how many times you’ve “worn” it. This could be helpful!! If I load a sweater into my closet but then in 8 months I look and I have “0” wears recorded for that item….. adios!
I realize this all may sound INSANE to some people reading this. And it would be entirely useless probably for someone with a very minimalist closet.
But I feel like my clothing situation is just not good. Too much stuff, too much clutter, my closet is too small, yet I don’t necessarily love everything in my closet… I feel like this is a tool I can use to help be more mindful about what I’m wearing, what I’m buying, what I actually need, and, maybe put together some fun “new” outfits from my own wardrobe!!
Has anyone tried a closet app?? I heard about a different one from someone in the BOBW Patreon group, but that one had a fee… after a little research, I found this free one that seems to mostly meet my needs!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for evening walks with Ethan this week! Ivan has been trying to walk every night, and Ethan has been asking to join him/ us. 🙂
GRATEFUL KAE 
Nice work with the closet clean out! Isn’t that so satisfyingly? One of my goals this year is to try to sell some things and then give them away if I can’t sell them. I actually had no problem going through the stuff, but the selling part is easier said than done and I am lagging on posting things…I need to get better at this!
I also have a lot of clothes that I have barely worn and actually still fit me, but I just don’t use them. A lot of them are work clothes from when I had to wear three pieces every day (read: three piece suit OR skirt, sweater, nice shirt) and even nylons (do you remember that!?) so I am slowly getting rid of them, but I always think that if I got another corporate job maybe I would need them, but then I need to remember that things are often more casual now (even in finance, my coworkers wear khakis and polos sometimes! However I still wear slacks every day.)
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I love the idea of selling stuff- in fact we have a whole pile of beautiful kids’ clothes that I keep hanging on to thinking we’ll try to sell… but the reality is that I just don’t have time to deal with that. It’s a lot of work to post stuff, deal with people, etc.. and then you don’t even get that much many times…. I used to have more success with that when the boys were younger, but there’s just not as much of a market for older kids (used) clothes. And my used clothes are just not worth the hassle to me, either! But I definitely understand wanting to get some money back for stuff, especially when it’s nice quality and in good condition!! I think I have to just let that idea go though and just GET IT OUT of my house… because I end up piling up tons of clothes that just sit there, not actually getting sold and taking up space…
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Once Upon a Child and Plato’s Closet!
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I totally feel you. Right now I have a pile of Goodwill stuff, am trying to sell other stuff and am trying to give some away to neighbors and friends, but it is a lot of work. I feel like in the end it will all go to Goodwill anyway! However, I have never tried selling anything so I am giving it a shot before I give up.
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I have to know – do you own 14 hoodies? I have 2! Ha!! But I am more on the minimalist side and I do not have trouble parting with things that I do not wear. I’ve gotten more ruthless in the last couple of years because I want to look at a closet of clothes that I know I will actually wear instead of stuff that I “could” wear but never do! It can feel a bit wasteful to get rid of things, but grad school taught me about the ‘sunk cost’ fallacy so I am less apt to hold onto thing with the reason that I spent good money on them if they aren’t serving me anymore. One thing that has helped is selling clothes to a consignment store. I sold some things last winter and now have another bin of clothing that I am taking in on Friday. Unlike some places that pay you up front, they pay you a % of what they sell if for. I made more money on the first batch of clothes than I would have if I had taken them to a place like Turnstyle. Luckily there is a consignment store less than a mile from our house. I’ve bought some clothes there, too.
I do need more lightweight sweaters as the ones I own are quite worn out but I will look to replace them in the fall. This summer I am focused on adding long sleeve dresses to my closet as I wear dresses about 90% of the time in the summer months! But I need long sleeve dresses because I get way too cold indoors w/ the intense a/c buildings tend to use!
I love that Ethan was so helpful at the work party! As someone with young kids, it’s really wonderful when an older kid will play with my kids. My nieces were so great with Paul and Will at the grad party on Saturday. And one of my nephews is very good with little kids, too. He did some babysitting in middle/high school since he was so good with kids!
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Umm…. Well….. haha…. I did not count my hoodies or categorize those yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s in that ballpark!! But I am referring to like the zip up variety; those are my favorites. I have a few pullover hooides and then mostly lots of zip ups. BUT in my defense, that is very much “my style”. (When I was in middle school, my group of friends and I each got assigned to be one of the Spice Girls and I was named as Sporty Spice, if that says anything.) I live in hoodies almost every day- I wear them to the gym, to soccer games, to swim meets, when I’m in my office in the early morning, or pretty much any time is a good time for a hoodie. HAHA. I also am always freezing in the summertime, so I rarely leave home without some sort of zip up or hoodie or sweater to come along, year round. See my comment to Kyria above about selling stuff, but although I LOVE the idea, I think I’m going to just move on from that!! I just don’t have the bandwidth for it, so I think I need to just scratch that bc it ends up holding me back from getting rid of things (thinking “‘l’ll save this and try to sell it…”)
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Yes, selling can be a very big barrier to getting things out of the house. I have donated a lot of stuff to goodwill, like all the boys clothes. I wish I had a family to pass things along to. We got a ton of hand-me-downs from our good friends so they just handed everything off to me and then I’d donate what we couldn’t use.
I honestly should own more sweatshirts! Like you, I am always cold, so I wear them quite a bit and they get worn out from being used so much!! I have few zip ups that I didn’t include in my hoodie total but that would only bring it to 4, I think. So I am probably an under buyer of hoodies and should get a few more!
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I probably have 4 pullover hoodies and at least 6 zip up hoodies. I don’t really want to categorize because then I will have to admit that. However, two of them are from HS and are totally stained but they are my “around the house” hoodies and I love them! I did finally toss my favorite zip up black hoodie because the zipper was broken but it pained me. You can see why I have so many. I also have a lot of coats (running coat, windbreaker, rain coat, lightweight, stylish, ski jacket….etc. etc. etc.).
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Wow, that work party sounds incredible, but now I have even worse anxiety about hosting any parties of my own (a zip line???!) However, I love that “maid” sign. I seriously want to get one for my kitchen- I would find it hilarious but the rest of the family probably wouldn’t be amused.
You’re inspiring me with the closet organizing! I need to do that soooo badly. I wear the same things over and over again, while there are a ton of clothes in my closet that I don’t even know are there. I’m pretty sure if I went through everything I could double my current wardrobe and get also rid of a ton of stuff. Okay, it’s a summer project! That app looks very cool, but I doubt I would use it- it looks like a lot of work and I’m not sure I want to think about my clothes that much.
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I know, right?! No zip lines at my house either, don’t worry. I spent half the time there amused pondering how a similar party would go at my house if I attempted to host something like that in my much smaller kitchen/ outdoor space. lol.
Good luck organizing!!! I agree the app is not a must, but I’m finding it motivating and hopefully useful to just be more mindful of what I’m actually using and not. And just to be able to click on a clothing category and scroll through and easily see what I all have (vs trying to paw through my closet/ drawers/ etc.) has been great!!
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What a fascinating app. Honestly – it feels very overwhelming…but also…addictive?! I am such a clothes minimalist. I wear the same things over and over and mostly get rid of everything else. It’s great in some senses but also I have a bad tendency to donate things that I don’t love…but I need. Like tank tops. I don’t own a SINGLE exercise tank top. And I still regret getting rid of an old, but very versatile, A-line black skirt.
What a great party vibe and I love how engaged Ethan was ❤
I'm a huge fan of consignment. If it doesn't sell, at least at the store I deal with, it goes straight to donations. I don't make a lot of money (I'm almost always buying my clothes 2nd-hand to begin with, so there aren't that many that end up being consignment-worthy when I'm done). I take in a bag and a few times a year I pocket some money. I used to do this with the kids clothes too. Made $100s of dollars over the year consigning their stuff as they so quickly outgrew things.
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I know you’re a clothing minimalist!! I don’t think I could ever do what you do, but I do admire and respect it!! That’s so funny about the tank tops- along with hoodies, I also have a zillion tank tops. Both exercise style and just regular summer tank tops. I much prefer a tank top over a t-shirt or other top if it’s warm out! I just like how they look on me better, or they feel more like “me” or something! Not sure!! 🙂
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I admire you for realizing you had a problem in terms of keeping track of your clothing and finding a solution. I’m more minimalist (1 hoodie! a University of Minnesota one that is literally fraying at the seams that I’ve replaced the zipper on twice already – I can’t find a full zip maroon replacement, so I’m babying this one until full zips come back into fashion) and don’t need anything like this, but the equivalent of keeping track of books/bookcases would be useful for me!
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Yes, I can’t tell you how much better it already feels right now to open my closet and have it organized and pared down! I think my ideal state is to have the closet only maybe 2/3 full, with plenty of open space/ empty hangers/ etc. But that is rarely the case. I know it’s probably “not recommended” to store stuff in another closet, but I feel like if I at least maintain my MAIN closet in good shape, I can later be more likely to be convinced to get rid of stuff that has been moved to the extra closet (and not be worn!). This app is already helping me to put some different clothes on that I like but kept sort of forgetting about!
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I looooove a good closet clean out. But it takes so much energy I end up doing it very rarely. (Of course, if I did it more frequently, it would take less energy! Ha!) Like you, I have a bunch of perfectly good but OLD clothes. I pared a bunch of them down earlier this year, but it turns out that I have a sentimental attachment to some things even though I may never wear them again!
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The hardest thing for me is when I have multiple items that are SIMILAR, but not identical…yet similar enough that it seems silly to have both. For example, I have 2 lighter weight grey sweaters. One is a bit longer and is nice in the fall/ winter- or sort of “tucked in” in the front with shorts. It’s a really airy material. But then I have another lightweight grey sweater which is fairly similar, yet distinctly different and just fits a little differently too- it seems better suited for certain, slightly dressier/nicer situations! And they are both in excellent condition. I can’t seem to part with either one, but it also feels well, dumb, to have 2 lightweight V-neck grey sweaters!!! UGH I’m a lost cause. LOL.
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sounds like so much work to cataloguing all the clothes!!! I regularly organize my closet, if something does not fit or not fit my current taste, I’ll give it to my helper or save it for Sofia later (she will soon be able to wear my clothes). I find decluttering them very satisfying and allows me to get new things.
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It’s nice to be able to hand things down to Sofia!! I don’t have anyone to hand down my clothes to, sadly. Occasionally I’ll see if my sister-in-law wants anything that is still good but that I don’t use anymore.
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I need that sign!! NOW lol
Well done on closet organization. I have minimal clothes but need to update some t-shirts OR get away from t-shirts – period. OR replace the ones I have with something better. The ones I have now make me look frumpy lol
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I am not a fan generally of wearing t-shirts, either. At least not typical t-shirts. I don’t like how they look on me! I am really picky about not having things up around my neck normally. I almost exclusively wear either v-neck shirts or shirts that have a lower scoop neck. For some reason I just really don’t how I look with a shirt coming up around my neck!
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Wow, I’ve never heard of a clothing app, but I am super-intrigued, mainly because I know that I also have things that just don’t get worn and might have be rehomed or sold or given away.
Have so much fun on the cruise. I love that you’re doing this as a whole family. That would be totally something I’d be up for.
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