Clean Sweep, Week 2--Do your clothes make you look good?

 

LOOK! COLORS! But don't look too close or you'll find those icky black t-shirts still lurking over on the right side. I will get rid of them...someday...

“My clothes are all ironed, clean, and make me look good. (No creases, piles of washing, torn, out-of-date or ill-fitting clothes.)”

Well, that's a tall order isn't it?

Ironing clothes: HAHAHA! I don't buy clothes that need to be ironed. Ok, seriously, I do have a few things but 99% of my wardrobe is wash and wear. But I'm a mom (jeans), I'm in school to be an equine coach specializing in helping adopted families heal (jeans), a writer (jeans), a Reiki master (jeans), and a photographer (jeans).

Laundry: Do you suffer from Mount Washmore? With 4 people in the house the laundry can overwhelm me quickly and I hate being overwhelmed. Flylady says, "A load a day keeps Mount Washmore away." In my house it's 2-3 loads a day and I created a sheet to remind me which loads I'm doing that day so I can remember to bring stuff down in the morning. I also get the kids to bring their laundry down and put it in their baskets in the laundry room so I'm ready when it's time. Making a laundry sheet is easy: write down all the loads you do every week, including the ones that you have to do more than once. Assign them all to a day of the week and you’re done.

Out-of-date and ill-fitting clothes: Even though I can wear jeans all the time I have realized how icky my clothes were looking. I’ve been slowly cleaning out my closet and getting rid of 1,000 faded, stretched, black or dark grey long sleeve t-shirts. This is an ongoing process because I have an unhealthy attachment to those t-shirts for some reason. I have found a way to replace them with fun clothes in COLORS for not too much money: Target. Not just any Target, go to the one in a college town because their clothes are cuter. No, not the best quality so I wash and let them hang dry to extend the life but we aren't supposed to have clothes that are "out-of-date" right? Target clothes will probably last just that long :-) Oh yeah, by the way: no, I'm not my ideal weight but I was brave and bought clothes anyway!

Getting rid of out-of-date and ill-fitting clothes: For the past few months I've been taking advantage of those incessant telemarketing calls from Disabled Vets, Healing Minds, Lupus, etc. and telling them yes, I have bags for them to pick up. It gives me incentive to find stuff I no longer want or need. I think I’ll put a kitchen garbage bag in every closet so when I find clothes that need to go, I’ll have a quick and easy place to put them.

Doesn't that sound like I've got it all under control? ;-)  I do have it laid out, now it's all about making it a habit. I just have to practice, one day at a time, knowing some days I won’t get it done and that’s okay—as long as it gets done most days, my life is getting easier overall and that’s most important to me!