Books Halved!

Books! They are dear to my heart. There are some that I could never part with. They helped me through a difficult patch of life, or they changed me in important ways.  I love the smell and feel of a book in my hands. I love the way text seeps into my pores, and become part of who I am. I knew this process would be difficult, but I had committed to it so I did it. If only a diet were this easy to commit to.

As I went through the books I kept putting one after the other aside to reread. Oh my gosh! In order to read that pile I'd have to give up everything for the summer and do nothing but read, very tempting.

I tried to start with some standards for decision making, but I soon found my emotional connection to some books was getting in the way. My rule in life is to use your heart and mind to make decisions. I think my heart won over in many instances.  I started with the bookcase at the end of the hallway because it is cheaply made and I knew the shelves needed to be lightened up.

Before

After

From just this one book case I removed 124 books and only 56 remain.  I am very happy with this. Most of these particular books are professional books that will be moved to school, where I will have better access to them. 

Now onto my office/art studio/craft room/ the place where everything gets thrown if company is coming and we have to clean the house in a hurry. There are two book cases here and the bottom couple of shelves held things other than books.

After

Before

Before

After

Okay - for some crazy reason Blogger wouldn't let me put those two pictures side by side. Well, you get the idea.

Here are total numbers for all three shelves:

Books removed - 242

Books remaining - 217

It seems I didn't have as many books as I thought I did, but my darling husband reminded me that I got rid of many in a yard sale two years ago. What? You mean I didn't really need to do this? It's okay. I made my professional books easier to access and all the others are out in the world where other people can enjoy them.

TA DA! 

I feel good.

Halve the Clothes

The shoes were easy! Now things are getting a little harder. I hit the closet, bureau and all those stupid plastic boxes that slide so easily under the bed. Wow! Who knew I had so many clothes in so many sizes?

First, I came up with a couple of standards to help make the tough decisions.

THROW IT!
If it has any wear or stains and I would be embarrassed to wear it, throw it away. It is surprising how much I spill when I eat. Well, it's not surprising to my friends who eat lunch with me at school.

DONATE IT!
If it is the wrong size - donate it.
If it is out of style or dated - donate it.
If it does not flatter my curves - donate it.
If I haven't worn it in the past year - donate it.

HIDE IT! (Yes, umm, well, more on this later.)
If I absolutely love, love, love it and it doesn't fit - hide it until it can be altered - or recycled.

KEEP AND WEAR
Everything that does not fit in the categories above.

And since I love data, I kept track of everything.

One garbage bag headed for the landfill - all tops - because well, I'm a little enthusiastic when I eat.
4 garbage bags of clothing donated to the Shoestring Thrift Shop.

The donated bags included

• 25 pairs of pants/bottoms
• 39 shirts/sweaters/ blouses/t's/tops
• 8 dresses or skirts

Total 72 pieces of clothing!

Clothes kept to wear:

• 10 pairs of pants/bottoms
• 50 shirts/tops
• 11 dresses

Total 71 pieces of clothing!

DISCLAIMER!

Remember that HIDE it category?  Well I have 3 shirts that I completely love, I can't wear and I just could not part with. One is a beautiful silk shirt that I only wore once and realized it is just a bit too big. I will do something with them by next summer. 

Once I alter them,I better make a bib for lunch time. Right Alayna, Rhonda, Heather and Lindsay?

The photo doesn't do it justice. It is very elegant!

TA DA!  I feel good!

If the Shoe Fits . . .

     This idea for this project was sown at Christmas. The holiday got away from me and I was more than a little scatterbrained. I bought gifts, that I promptly lost. I could not find, ribbon, tags, or scotch tape, even though I knew I had these things. Some people have junk drawers, but I have a junk room. The problem is I have too much "stuff."  It is clutter. Some of it is sentimental. Some of it is clothes that I don't wear. Books, old text books, craft books, novels, children's book, magazines and notebooks from college classes. Most of it, I'm afraid to say is arts and crafts supplies, because you know, someday I'm going to have time to make that quilt, scrapbook, jewelry, baskets, crochet, Christmas ornament, mosaic, etc. etc etc. Yeah, right. You know it's bad when you go out to buy something for a project and find out you already had one, and maybe two of them!

     I've gotten stuck and overwhelmed by the amount of stuff in my life. I read a story about a family of three, one of them was a teenage boy, living in one of those micro houses. It looked clean and neat and relaxed. They did it by limiting themselves to owning only 100 possessions. Think about that for just a minute. Let it sink in. 100 things. I started to laugh hysterically as I pictured my top bureau drawer with at least 100 pair of earrings. I could go a couple of months without washing my unmentionables, because I have just that many! My daughter used to buy them for me until she found out I don't throw them away. Why would I, they fit, the elastic still keeps them where they belong? Okay, maybe they are faded, maybe they are 8 to 10 years old, but they still provide a service.

     Enough jabbering. My plan is to halve everything I own. I like my stuff. I know I could not deal with only 100 items, but I think I can halve what I own. Hopefully, in the end, I will enjoy what I have.

     Today was the day to halve my shoes. I thought this would be a pain free way to begin since I am not a shoe hog. No one would ever mistake me for Imelda Marcos or Carrie Bradshaw. I dress for comfort with orthotics in mind.

These are all of my shoes, plus one pair of winter boots not pictured. 18 pair halved. The back row, 9 pair leaving my house!

I feel good!