Organization leads to Donation!

For the past couple months I've been organizing my room and putting stuff away, getting rid of things, and making space for new pieces!  I finally hung some pictures and frames in July and got rid of a wall full of boxes and bags.  There is still a box and 2 bags of stuff but I've down-sized tremendously.  And when my Mom was here in June we went through my closets to get rid of clothes, shoes, accessories that I don't wear anymore, don't fit, or just aren't my style.  All of this brings me to this past weekend!

Six years of Magazines!

I had been calling libraries and homeless shelters all over LA to drop my clothes and the magazines that were filling my closets off for someone who would appreciate and get some use out them.  I guess I didn't expect to find anywhere that would accept magazines most just said to re-cycle them, although the Library in Burbank said they would take them all but that was a drive just to drop off some magazines.  I finally found a Women's Shelter in Santa Monica that would take all my magazines and all I needed to do was drop them off, so that was my first task on Saturday afternoon.  Next was dropping off all of my clothes at a Goodwill which was just a few blocks from the Shelter.  And boy did it feel good to give all my stuff away!  The hardest part was getting all 250 magazines to my car along with 3 garbage bags of clothing items and shoes.  Lucky for me, there was a shopping cart downstairs so I just had to pack it, get it over my door frame and make it to my car in one piece to unload everything.  I think the most exciting part of all of this was that I now have more space in my room because all the magazines were sitting next to my vanity and all my clothes were sitting in the hallway so my room looks so much bigger right now.

Good Deed for the Day!

My biggest problem with organization comes from piling up letters and papers onto my dresser and a cubby in my coffee table in the living room.  I need a junk drawer and I don't have one so I created a junk shoe box.  After going through all my bills, receipts, flyers, papers, audition notices, and scripts, I filed all of them away into my 2 space bins and anything that didn't have a home went into a shoe box under my bed.  Out of sight, out of mind, except, I know exactly where to find what I need, and for the first time in 6 years I can see my entire dresser and all the fun perfumes and scents, along with framed photos and knick knacks...Hooray!  It's amazing how much cleaner my room looks when everything has a place and the disorganization can't be seen!

My next project will be creating some more space in my closet because I still have 20 magazines or so to read and get rid of and sorting through the rest of the boxes and bags along the one wall of my room.  Plus, I have a beautiful framed photo that I just got as a gift that needs to be hung somewhere so I have to make space for that and with all this new space I get to go shopping to fill up my closets again and pick out some new fun shoes and we all know how exciting that is for a gal!  Organizing feels like I'm cleaning up my life as well; it's a refreshing new view and I'm letting go of things that have passed their expiration date which makes me feel like a new woman :)

I wonder how many calories I burned hanging picture frames?

I've been on a kick of Organizing since my Mom was in town and helped me clean out my closet, which by the way, all those clothes are still sitting in my hallway in my room.  But there is a perk to that; I keep adding to the pile, so I'll be giving more away and that's a good thing!  And I've been loving my shoe rack that I found by the dumpster that was nearly brand-new looking, so who says you can't find treasure in another gal's trash?!

Today I attacked the wall opposite my bed.  I had about 8 boxes of shoes that I put away and shifted around so all the shoes I wear on a regular basis are under the bed and the rest are stacked in the closet.  Gone from the wall space...YES!  Then I got rid of a bunch of boxes, empty boxes mind you, from my sconces, my votives, clothes boxes, etc.  Why did I hold onto these?!?  I organized the shelf under my TV, got rid of random papers, and also combined a bunch of Birthday Bags from a month and a half ago into one that I will work on putting away later.  Next was taking care of the picture frames!

My idea of having pictures on the walls for the past 11 years has always been taping them up, not hanging them so this evening I decided to FINALLY hang some pictures I had bought frames for months ago.  When I originally got the frames from Michael's, they didn't have the right nails so I had to wait to hang them.  Today I stopped by and picked up special nails that when you nailed them into the wall they were already at a 45 degree angle and had a little hook attached to them.  Yes, I'm a girl and I'd rather have a fool-proof plan than mess something up!

Not too bad for my first time, eh?

I got all excited because I realized there was Math in hanging these frames.  I had 3 different frames, two of which were the same, and the other a little bit smaller so I had to decide how far apart I wanted them, at what height they should be, and how far from the corner of the wall.  After figuring all of that out, I got my pencil and measuring tape out and started making some marks on the wall.  The first one was the most difficult because I was nervous and wanted it to be just right but after getting that one done it became a little easier.  I did end up with my far right one being just an inch lower than the far left one but then I just made up the difference with the middle frame to look like I did it on purpose.  It took me over an hour to hang all three frames but I was proud of myself.

In all honestly, I would much rather be cooking Dinner in the kitchen than hanging a picture frame.  I am perfectly capable of hanging the frame, I'd just rather let my man friend do it and if I was making Dinner, I think he just might be ok with it ;)

Organizing my closet!

A few months ago I wrote a blog and included in it that I had clothes from when I first moved to LA over 6 and a half years ago.  I really wanted to get organized and knew I needed a second opinion when going through my clothes because I would rationalize keeping things rather than giving them away and then there would be no point in taking the time to go through everything in the first place.

So when Mom was out here this past week I enlisted her help.  We started with my shoes because my favorite pair of wedges broke on Sunday afternoon.  After going through both my closets and going through all the shoes under my bed we threw away 12 pairs of shoes and saved 3 for Good Will.  The best part of it was the new space I had in my closet and how much better my closet already looked!  What made it even better was coming home from Karaoke on Wednesday night and seeing a standing wood and cloth shelving unit that was perfectly clean and almost brand new.  After vacumming it I put that into my closet and took all the shoes and boots that were on the floor in my closet and put them into the separate shelves.  I put all my belts on the top part for easy access (considering they were stuffed into a drawer and I always had to pull clothes out to get to them).

My closets and drawers were next.  I do color-coordinate my closets which makes it easier to find things.  One time at my house back in Wisconsin my Mom had borrowed a sweater of mine.  Now she never asked or told me but when I went into the closet, I noticed a hanger without clothes on it, in the purple section.  I immediately knew what was missing and asked her about it.  Sure enough she said she had borrowed it.  Yes, I am that organized and know my closet that well.  So starting in the white section of my short sleeve shirts, tank tops, and flannels, we went through each shirt one by one until the last black shirt in that closet; keeping certain things that had sentimental value, putting stuff that doesn't fit, is out of date, or stuff I won't wear again and even are unsure of into a pile.  There are things in my closet that still have tags on them!  There are shirts that I've had since I moved to LA that I wear on occasion and certain items that I never wore and dragged all the way from Wisconsin, to my first apartment in LA, and then to my current apartment.  Why?

After going through my sweaters and jackets, getting rid of anything that was a duplicate, I made it through my dresses too.  The closets were getting thinned out and I had tons of hangers without homes.  I kept buying more and more hangers every couple of months when I could have just looked through my clothes to free up some space!  I won't be buying hangers for a long time.  My closets were done and it was onto my drawers.  I had already gone through my t-shirt drawer months ago so at least I had a head start on that.  Now I can open all my drawers without a struggle, without having to push clothes down, or losing something to the under part of my dresser.  My laundry closet was the last thing to go through as I found 4 purses that I know I won't ever use or miss.  In fact, under my bed, I have a clothing bin that I had put clothes into years ago and realized I didn't miss any of them either!

Soon to be gone but not forgotten...the memories will last forever!

Once I was finished with going through everything with Mom's help, I had 4 piles of clothes that were each almost 2 feet high!  I ended up with pairs of jeans, jean shorts, jean skirts, belts, shoes, and over 80 shirts that are going to Good Will.  Not only do I feel more organized and efficient, it's going to be great to donate these clothes to people that will appreciate them like I did!  My last plan of attack is to put up my floral pictures that I finally have frames for along with getting rid of everything along the back wall of my room that just doesn't have a place.  Once I move the 300 old magazines out of my closet, I'll have room for all that other stuff.  It's literally a sigh of relief and weight lifted off my shoulders seeing my neat and tidy closets...and it's also made room for new shoes and shirts.  Time to go shopping ;)

I have clothes in my closet from High School!

I really don't think of that as a bad thing.  It's nice to be able to fit into those jeans or dresses and find clothes that are now back in style!  When shopping I tend to buy things that will stand the test of time, classic and fun pieces, that if taken care of, can be worn for years.  Just this year, on my 28th Birthday, I wore a purple button-down shirt, that I wore for my Junior year of High School's School Picture!!  It was a perfect cover-up to complete the outfit I was wearing while enjoying Mimosa's by the pool with friends.

Drinking Mimosa's on my 28th Birthday!  I'll try to find my Junior Year School Picture from High School where I'm wearing my now infamous purple button-down :)

As I was doing some organizing yesterday, I had to climb up into my closet for my clear plastic bins where I have receipts, bills, casting notices, scripts, and cards from the past 6 years of being in LA.  It made me realize, I really need to do some organizing of these bins, considering I can barely close them.  Do I really need my grocery or gas receipts from December 2005?  Or oil change receipts from Sophia, my 2002 Solara, that I don't even drive anymore?  Probably not.  

It's imperative that I go through my closet, dressers, and room to just organize things that I no longer need, use, or should have.  Thankfully, my apartment is equipped with huge closets in both bedrooms.  I have 5 closet doors in my room alone, plus, a laundry closet/shelf thing.  I watch those shows on how to organize your closet, or get rid of things, or give them away, and somehow I'm just attached to everything I have.  I don't think of myself as a Pack Rat, I just want to keep all these things for their memory.  My Mom marvels at the fact I don't need to do laundry for a month, sometimes two because I have so many clothes...yes, that means I have over 70 pairs of underwear, and a huge bag from Victoria's Secret that I keep filling with more when I get new pairs.  Probably not even a good idea to get me started on shoes because under my bed, I know exactly where each pair is and what's exactly in the box, and the bottoms of my closets are lined with shoes and boxes of shoes, and more new ones that haven't even been worn.

So maybe I have a problem?  But I'm not spending obnoxious amounts on filling my closets.  I'm a thrifty shopper, who looks for a sale, or waits for it.  I don't need that hot pair of shoes until they're on sale.  That fun dress that's $100 at Macy's, well, I can find one just like it at one of my Boutique Stores for $20.  And yet, I have a closet full of purses of every shape, size, and color, and swimsuits in all colors of the rainbow, depending on my mood. Certain items needs back-ups and I'm just preparing myself for that day!

How do I fix this problem?  I certainly won't hire anyone, because they'll make me give away stuff that is too important to me, I need someone with an open mind, who appreciates the value of my 'stuff,' but won't have any connection to keep it, unless I tell that person about the memories.  So I'm instilling the help of my Mom.  The next time she comes to visit me, we're tackling Lyndsey's Closets.

So my creative outlet for the day, was the beginning of the organization process, admitting I have a problem, and coming up with a plan to fix it and make space.  It's going to be a challenge :)