Spring is right around the corner! I know everyone is getting somewhat disheartened by the long, dreary, gray, cold winter but sometimes you just must create your own sunshine! I usually wait until the sun is shining brightly and I can open my windows to let in a nice breeze before I start my spring cleaning, but this year has been chock full of self-care, self-love and self-awareness. I realized that I don’t want to be stuck inside cleaning and organizing when the nicer weather finally hits us! I’m going to want to start walking outside, taking the kids to the parks, giving my vehicle a nice cleaning out, and wholly enjoying the beauty that spring will inevitably bring because let’s face it, the winters in Upstate NY are rough but the Spring and Summer months are second to none.
The thought of wasting any of my precious Spring inside cleaning coupled with my curiosity and my new-found desire to embrace minimalism and anti-consumerism brought me to Project 333. Saturday, I spent the entire day on this project. Yes, it was somewhat tedious, but I totally remembered to bring my own sunshine! For those of you who get excited about new challenges, like me, you’re going to love this but for those of you hoarders who love clutter, despise change, and feel completely unmotivated by the weather and long winter you’re going to laugh at such a project. But I promise you, even if you reluctantly attempt this project, you will feel the weight of the world lifted from your shoulders.
By now, you’re probably wondering exactly what Project 333 is all about. It’s about minimizing. It’s about the freedom that comes with less choice and it’s about self-improvement. You will change your life by changing your closet. The goal of Project 333 is to let go. Let go of that which does not serve you. This includes clothes that do not fit you. It includes, non-sentimental jewelry you don’t wear. It includes your sixth pair of boots and your clothes from high school you hope fit before summer. By the end of your project, you should be left with 33 items (including clothing, shoes, purses and accessories) to wear for 3 months. You can neatly pack away off-season clothes and shoes and the items does not include undergarments, athletic apparel or pajamas. Is that somewhat of a relief? To be more clear, if you’re wearing yoga pants daily and not just for athletic endeavors, it would count as your 33. The 33 items are seasonal for the next 3 months. The point is to free up your closet space, and consequently, is frees up your mind space too! Are you scared yet?
Here we go!
- Schedule a day ahead of time to start project. It literally took me all day. I have children and I did take a few breaks during the day to make meals, play, stop fist fights, you know, the usual.
- Have some music or a great Netflix show ready to keep you motivated and entertained.
- Keep Hydrated!
- Pull every single article of clothing you own from your closet, dressers, coat closet’s (including purses, accessories, scarves, and shoes) etc. and pile it onto your bed. If you’re anything like me, you will be astounded. You may feel completely overwhelmed and even a little guilty; that’s normal.
- Make 4 Piles:
Pile 1: Items you wear frequently that feel great on you
Pile 2: Off-season items and items you maybe want to keep
Pile 3: Donation Pile
Pile 4: Trash Pile – anything not worthy of donating, ripped, stained, too worn, underwear etc.
- Start working! Sort all the items into one of the 4 piles. Do not put anything away yet, just keep sorting. Have fun while you do it and when sorting your items try to not become attached. These items are just things! As an example, I’ve been hanging onto my college graduation cap and gown forever because of my sentimental attachment to them. What purpose was this serving me? None. So, this time I put the cap and my honors tie around my daughter and took a picture of it. It was hilarious. Now, I’ll have the photograph and remember the day, without it taking up space in my house!
- Once your piles are finished, get everything you’re not keeping out of your room and out of your house if possible.
- Now the more challenging part, conquering the love pile! Project 333 is about keeping 33 items, remember it’s not including pajamas, athletic attire and undergarments. If 33 is a little difficult for you, feel free to increase that number. Be sure you chose a number you’re comfortable with and stick to it! Some people have used 45 and some people have used 90. Less is usually more. When choosing items, choose items that feel good in your hands when you hold them. Choose items that fit you now. Choose items that may be somewhat versatile. Once you’ve selected your favorite items, remove any you’re not keeping and move those to your donation bag.
- Clean your closet good
- Now it’s time to put everything away. With less clothing to put away and wash, I can take better care of my clothes. I neatly hung up everything in the closet and folded the clothes to be placed in my dresser Marie Condo style. I can’t believe how organized it all looks! If you’re not familiar with Marie Condo, you must look her up online and learn her amazing folding technique. It’s so simple!
Today is Day 4 of my Project 333.
I have saved time picking out what I’m going to wear and I plan on wearing a lot of my clothing more than once before washing. This is better for my clothes and will cut down on the amount of laundry I have to do. I love the organization! In being completely transparent, I am not a naturally organized type of person, I have to work hard at organization and routine but I probably need it more than a lot of people as well! I tend to be scattered! I’m an ideas/creative person!
If you need some outfit inspiration, search online or on Pinterest or Instagram for “capsule wardrobe” it will help you decide which items are important to keep and you’ll be able to find awesome mix and match outfit ideas! Maybe do this while you’re deciding what to keep!
I’m loving this so much, I’m going to be scheduling days for my husband and children to do their own Project 333. I know they will not share my enthusiasm but I’m looking forward to being able to keep up with the laundry!
I hope you will find this as helpful as I do! Please reach out if you need advice or have any questions at all! You can google Project 333, you can check it out on social media or email me anytime at theterritoryboss@gmail.com or on insta @territoryboss. If you’re local and need more help one on one, I do more in depth, in person consulting with home staging and home organization. Good luck!
