Autumn is Here: Time to Rake Out Your Closet!

Earlier this year I took Project 333 for a 30 day spin. If you’re not familiar with Project 333, click here to learn more: Project 333.

There is so much going on in my life right now that in order to alleviate stress in an area I can control, I’ve decided to clear out my closet. Some of the great benefits to clearing out your closet are needing less time to get ready in the morning, less decision fatigue, (which is a key thing I need at the moment), and less laundry!

Changing our mindsets about clothing and how it pertains to our value and worth is another reason why this is important to me. People are worth so much more than what they wear on the outside! I hope this project helps you to look past the outside and encourages you to love the person underneath it all more over the next thirty days.

Fall is a great time to take on a challenge like this. You are already in the mindset of changing your clothes over with the seasons, so it will be easy to take inventory of what you let back into your wardrobe. Be intentional to only let back in what you love and what makes you look amazing. Just because something looked great on your body last season doesn’t automatically mean it will this season. Losing weight or getting a different haircut and/or color can really change the way your clothes look on you.

What’s left in my closet.

This challenge is not to put more stress on your life, but to bring you freedom. That is why I have decided to modify the rules a pinch. Being a busy mom who fills a lot of roles as well as living in Cleveland where the weather changes every 5 minutes, I don’t want another thing that feels restricting – this is more an act of liberation. I really loved my experience last time around, so I’m looking forward to giving it another go.

Here are the rules we will be going by:

• Start date: October 1st
• Choose 33 items of clothing that you can work and play in for the next 33 days. Keep in mind any special events you have coming up.
• Items that do not count as part of the 33 items – wedding ring or another sentimental piece of jewelry that you never take off, underwear, sleep wear, in-home lounge wear,  and workout clothing (but your workout clothes have to actually be for working out).

My modifications are as follows:

I’m not going to be counting accessories, outerwear and shoes. The usual duration for Project 333 is three months, but I will be going for one month and ending on the 31st, or, rather, reevaluating the on the 31st to see if I want to keep going.

The Cheetah pants made the cut because I love matching my daughter who loves wearing  Cheetah print.

Setting yourself up for success is really important. How many clothes you have at the beginning will obviously determine the difficulty of the project. If your closet is bursting at the seams and you’re able to whittle it down to fifty items, then I call that a win. I think there will still be great lessons to learn, and during the project, you might even realize that there are some of those fifty items you won’t touch.

A great hack that I’m going to try this time around is turning all my hangers backwards. Every time I wear something, I’ll turn it around. This will give me a really good picture of what I lean toward wearing more often. Last time I did this challenge, I had a strict 33 items and there were still things I didn’t even touch after thirty days. Those things were easy to give away at the end. If your closet is super limited and you’re not wearing an item, chances are pretty slim you’ll choose that particular garment when it’s up against even more options.

I’d like to do weekly check ins at Five Things Facebook and see how the project is going for everyone. Feel free to check out the hashtag #project333 on Instagram to see others who are also doing the project and get some outfit inspiration.

I would love to hear from you! Let me know in the comments if you are interested in joining us this month or if you’ve done this project before and want to share your experience!