Project 333

I've read about this project before. If you haven't heard of it, go here
I've always been tempted to do it. It sounds like fun. I also kinda did it while I was heavily pregnant. I only had a handful of maternity clothes, so I did wear the same few things all the time, and you know what, I actually felt really well dressed. Because I knew I looked good in all the clothes that I could fit. It also made getting dressed really simple, as there were so few choices.

Yesterday I read a blog post telling me that it was about to start for another 3 months in April. Usually I am reminded about it in the middle of the 3 month block, so don't do anything about it. This time however, I decided that I would.

First thing I did was go through two of my drawers of clothes. The short sleeved tops drawer and the long sleeved tops drawer. After putting some clothes in a pile to go to a friend (maternity), putting some in a pile to go to the op shop. I was asking myself why I still have a lace t-shirt that I haven't worn in about 8 years. And why I still have a 3/4 sleeve cardi when I've gone through my drawers since I realised I don't like 3/4 sleeves. Even taking into account that there are some t's and tops on the clean laundry couch, both of these drawers are now less than half full.

I opened the drawer with pants and skirts in it, took one look, decided I didn't want to deal with that mess at the time and promptly closed the drawer. Instead I got a pen and paper and sat down (on the end of the clean laundry couch) to work out what 33 items I wanted to wear for April, May and June.
This is when I came to the conclusion that while I like the idea of Project 333, I don't think I actually want to do it. See, I like variety too much. Project 333 is meant to be 33 items of clothing, not counting lounging around home wear, workout gear, underwear, sleepwear, wedding rings and any other items of sentimental jewelry that you don't take off. It does include all clothes, shoes and accessories that you are planning to use in that time.
I like the concept of clothes that you only wear for lounging around the house. For me currently this is pj pants and t-shirts. Mainly cos I'm still carrying too much of my baby weight to have pants that fit, and because I want to lose it, I haven't gone and bought myself more pants.

What I'd like to do is have it so that every item in my clothing is something I love, something that looks good on me and something that goes with most of the other clothes in there. I figure if all my clothes are like that, then I should wear most of them. Barring things like my LBD which get hauled out on special occasions.

So I'm currently tossing up between getting my wardrobe to the point mentioned above or if I do project 333. I'm wondering if I do a variation on project 333 where I have my base wardrobe of 33 items, I can swap things out if they get too big (which'd be really nice), but also have it so that if there are other clothes I'm wanting to wear then I can add those in. To try work out how many clothes I actually like wearing.

While I work this out, I really should clear out the drawer with pants and skirts in it.

Best Laid Plans

I had this awesome plan, of how I was going to declutter and organise one room a week. According to my plan, I should be over half way through the house by now. It's totally fallen apart. That's not to say that I'm not organising and decluttering, it's just I'm no longer really following my plan.
This is due to a few factors.
One, my husband is home all the time with a concussion, he has been for 6 weeks. On the upside, we're finally starting to see improvement there. Due to noise sensitivity he's not been able to help much at all with looking after our 6 month old daughter. This means I'm looking after her pretty much all the time.
Two, our daughter is currently doing some attachment 'stuff'. This means if I'm out of the room, she starts grizzling. Sometimes she's happy and fine to play on the floor with her toys, some of the time she needs/wants me there, not actively playing with her but talking to her while I'm within close proximity, sometimes I have to be actively playing with her. I think it's an equal split currently. It also means that when she naps I try to do things like have a little time to myself and organise dinner plus standard housework. She's a little too heavy now to have her in the Moby wrap when bending, as I get a sore back. Combined with reason one above, it makes it hard to get stuck in, and I have to do little bits where I can, which aren't always noticeable.
Three, I've been borderline depressed for awhile, I still am. Everything above isn't helping, but I'm not getting any worse, so I'm good with that. I'm taking more time to myself, trying hard not to feel guilty over it. While the house isn't improving, I'm stable.
Four, we are realising our currently layout isn't optimal, mainly I think with my crafting, which is now causing clutter in most rooms of the house. I did have a decent sized craft room, but it got turned into a computer room when my brother lived her and I got the little room, which is now our daughter's room. My sewing desk is in the lounge and crafting supplies are spread through every room in the house. So we're working out a plan to turn Guinevere's room back into a computer room, the spare room into a project room/craft storage, which must be tidy enough to be a spare bedroom on very short notice, and the computer room into  Guinevere's bedroom and playroom. I know for now she'll still mostly be in whatever room we are in (including sleeping in our bedroom), but planning for the near future is a good thing, and saves me having to rearrange in a few months time. As well as freeing up space downstairs from larger toys (rocking horse) that are stored down there.

I've realised that plans need to be flexible. Life, especially with small children, is prone to changes. A plan gives me an idea of where I want to go, provides me with steps I can follow to get there, but if it's fixed in stone I'm just going to stress myself out.
I'm still working through it, the lounge is nearly done, the kitchen is partially done, the old dining room is done and the area at the top of the stairs is definitely in progress. I also have a better idea of where I'm going.

Life, even with it's hiccups, is good.