Categories: uncategorized
Date: 05 April 2006 13:27:31
I’ve been doing some radical sorting out of my wardrobe and my life. To the extent that the men from the council came round and left another enormous bin because of the number of black bags I was leaving out*, and frankly, I’m impressed with me...
Even though I'm still using the HP Lovecraft Wardrobe of Doooooom™, I'm feeling a lot lighter and more in control now I've thrown out 90% of my clothes. Everything's washed and hung up in the wardrobe, or neatly folded and put away in a drawer. I know what clothes I've got, and what goes with which items. I don't have huge laundry mountains draining my spirit and depressing me, and I've stopped just taking my clothes off and leaving them where they fall, because I've actually got room in my laundry basket. And I've got an idea of what I actually need in the way of space when for when I finally make a decision about replacing the aforementioned wardrobe. And because I know what I actually have in the way of clothes, I'm not buying stuff with no idea of if it works or not, thus saving money and avoiding Drunken Shoe Purchasing. Or rather, staying with the drunken shoe purchasing, but buying them knowing they'll Go With Stuff.
And because all my skirts and dresses are neatly hung up instead of (a) dumped on the bedroom floor (b) festering in the laundry basket (c) crammed in a drawer they're not supposed to be in, I know that when the designer from the fitted bedroom company comes round on Friday morning, I can say "I need 1 metre of hanging space and six drawers for clothes, and several drawers and shelves for craft projects" rather than "well, um, err, I, ah, dunno... Take a guess."
I’m going away this weekend, and I can stroll home this evening, go to one drawer, pull out three matched pairs of socks, one pair of pyjamas, assorted bits of underwear, place in (empty) suitcase. Then go to wardrobe, select three clean skirts. Remove from hangers, fold, place in suit case. Go to other drawer. Select three clean tops that will go with previously-selected clean skirts. Take from drawer, place in suitcase. No need to fold, because they're already folded. Collect sponge bag from bathroom, place in suitcase. Pack things like phone charger, charger for camera battery. Have a leisurely dinner, a read of the Ship, and go to bed at a reasonable hour. Then all I will have to do on Friday morning is pack things like cleanser that I don't have travel sizes of, open door to bedroom designer bloke, have calm discussion about wardrobe requirements and so on.
This time last year, it would have been a complete nightmare. I'd have been stressing about the designer coming for weeks, and would have spent this evening running around in circles, not knowing what to do first because I didn't know where to start, and ended up not doing any of it, probably. Or just ramming everything in the wardrobe and praying he doesn't ask me questions like "how much hanging space do you need?" And if he does, guessing and getting it wrong.
I'd be frantically throwing things in the washing machine because they wouldn't be clean and if I wanted them to take away I need to do them tonight or they won't be dry. I'd pack mismatched socks, tops that I don't really like but they're clean so I don't have a deal of choice. I'd forget something vital like a toothbrush and have to buy one at Waterloo. I'd be up until midnight doing laundry and packing everything in a rush on Friday morning before the man got here. Bleh.
Of course, I’ll probably still forget something, because that’s me, but at least I’ll have matching socks...
*we have grossly inadequate recycling provision, and the Salvation Army wouldn’t have thanked me for giving them all my horrible clothes.