Thursday 23 February 2012

Off-List Goals: Making decisions


Currently I am working on some of my larger goals, but nothing is quite finished yet. So I don't have any beautiful pictures of wonderful ideas to show you. BUT! I do want to explain a little bit about the philosophy behind my goals, which ties in nicely with my wardrobe philosophy. Are you ready to make decisions and go a little deeper? Then hobey-ho!


Thursday 16 February 2012

Off-List Goals: How I determined what my wardrobe really needed


I once helped my younger sister get ready for moving to college by writing up and list (or inventory) of her clothes. A wise friend who was staying at our house for the summer found us and asked us a very interesting question: "Why are you doing that?" At the time there was no good reason. We had no idea what to do with the list once it was done. So since we were about 80% finished we just kept going. But we didn't have the same zeal. It is disheartening to realize that so many lists and organizational techniques don't lead anywhere. However, there is a way that your list of clothes can actually help. But it has to go beyond a simple list. This great e-card is exactly where we're going....

In my last post I discussed how to create a working wardrobe and gave you this definition: A working wardrobe is one that contains all the clothes you need to live the life you desire and to look good doing it. I described how to play with your clothes and to start thinking about what you actually like in terms of comfort, colour and style as well as taking a good look at yourself. Today we are going to start turning that play and thought into reality.

Just to give you a heads up the process of changing your wardrobe is basically this: Discover, Assess, make decisions, implement, evaluate. Which means you will never be done, because assess and evaluate are basically the same thing, making it.. a circle! Which is one of the reasons why this is actually sustainable. So, the first post was focused on the discovery part of this process, getting you to discover what you like and how you look right now. Next we will further assess what you actually need.

Thursday 9 February 2012

Off List Goals: Create a working wardrobe

I recently read a post on one of my favourite blogs that made me kind of mad.

The post was describing simple steps to create a wardrobe that really works, which sounds exactly like this post. Except I am going to be real with you, right now: Creating a wardrobe that really works in a way that can be sustainable for the future and won't cause you to spend a bunch of money? Well, that is going to take time.

Patience and preparation is key to this whole process. Fashion is fickle and you are probably right there along with it. Trends change, sales end and your own personal tastes can change in an heartbeat. A working wardrobe is one that contains all the clothes you need to live the life you desire and to look good doing it. This definition need never change, but I am sure the clothes will. These are the steps I have followed for the past year and a half, to really see my wardrobe change.

Thursday 2 February 2012

Goal 44. Organize and purge filing cabinet


Ok guys! Time to roll up our sleeves and tackle something rather, well, boring. A few weeks ago I was actually able to get excited about organizing my file cabinet. Yup, sounds crazy, but now I actually feel like we have the documents we need, in a space that makes sense and is easy to use. Plus it looks pretty good. Want to know how I did it? Here’s how. 





Things you will need
A filing cabinet or box & hanging files if needed
A whole bunch of files
File folder labels (I prefer Avery) and a printer
Download the template online that coordinates with you file folder labels (if using avery labels just go here.
If you need to buy hanging files and file folders try to go for basic colors. This way if you need more files in the future you won’t have to hunt the whole city for pink folders. We will add pretty colors with the labels. Since there are 5 main categories you may choose to get 5-cut folders (which means they have space for 5 tabs to show across the top). Also, if you already have folders, just use them! You can always cover old labels with new ones. 

Now we get to the most fun part..... the labels! I found a great website through my other favorite site pinterest that is all about file labelling. Please check them out here
So after I read this website and discovered this awesome method I had to put it into place. However, like I have mentioned before, I have to customize everything. So instead of buying their pre-packaged label system, which you certainly could, I decided to make my own.