Clothing Inventory

this closet and dresser make up the majority of the bedroom clothing storage

Last night, after browsing clothing inventories on several blogs, including An Exacting Life and Live to List, I immediately wanted to get up and start counting my clothes. I managed to wait until this morning to get started.

It turns out that I have 256 major items of clothing, including tops, bottoms, coats and shoes. This total doesn't include accessories, under clothes, or pajamas. I think I'd be fine with that total if I liked and wore everything, or even most of these things, but that number includes at least 60 (gulp) items in various sizes that I can't currently wear and yet am not ready to admit total defeat in ever wearing again (obviously mostly smaller clothes).

Clothing Inventory

Tops - 154
t-shirts: 42
long sleeve t-shirts: 19
works shirts & blouses: 30
tanks: 5
sweatshirts: 6
sweaters: 44
blazers: 6
work polos: 2

Bottoms - 73
jeans: 9
shorts: 19
dress pants: 32
exercise clothes: 8
skirts: 5

Misc. - 29
Coats: 5
Swimsuits: 3

shoes: 21

Total: 256


All of these clothes and too often I still feel like I have nothing to wear!

my side of the overflow closet is rather stuffed at the moment

More than half of the items are stored in the tiny 1940s closet and two dressers that are in the bedroom. A little less than half--mainly out-of-season items and ones that don't fit--are stored in our largest closet, which is inconveniently located in the basement. Some extras are stored in two dressers in the attic. These are several suits I have, which were fairly expensive when I bought them long ago, that I will never wear again. I keep thinking I should sell them online and get something out of them rather than donating them, but I'm really not sure it's worth the hassle.

Out of these 256 items of clothing, six were purchased from thrift stores. And while that total is low, it's definitely the most items I've ever had from a thrift store. I find it challenging enough to find clothes I like at new clothing stores where there is a greater selection of styles and sizes, at thrift stores it's almost impossible for me.

While doing this inventory I found four items of clothing I am going to donate, plus one for the rag pile, so I'm downsizing already!

Where do I go from here? 
I think my goal will be to keep my total under 250 items of clothing for now, so for anything new I buy something must go. I'm fine with having clothes that fit the storage space I have, but I want to work on only keeping items that make me feel good to wear, plus some size cushions since I fluctuate a fair bit.

Have you ever done an inventory of your clothing? How much is too much for you?

Tablets: Clutter or Cure-All?

image via flickr user Gadgetmac

I was skeptical about tablets long after they became mainstream. What could a tablet possibly offer that my laptop didn't already?

But last winter, as Christmas approached and with no other possible gifts I needed or wanted, I caved in to some gadget envy as everyone and even my own mother seemed to be buying a tablet. So I asked for and Santa delivered an ipad mini. And I found the answer to what tablets offer over laptops: the ultimate in portability.

I admit it: I love this thing. I don't think a day has gone by since last Christmas that I haven't used it for something, from taking a picture, to reading an e-book, to surfing the web. I rarely pull out my laptop anymore, unless I need to type large amounts of text or use a site that isn't mobile friendly.

Tablets are perfect for traveling. I recently returned from a quick trip out of state and packing the ipad is so much easier. It fills the role of books, a laptop (for low-key things like web surfing and checking email), a game device, a video device, and a camera (not an ideal one for distance or high-quality shots, but for being able to snap a photo in a pinch it's fine) all in one compact little package.

But the question still remains, is a tablet clutter or a cure-all? Is it a distraction or a productivity booster?

Since my ipad is something I use often, and even find beautiful, I wouldn't classify it as clutter. But for me it's all about entertainment. And sometimes it's just another time waster (Candy Crush, anyone?)

It's also an addition to my gadget collection. It doesn't replace my laptop, which I'm typing on right now and still need for blogging, photo editing, updating documents and typing anything of length (sure I could get an add-on keyboard for the ipad, but I think that too would be uncomfortable). It doesn't replace my camera, even though I use it far more often. It does replace the need to buy an ebook reader, as the Kindle app works just fine for that purpose.

Even at work, where were given a full-size ipad to use for business, I don't find it overly useful. It's great for checking email, taking simple notes and using the web on the go> But even when you spring for paid apps I still find it cumbersome to update Word or Excel files with it, not to mention working on something more complex. Maybe given time that will change.

Fellow tablet owners, do you find them useful or just fun?