Beth first brought Project 333 to my attention before the holidays and asked if I wanted to blog about it. I checked it out, and it intimidated me. The gist is, you pare down to thirty-three items of clothing (including outerwear like jackets, shoes, accessories and even jewelry; excluding under garments, PJs and workout gear) for three months. The woman who created the concept lists the items she chose and how living with less made her a convert. I’m by no means a fashionista, but I don’t like looking like I wear the same thing every few days. Plus I like to have variety of items, and even indulge in some trends (color, prints, etc.), which is difficult to do when you have a wardrobe consisting of 33 items. Typically most items are neutrals so they can be mixed and matched with as many options as possible.

When I realized I was moving I thought I’d take on an altered version of Project 333 and would cut down my wardrobe as much as possible, living with only what I needed for one month while my stuff went into storage. One of my immediate concerns was that I was starting a new job and knew I’d need some professional clothing. Luckily, I’m working at a start-up where most of the guys wear jeans and a button down flannel shirt or a hoodie. But that’s not me; and I am the client service rep. so I wanted to look professional. Having lived in NYC for many years I adopted the mantra ‘Dress for the job you want, not the job you have’ and I guess that’s stuck with me even now that I’m in laid-back California.

It took two days of re-evaluating, but I was finally able to get my clothing down to 50 items. And that was a huge accomplishment considering I had already packed at least 4 large boxes of clothes and shoes. I included 2 coats, 2 suits, 4 dresses, 3 skirts, 8 sweaters, 7 work tops, 7 casual tops, 1 scarf/mitten/hat set, 2 dress pants, 4 casual pants, 2 leggings, 2 pairs of heels, 3 flats, 1 moccasin, and 2 pairs boots (uggs, and rain – which I didn’t want to bring but it was rainy when I was packing so I kept them out). I did not count jewelry, underwear/panty hose, workout clothes, or pjs – but I only brought what I needed of those).

Once I arrived to my temporary living situation and unpacked, I realized I could’ve done with less. I could’ve cut out at least one thing from each category and been totally fine. I was scared to live with less, but I think it would’ve made my life simpler – and my suitcase lighter! I’m now more open to the Project 333 challenge and think I might do it for real now that I’ve tested the waters. Something tells me this would be easier come summer time. I do enjoy living with less clutter in general, and while I always try to keep my clothes to a minimum, clearly I could be doing a better job! Project 333 has opened my eyes and I will look at the purchase of clothing a little differently now.

You know how your favorite band will often have ‘side projects’? for example: Jack White of the White Stripes started another band in 2008 called The Raconteurs. Lot of your favorite bands do this so that they have another way to express themselves–a creative license to color outside the lines, if you will. And because you already enjoy their music, you’ll probably enjoy their new stuff–even if it feels a little different.

I feel like How To Fold Everything.com (HFE) is a Bneato ‘side project.’ And while it seems reasonable enough that Bneato would have a folding series, I wanted the videos to be just a little bit more off the wall than the playful vibe that is Bneato.

This first video is a trailer–a little teaser to get everyone excited for folding–because we could all use a little more enthusiasm when it comes to folding. So sit back and enjoy our first foray into the folding world with this quick 1 minute teaser. The next video will be an actual How-To where I show you how to fold a Snuggie. I know.

How To Fold Everything.com

day 27: apparently, i hadn’t had my oil changed in almost a year (eep!) and it had been on my to-do list for forever–it feels amazing to have that crossed off. and for my birthday next month (as a gift to myself) i’m going to have my car detailed by this guy. he’s a miracle worker so i’m pretty stoked to get back a brand new car.

day 28: my exercise boot camp decided to purge their lost and found during the challenge. which is something us apartment dwellers and homeowners should be doing on a regular basis. an outbox by the door works like a charm to give stuff back to friends and family that has been left behind.

day 29: something so simple but makes the biggest difference–hooks for brooms and mops–otherwise, they have a tendency to fall over when they lean against the wall. now they have a designated home so that everyone knows where to look when they need to clean up!

day 30: as my mom pointed out, the car still does not have a place to live but you have to start somewhere, right?! at least there is now a very large path making the items inside super accessible.

day 31 & 32: i drove out to peterman lumber in fontana last friday to pick out some wood for our fauxdenza. and on saturday, the beau and i put it all together. in case you’re interested, this is the DIY i followed to create my own.

day 33: i also picked up a board of reclaimed wood while i was at peterman lumber to create a cute little drop zone for our keys and such (IKEA mirror, anthro hook, schoolhouse electric fixture)

day 34: hooks for bags and coats by the entry (hooks are from anthropologie)

day 35: drum roll please…. after having this ginormous rug rolled up in our bedroom, we finally were able to put it down once the fauxdenza was finished.

day 36: in december, i wiped my computer clean. so now, with the help of the beau, i’m rebuilding and organizing my iTunes (all stored on an external drive).

day 37: best productivity app ever. download now (they offer a free trial). seriously. life changing. #anti-social

day 38: Lauren helped bring it home with her friend’s closet purge–they did some major damage earlier in the challenge and i’m glad to see them return with these bags of clothes going out!

day 39: The ‘doggie door’ has been painted shut…. until 2 days ago. The litter boxes are housed in the laundry room (behind this door). Which our beloved pooch, Mayor got into the other day and had a field day on our new rug. Lucky for us, he’s terrified of doggie doors–so as long as we keep the main door closed, the ‘un-gluing’ of the pet door was oh-so-important. Oh yea, we also doused the rug with scotch guard afterwards so now we’re really prepared.

Day 20: Same story at the Madariaga homestead!

Day 21: After catching up on my magazine reading, I spotted an article where you can sell your old electronics back using You Renew. For my old Blackberry, I got $60!!!

Day 22: The entryway to our home was in need of a little TLC. I picked up some new plants and purged lots of old paint and hardware that had been collecting dust.

Day 23: Got the ‘ok’ from a client to ship their items off to eDrop Off (an eBay clothing store). Feels so good to get this big box outta here!

Day 24: This may seem silly but having long shoelaces that you have to quadruple knot takes forever! I read online how to make them short and finally tackled this simple DIY.

Day 25: Put this chair (and one just like it) up on Craigslist. No matter how hard I’ve tried, there’s just no place to put these desks in the new house

Day 26: This is what the TV area looked like before!

while i was waiting for my flight to board at the airport, i updated my luggage tag (which was out of date by 2 addresses)! i also want to update my luggage piece and get the kind where there are 4 wheels. i have had my roller bag since 2002 so i think i qualify for an upgrade.

on the flight, i finally had the chance to go through my latest magazines and tear out anything i wanted to scan, pin, upload to evernote, etc. felt sooooo good to finally cross that off the list!

and last night, i corralled all my receipts that had been piling up and uploaded them to Shoeboxed. I do the DIY version which is forever free!

used a quick airport ride to sort and process my mom’s car console (she could stand to get rid of a few paper clips) but other than that, we can check that off the list!

since i’m currently traveling, it’s a bit trickier to do the 40 days challenge but i’m managing! luckily, the beau’s step brother had also been visiting and decided to purge 2 bags worth of clothes from their childhood home. and the hanger… a gift to my beau from his dad when he was little (stay or go)?!

i am absolutely loving how my mom’s shoe storage solution worked out. the labeling couldn’t look better and now things will get returned to their appropriate shoe category (each cubby is divided and sorted like with like).

while i was home in SC, my mom had the urge to go through all of her shoes and purge in a major way (like 2 trash bags worth).

and even though she was ready to get rid of some shoes, i encouraged her to keep shoes she had worn within the last year. we also decided that if they didn’t make her (or her feet) feel good, they were out (no matter the cost she paid for them).

it’s true, during the organizing process, things get a little #craycray.

i scored these cool shoes that mom picked up from greece. they kill her feet — hopefully i’ll have better luck!!

since mom already had the perfect shoe containers, the final step was to label the lot. i really wanted her to have a shoe closet that would wow and amaze, so i took pics of all of her shoes on a white sheet for a crisp, clean and uniform look. then i uploaded them to instagram and ordered 2.5 x 2.5 prints through printstagram for $12.00!! once they arrive, all mom has to do is affix each pic with tape. can’t wait to see the ‘after.’

you’ll have to excuse the day late posting… as we’re still visiting the east coast. this junk drawer before and after is courtesy of Bneato team member Lauren. She’s been helping her friend purge lots of categories (including this one… the often-dreaded junk drawer). to me, there’s nothing more satisfying than sorting like with like and making this drawer really neat. left-over shoe boxes and iPhone original containers repurpose well as dividers. you could also use an egg carton for the small stuff. the junk drawer is a great opportunity to get creative!