Project 333: Getting Started

I’ve been really enjoying a YouTube channel called “Light by Coco.”  Coco is a Dutch minimalist living in San Francisco, and her channel mainly deals with what she calls, “living light.”  Since we moved into our beautiful duplex last summer (which I love, love, love, LOVE!) I’ve been feeling like I’m just overwhelmed with stuff.  The home is smaller than our last rental place, so all the stuff we accumulated doesn’t really fit.  “Light by Coco” has been inspiring me to declutter and lighten the load, so to speak.

Coco mentions Project 333 in many of her videos.  I decided to see what’s up.  It is an online challenge where you only wear thirty-three items for 3 months.  Sentimental items like your wedding ring don’t count, and neither do undergarments.  Everything else, shoes, hats, bags, purses, and jewelry are fair game.  I decided that participating in Project 333 would be a great start to the decluttering of my new home.  

My first step, I think, is to do an initial decluttering.  I’m not really ready yet to throw a lot of stuff away.  We’re not spending ANY money right now, so it wouldn’t make sense for me to trash anything I might use.  In the last couple of days, I went through my closet and packed away all the things I’m not wearing regularly, whether it’s because I can’t nurse in it, it doesn’t fit me postpartum, or whatever.  I did pack a small box up to go to the Goodwill, but the rest went into large storage boxes to be “shopped” later as the seasons change, as things wear out, or as my situation evolves, i.e. Alice stops nursing.  

I also went through my jewelry box.  I had a ton of jewelry that I never wore.  I pared it down to this:

Next, I’ll be counting my clothing items and doing a second paring down to get to thirty-three items.  I’ll also be deciding how many item spots I’ll save for bags and shoes.  

It’s late February now, so the quarter is more than half over.  I plan to put a winter capsule together for the remainder of the quarter, then do a whole new capsule starting in April.

I’ll be writing a series about the project as I go, so don’t forget to subscribe!