Was it boring? And other questions about Project 333

And so I made it to the last week of Project 333. Three months or 91 days to be precise of dressing with 33 items. I’ve had so many fascinating conversations with people along the way. Some who were confused that I would have more than 33 items to begin with and others who confessed to having 33 pairs of shoes alone. Here’s the questions I most frequently heard…

Was is boring?

It was surprisingly less boring than I expected. There were only a couple of days when I genuinely thought ‘wow I’d quite like to wear something else’. But that was far out-weighed by the fact that getting dressed in the morning took zero brain-power and entirely removed an annoying decision process from my morning – I didn’t get bored of that feeling!

Did you have to do laundry more?

Honest answer was no. However I did need to get quicker at the post-washing process of ironing and putting away or I quickly found that all my clothes ended up in the ‘to iron’ pile rather than being ready to wear. It was also a good motivation to do laundry rather than having to make the washing machine work overtime at the weekends!

Anything you missed/wish you hadn’t chosen.

Yes, I realised that I don’t own any smart long sleeved tops! The great thing about living with less is that you notice the gaps (as well as the excesses) you’ve been living with. There were two tops that I hardly wore and one top I needed to replace after my child splattered me with non-washable paint!

What was the best things about it?

I LOVED having everything in one place. I could open my wardrobe and see everything, all in one place. No opening drawers or rummaging through shelves. This was a game-changer for me in terms of the speed it took me to get ready. I also enjoyed the simplicity of seeing space between my clothes and knowing that each was hand-picked to be there, no ‘just-in-case’ or ‘maybe-one-day’ items. Packing to go away was also a dream!

Will you keep going?

Yes and no. I will aim to stick to around 33 items but will probably give myself a little more grace with it. I’ve loved dressing more seasonally and this is definitely something I’m going to keep up (I’ve already been thinking about what items will be swapped out and in for the winter!).

The last three months have reminded me once again that we live in a world of excess where we are constantly told to get more, more, more. The aims of a more simple and minimalist lifestyle isn’t to end up living in an empty house and only wearing black (though if that’s your thing, great!). The aim is to work out what you value and remove anything that doesn’t align with that. For some that means saying yes to less committees, groups and events, to some it means cutting certain foods from their diets and for others it means choosing to own less physical items.

The last three months have made me realise that I want to value quality over quantity and space over clutter, I’ve also learnt you should always, always buy washable paint!