The Closet Rotation
"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush" – Doug Larson
Well, we’re beyond slush here, but we might get a sandal full of spring rain! It’s that time of year again for me to rotate my closet and get out my spring and summer clothes.
I always know this because in the fall and winter, I leave just 2 t-shirts to wear, just in case there’s an unusually warm day.
I’ve had to wash those 2 t-shirts twice as often these past two weeks, so it’s time to get more out!
I complain about the cold in the winter, but I love the change of seasons, particularly since moving here to The Little House.
It seems I’m more keenly aware of the changes and part of that is because I have to make a conscious effort to rotate the proper clothing. At our house in the city, it was just a matter of going to another closet in another bedroom.
Here, I have to wash all my out-of-season clothes and pack them away, rotating the clothes out into our small closet for the new season.
I noted last fall when I pull my clothes out after months of having them packed away, it is like greeting old friends.
My summer wear largely consists of clothes I bought when we first built The Little House. I didn’t want to drag clothes back and forth from the city, so I purchased several outfits of capris pants and woodsy-shirts that were my “lake clothes.” Those clothes served me for the 4 summers before we moved here and this will be the 4th summer since we’ve moved here and I’m sure I can get more summer seasons of wear from them.
For Dale’s side of the closet, his long sleeved flannel shirts get packed with my sweatshirts and sweaters and his small collection of button up cotton shirts come out.
My shoes don’t change for around the house, the rocky terrain here requires closed shoes year around, but I did have two pair of favorite sandals for those occasions when we leave Campbell Town.
However, one of the straps finally gave out during a walking tour of my mother’s old southside neighborhood in Chicago last summer. The other pair, well, they’re ready for retirement as well.
Sandals are definitely one thing I will have to replace this year.
What’s your favorite summer wear?
It’s Giveaway Friday in celebration of Earth Day and I have a really cool giveaway this week from OKA b. Shoes, a product made from a zero waste plant in Georgia. Their shoes are regrinded from “well loved” pairs of shoes and combined with raw materials to create new pairs. They are also made in the U.S.A. and are providing much needed jobs to a southern town. The folks over at shoesthatloveyou.com are giving one pair of sandals, flip-flops or thongs from their summer collection to one lucky Living Large reader. You know the rules. Just make a comment in the comment section of this post between now and Sunday, April 18 at 5 p.m. CST. I will draw the winner and name you on the post on Monday morning. You will need to contact me by email by 5 p.m. CST on Tuesday, April 20 with your address, shoe size and shoe style choice from the website.
am already preparing to get my winter clothes because winter is coming fast again. i could already feel the winter breeze";"
when buying winter clothes, i always chose wool because i love the feel of it~"*
Hey Kerri!
Wandered over here after reading of your house at the M.E.N. site (which isn't working today!). Just the kind of place I want to live in. Thank you for sharing!
Feeling like a winner already, for that link to OKA b. shoes. You **know** it's hard to find links to USA-made shoes. Have bookmarked this one, and will definitely shop there.
I'm already wearing my favorite summer clothes, though it was wet and 40 degrees yesterday here in Colo Spgs: camping shorts, T-shirt and sandals. I must be an optimist!
Welcome, Aggie CO! Glad you wandered over to the site! Thanks for checking out the OKA b. Shoes site. The companies that sponsor these giveaways count on new customers through the promotion and I'm glad you will become one! Look forward to having you a part of the Living Large community!
Favorite summer wear — halter tops, shorts, sandals … and a colorful insect pin to top off the outfit.
I can picture the insect pin, Barb. Cool!
Kerri, add me into the drawing!
My current situation still allows for two closets, but mine are professional (teacher) wear, and casual wear.
I too, have to put spring/summer out and put away fall/winter. I do keep a couple of sweatshirts handy just in case we get that cooler than normal evvening.….weather in western Texas, you just never know what will happen next!
My favorite dress, however, stays out all year long. It is a gray jersey, with black velvet trim around the wrists, and collar.…with black velvet designs on the upper half…it is a good luck dress! I wear it for special occasions-job interviews, for instance!
You're in, BJ! I love the idea of having a lucky dress. I have a "Life is Good" tee that has a dog and says, "Lucky Dog." It's supposed to be for St. Paddy's Day, but I wear it all of the time. I feel lucky when I do.
The apartment complex where I live allows us to put out small stacks of clothing, household items, etc. that you no longer need by the trash. We also put out books, used tv's ,etc. Whoever needs or wants it just picks it up and takes it home. It saves a little on the big trash heaps. My 7 year old granddaugher told me the other day if we did't stop all the litter, when she grows up you won't be able to even walk in the park. That just about killed me.
Phil, that is a great idea. Here we just put things in the front yard, or by the curb, and folks driving by take what they want. Nothing is ever left very long.
Hadn't thought about a whole apartment complex doing that!
I'm glad your granddaughter is becoming environmentally aware at such a young age. Imagine if that had been taught to people me and Kerry's generation when we were that young! Great idea for your apartment complex.
My outfit year round are jeans and t shirts. Cleaned out the closets the other day but need to purge more .… just hard letting go sometimes..even the ratty looking tees.
Ratty looking tees are the best, Susan!
I use them when I KNOW we aren't going to have any visitors.
I love a simple shirt with a linen or cotton skirt and a pair of sandals on those hot days of summer.
Simple is the way to go, Karen! You're in the drawing.
Just loved reading about your down sized life! This is a great inspiration for me to also finish sorting the winter clothes I did not wear this past season (I retired last September and now do not need all those "office appropriate" things so I will be donating them. As I unpacked the out of season clothing storage tote of warm weather things, I also see a lot of those things will be leaving my house!! YEAH!!!! My favorite summer wear is shorts or capris and comfortable (cool) tops, with sandles or flipflops. Would love to be entered into the drawing!!
You're in, Linda! When I left corporate life, I donated all of my nice (and expensive) suits to a women's shelter. Made me feel very good that some women who needed a fresh start and a good job was styling in my suits!
Jealous, am I. I bet we'll have the flannel sheets and warm clothes around here until early June. It's a short, short "summer" when you live at altitude.
You don't owe me, Roxanne! I'm happy to pass the word. This is such a great cause!
You live in a beautiful part of the country, Roxanne, but I don't think I would be able to take those short summers!
My favorite "around the house" summer wear is an old scrub top and pair of shorts. I practically live in this high styling(not)outfit most of the summer. I know the neighbors probably think I only have one outfit because they always see me in the same thing, but it just so happens I have several of the same color scrubs (from a previous job)and it doesn't bother me one bit what they think, I'm reclycing my old worn work wear to garden wear..lol. Thanks for a chance to win the shoes, they'd be perfect to putz around in this summer!
I think the same thing about my neighbors, Sandy, as I will often take the dogs for walks in the same outfit several days in a row (unless it is really hot and I get sweaty!) However, like you, I really don't care what anyone thinks.
I think we all could use a closet change, big or small–gives us a nice chance to purge, organize, etc…just this morning, I was eyeing my daughter's closet, which has become a bit of a dumping ground…not fair to her!
That's bunny, Babette. She must not mind or you would know it!
In the part of New Zealand where I live, we don't have huge seasonal temperature variations. Average high in our hottest month is 75 degrees F, the coolest is 58 and average lows are only 10–15 degrees cooler than the daytime highs.
This means I can wear most of my clothes most of the year. But since the autumn is upon us, I've been pulling out my merino jumpers (sweaters) and woolly socks. There is something wonderful about woolly warmness!
I should be used to the reverse seasons as we have an Australian exchange daughter, but it never ceases to startle me when you talk about fall in the spring!
Lovely butterfly/flower picture. Did you take it?
Wish I could take credit for that one, but it was a piece of clipart that came with my photo program!
I love wearing sneakers with no socks and I have a pair of black Adidas slides that I leave by the front door and put on whenever I go into the yard. I love bathing suits since I love to swim (but don't love how I look in them!)
I realized recently that I have some clothes so old that I can no longer recall where they came from or how many years I've had them!
I was just reading a headline that said something about clothes that we have that never go out of style, even after 5, 10 or 15 years. I'm way, way beyond caring about how stylish I am. Give me old, comfy familiar clothes. It actually makes me a little sad these days when I wear something out.
I'm in! I could use a new pair of sandals, too.
You're in, Kim!
Loose, light, flowy dresses in summer colors and going barefoot! I've been doing a fair bit of my gardening barefoot already.
I loved going barefoot when I was a kid, but that was in the nice grassy terrain of Kansas. This terrain, lots of pebble bruises. Ouch.
What an awesome giveaway! I've started pulling out our summer clothes recently due to the unseasonably warm weather up north but it's now gone back to being cold. Grr! Just a few more weeks and then it should be warmer! Looking forward to wearing my summer clothes which is essentially my "play clothes" since I don't work over the summer.
Not having to work over the summer? Sounds like heaven.
Spring! How I long for the springs in the hills of TN. Miss them dearly. So glad I get to go for a visit soon. Spring here in the northwest has been in full bloom for a while now and this weekend we are blessed with sun
Tami, We were supposed to get some rain with cooler weather this weekend but I think the cooler weather is all we are supposed to get now. We are needing a little rain to help our garden!
When I first moved to the Texas Hill Country, I brought all my winter clothes with me. Last spring, after I realized only two long sleeved tshirts had been pulled from the cold side of the closet, I decided to purge! This spring, the only thing I had to change out was my jeans and jackets. They were rotated to the back of the closet — still close enough for cool evenings or working in tall grass. Front and center now are my cotton skirts and short sleeve tees. I, too need to replace sandals, and also sneakers this spring. (Sandal straps are beyond repair and I finally split out the sole in my canvas shoes…after 5 years!)
I hate it when sandal straps break, especially when on a tour!
A couple of years ago I reduced my wardrobe to half, but it appears that I am due for another purge, as even the things I kept really don't get much use. As far as rotation, I will usually pull out a couple pairs of capris and my tank top, but the rest still stays as our weather is so unpredictable. we really only have one month that is fairly warm here(Alberta, Canada)but even then the night can get a little chilly. The only thing that can be safely put away are the winter boots. But then again, I am a bit of a whoose and do like to be warm.
I've always said I would never live anyplace that is colder than where we're at, Jenny.
I like to be warm too and will keep a sweatshirt or two out in the summer for those strange days when it dips to 55 or 60!
Ah, Spring! We are due to get the rain today. Since we have to stay inside, you have inspired me to get my husband to sort through his clothes. I already started on mine last weekend …
Good luck with that, Alexandra. My husband still has stuffed packed away from the 1980s. He doesn't get rid of anything!
I am into lots of different colored t shirts and capris one stone colored pair, 2 denim, and one capri set (for dressing up) I am sooo into casual at my age…I used to love shorts but the shortest pants I will wear now is the knee length…it is likely saving neighbors retinas!!! LOL.
I hadn't thought about closet rotation…as I always had the space before. Right now my little closet is stuffed. Thanks I think I will re-think this idea and make some breathing room in the closet. Cindyt
There's no way our winter and summer clothes would fit into the tiny closet we have now. Rotation a must do ritual twice a year around here!
Tank tops and shorts! (one each of which I will break out today)
Sounds pretty cool, Susan!
Favorite clothes around the house are long dresses. My clothes are year around, but no more heavy coats that make me look like a giant baboon.
Freedom is in the air.
I can't picture you looking like a baboon, Mary, coat or not!