Shoe-Sorting Sunday

Drop-Front Shoe Box, from The Container Store

Today I plan to spend a couple hours (preferably after darkness falls, so I’m not wasting our rare February Seattle sunshine) sorting the shoes in my closet. I do this every year, but need to be firmer with myself this year. I plainly have too many shoes.

QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:

Houseplant watering time? I’m trying to remember to do this every Sunday – at least checking to see if my plants need water or not.
Fridge and freezer cleaning – Clean out one shelf, one drawer or two door containers in both your fridge and your freezer. (Or take the time to do the whole thing!) Replace items you’re keeping once the shelf or drawer is clean and dry again.
Need to do any laundry so you go into the upcoming workweek with clean sheets, fresh towels, and clean clothes to wear to work or school?
Make meal plans for the week ahead; create grocery list if you haven’t already done your shopping.
Any relatives (particularly elderly ones) you weren’t able to call yesterday to wish a Happy Valentine’s Day? I’m going to make a round of phone calls tonight to catch up with family members.

TODAY’S PROJECT: Shoe Sorting

I’ve dumped most of my shoes in a big pile on my closet floor, in order to annoy myself enough to actually deal with this project today and get it done!

It’s time for me to face up to the truth. (You’re likely anticipating I’m going to say, ‘I have too many shoes.’ Naw. That’s true, but I’m facing a harder truth than that).

For three years now I’ve been struggling with a back injury caused by poor posture and repetitive motion injury while sitting improperly in front of a computer (or slumped on a couch with a laptop on my lap) for far too many hours a day.

My physical therapist ordered me, a year ago, to stop wearing my favorite kind of shoes: thin little flats, ballerina flats, etc. I’ve struggled to adjust my shoe wearing habits – she suggested a low heel, I maintain that I’m too clumsy and ankle-twisty to wear any sort of a heel. I detest sneakers – I think they’re all hideously ugly – and I suspect I’m too old and don’t have the right personality to pull off my favorite Converse high tops any more.

I’m also five foot eleven and while proud and not ashamed of my tallness, I’m not looking to add any more inches to my height.

When I wear my favorite kind of inexpensive, non-leather flats, my feet hurt and my limp is extremely more pronounced than normal. Even in good shoes, a shopping trip to a hard-floored store such as Target, Costco, etc. is excruciating for me.

I refuse to use a cane or wheelchair, so we finally came up with a compromise. I ended up finding some very comfortable (and hopefully not too gramma-ish) sneaker-style shoes that don’t look like sneakers. I found them at Nordstrom. from a company (or designer?) named Bernie Mev. At $66 a pair they are much more expensive than the practically disposable $10 flats I’m used to buying at Payless, but I invested in three pairs – one silver, two black. The memory foam soles were so comfy, my life was changed for the better overnight. I wear them every day, and spent quite a bit of time trying to find more (the European sizes don’t quite transfer over to my big size 10 feet).

I managed to find the same shoes under a different, cheaper brand name (Corky’s) and picked up a purple pair and another couple pairs of black for around $30 each. (I keep wearing them to the dog park in them and getting them dirty and muddy, so I’m trying to have one nice “going out” pair of black ones that are clean and new looking still).

All this is leading to, it’s been a year now, and I need to admit that I cannot, and must not, wear most of the darling, colorful, cute shoes in my closet. This makes me feel old, and sad, and wasteful. Luckily, I haven’t worn many of them (instinctively knowing they would be uncomfy), so I can donate them to charity in pristine condition. I have got to get rid of these unused shoes, which will free up space in my closet I can use for things I actually wear and enjoy.

Today I’m taking down every pair of my shoes out of my closet, dusting and trying them on, and getting rid of most of them. I’ll keep any flipflops or sandals that fit me (keeping in mind that I’m middle aged and my feet swell on hot days, sigh) but any ballerina flats or anything with a high heel have to go. (Goodbye, cute pair of $22 high heel black manmade boots I got from Payless, wearing them on a toe-pinchingly painful evening out to dinner).

I’ll of course dust the shelves I keep my shoes on before returning the few pairs I’m keeping to my shelves. I expect this project to take around an hour today – perhaps a bit more if I start crying and have to take a Kleenex break. I plan to immediately toss my bags of donation shoes into the car and immediately drive them to a shoe donation bin, so I’m not tempted to reneg and keep any of the ones I must discard!

What does your own shoe closet or shoe storage area look like? Can I tempt you into joining me in removing any pairs you know you won’t actually wear, today?

Related links:

Challenge 21 – Shoes (The Seana Method)

Four Steps to an Organized Closet (Her Pursuit of Sunshine)

Five Simple Closet Upgrades (Live Simply by Annie)

7 Questions to Ask When Cleaning Out Your Closet (The Everygirl)

25 Ways to Store Shoes in Your Closet (HGTV)

Walk-In Closet Organization (Better Homes & Gardens)

LOVELY BLOGS: Crazy for Crust

“Baking… with a slice of life.” This blogger presents some recipes that are healthier or ‘skinny’, and some that incorporate grocery store treats such as Oreos. The blogger, Dorothy, lives in Sacramento.

Recent posts include recipes for lemon funfetti cookies, Valentine Oreo bark, healthier cinnamon rolls and healthier chocolate chip cake.

http://www.crazyforcrust.com/

LOVELY SHOPS: Blue Velvet Vintage

Oh, how I wish I’d never run across this store! Yet I’m willing to torture your pocketbook with these gorgeous vintage-styled outfits too. They sell both actual vintage clothing and new clothing made to look vintage. They specialize in mid-century modern, but also have a lovely collection of old Hollywood glamour, Art Nouveau and flapper dresses. Their house brand of retro inspired dresses is “Classic Dame.”