The Hidden Part Of The Closet Purge: Shoes

It’s been a long time since I kept record of my purging mission with the help of the Konmari Method here in this blog. I’ve been absorbed by so many other tasks and even though I had all the pictures for the documentation ready, I kept pushing the writing part out. Yes, you got me – I kept procrastinating. Perhaps because writing, at times, scares me, because I want it to be perfect and am afraid to fail. But let’s push this aside, let’s get down my want of perfectionism, and let me tell you about the hidden part of the closet purge: decluttering shoes.

Together with my big closet purge I handled all the other subcategories as belts, scarves, handbags, hats etc. On a separate basis I tackled the subcategory shoes, because I knew that I had many of those and needed to do them on a separate day. I also didn’t want to display them in our living room, I don’t like shoes in my apartment. So I waited for a quiet day when I knew that others of the apartment building would all be out, and gathered those together in our stairway.

As I was doing so my face again flushed with embarrassment… I mean, I also knew that over these past years I had developed a certain fondness for shoes. But I never thought it would be to that extend. My hobby-shoes aren’t even on the picture, since they had no room and I knew I’d keep them all because I just love them too much and use them on a weekly basis^^. But all the others… gee…

To my “defense” I can say that our four seasons here in Switzerland are quite different from each other. You need the waterproof shoes. You need the shoes for sports. You need the very warm boots. Then you need the not-so-warm-boots. And you need the open shoes for the very hot summers. And the half-open shoes for not-so-hot-summers. And then you need nice shoes for work. And comfy shoes for walks and hikes. And shoes for other dress codes you like to wear every once in a while at balls, parties, gatherings, events. You need the regular house shoes and the house shoes for winter to keep your icy feet warm in the apartment. So that sums up a whole load of the shoes that you can see on display here. And then, of course, you have the shoes that are here just for pure pleasure, because you love the texture, the colour, the style. And they might not even be that comfy, but you still adore them ❤

Alas, I didn’t take an after-picture. But let me tell you what came away instead:

• I brought a total of six pair of shoes to the Brocki.
• I gave a beautiful pair that was nearly new to a friend I knew she’d like them and could use them well, since they turned out to be too big for myself.
• I brought back a pair of ball shoes that I never used and I never liked because they were so uncomfy – I got my money back for it 😉
• One pair broke and landed in the trash.
• I replaced two pair of shoes because I knew I needed a similar kind in a better shape – the old worn out shoes landed in the trash then.

So all in all, of the 51 (…*superblush*…) pair of shoes displayed on the picture here I got rid of 11 pair of shoes. Two of them were replaced, which leaves me with a total of 42 pair of shoes. Somewhat insane – I know, I know… But due to the reasons listed above, you can somewhat understand the amount. I mean, somewhat… 😀

I used to go along with less than 10 pairs of shoes back in those days. Back in those days I didn’t exercise many sports either though, did have different kind of hobbies, wasn’t in the age group you’d get invited to weddings or fancy parties. Didn’t hike. Didn’t attend parties of different scenes where a certain pair of shoes is required to be worn. Didn’t bother about if the shoes fitted what I wore. Now, I like to match my shoes with what I’m wearing. I like to dress smartly for work, every once in a while. Not too smart, but smart. And as it is with scarves, having a certain pair of a certain colour always comes in handy.

Now this category doesn’t seem to have had great success with the Konmari method. It doesn’t seem. But it was a good step and I still feel it helped me loads and I won lots out of that experience. I got a good overview of what I have and what I need (to get replaced). I took the shoes out of their hidden storage spots and know they are there, so I get them out more often and use them more. I enjoy them more. I never thought I’d turn into one of those cliché-shoe-lover-ladies. I still don’t feel like one of them. But I do enjoy a nice pair of shoes that matches my outfit. Yes, I kept most of them. But the shoes I either need or, simply, they make me happy 🙂 And isn’t that the whole point of the Konmari method?

Stay tuned – next category books is coming up soon!!!

If you’d like to find out more about my decluttering mission with the help of the Konmari method, click on “my messy room” above on the menu 🙂