A Little Patch-y

After my decluttering session, my closet ended up with a definite shortage of sweaters, which proves to be a serious issue as the weather is rapidly declining.

In desperation of sweaters, I took to J Crew and found a sweater that was irresistible. Personally, I'm not a fan of v-neck sweaters and much as a crew neck, but this look was too enticing to not try.

The leather patches down the sleeve really makes the sweater stand out in comparison to others. Generally elbow patch sweaters are simply that, only on the elbow. But this sweater stretches the limits of patch length (and completely succeeds).

A fun way to make the sweater stand out more is to wear a colorful or bold pair of shoes. It really puts together the outfit and adds a little color to your day.

Do you have any sweater suggestions?

The Art of Tidying Up

Cleaning and organizing your things can have a wonderful effect on your life. The things that really matter become more apparent and you realize that you don't need as many things as you originally thought.

In the book, "The Life-Changing Art of Tidying Up," author Marie Kondo explores how her technique for decluttering your life should be implemented into your personal, everyday life. Admittedly, some of her techniques seem a little far fetched like thanking your shoes for doing a good job when you take them off. But a lot of her suggestions are really worthwhile to try in your life.

For example, Kondo suggests situating your clothes in the drawer vertically so that you can see exactly what you have. Plus, you don't have to dig through all of those button downs anymore to find the right one.

Personally, reading the book finally served as motivation to give away all of the books and clothes that I don't use anymore. Now I don't have to deal with items that don't "make me happy" anymore while knowing that it now belongs to someone who needs it.

All in all, Marie Kondo's suggestions have made me more conscious of the items that I have in my life and whether they are truly "keepers."

What are your favorite "decluttering" techniques?