journey

How to build a capsule wardrobe (plus the guidelines I use)

July 17, 2017 by Meg 46 Comments

In April this year I set out to declutter my wardrobe, and wrote about how I got rid of all the clothing items that didn’t fit, I wasn’t going to wear, or just didn’t bring me joy. Since then, it has become a bit a talking point around friends as to how on earth I have continued to live with only 30 items of clothing in my wardrobe. So I thought I would lay out what is currently in my wardrobe, and the guidelines I use to have a capsule wardrobe.

First, yes, I still have 30 clothing items in my wardrobe, here is a full list of what they include:

4 formal outfits/ clothes I wear for special occasions ( 2 dresses, 1 suit jacket, 1 jumpsuit)
5 pants
1 shorts
2 skirts
2 tights
1 dress
4 tunic tops
5 casual tops
4 blouses
2 jerseys

There are things I still want to get rid of:

1 formal dress – I want to replace this with a dress I can wear for work
2 casual tops – the ones I own are a bit tatty, so I would like to replace these

And there are things I want to buy:

2 smart work tops (short sleeve)
1 smart work top (long)

What are my guidelines for building my capsule wardrobe?

I am not to hooked up on a particular number in my wardrobe, but I like that I own 33 clothing items from the above list
I consider the above list, a list of everyday clothing items, things I wear either to work or casual or to a special occasion (like a wedding).
I keep a few seasonal items in a storage container under my bed. Things like: winter jerseys, long tops I wear in winter, winter pj’s, a South African soccer shirt, 3 summer formal dresses, a house hoodie, and a small selection of clutch handbags, including some clutch handbags I got from my mum that I wear only for special occasions.

My capsule wardrobe excludes certain items (listed below):
- Shoes (4 boots, 3 heels, 3 takkies, 2 slops, 1 slippers, 1 pumps, and 1 gumboots)
- Accessories (scarves, belt, necklaces etc) and handbag (I only have 1 handbag)
- Pj’s (3 summer, 2 winter) and dressing gown (1 summer,, 1 winter)
- Workout gear (bras, tights, tops, jackets)
- House wear ( 1 shorts, 1 track pants, 1 top, 1 hoodie)
- Bras, underwear, stockings and socks
- Outer wear (1 coat, 1 trench, 1 puffy jacket, 1 rain coat)
- Items I have in storage

Read this post to find out how to build a capsule wardrobe. Click To Tweet

There are still things I keep in my wardrobe that I need to work through.

I would like to sort out my accessories, but I seem to hang on to these “just in case” – I don’r own a lot of scarves but I seem to favour one or two, but own about 8 in total.
I don’t really wear jewelry that much, but I know when I start work I will wear a few items, so I am holding onto these until I start working to see what I wear and what I can get rid of.
I know I need to sort out my workout gear. But honestly, this pile has been carefully accumulated to a number that is realistic if you run more than 3 times a week. At the peak of my training, I was running 5 days a week, and it saves on washing if I own enough outfits that I can run that frequently.

I have 12 pairs of running tights – this is because some are duplicates. If you are a runner you will know that when you find tights that don’t slip when you run, you buy duplicates because that is a rare find. But honestly, some of these tights are very light weight/ more summer gear, so it is not really helpful living in a country that I know I would probably not wear them, and rather stick to wearing the longer tights in my wardrobe. Still I find it hard to get rid of them because every pair of tights I own fit and work perfectly for me.
I have 5 sport bras, but only 3 actually fit well. The thinking is that I have enough that I can run at least 3 times a week with only one wash cycle. But 2 of them fit terribly. Actually writing this has made me realise how stupid that sounds, so I am chucking the 2 sports bras that don’t fit right now.
I know I should probably get rid of 2 pairs of heels. because I know that I will never wear them, and perhaps I can then replace them with 1 comfy pair of smart shoes I can wear at work. I don’t need to replace both.

I know I only own one handbag, and it is a teal leather type handbag. But I really would prefer to own brown leather handbag, own that goes with a bit more of my outfits, as I sometimes feel the teal colour clashes with certain outfits in my wardrobe.

How to build a capsule wardrobe:

Lay everything out and review all your clothes in one go. Pull it out of your wardrobe and pick up every item one at a time. Do you wear this? Does it fit? Do you like it? Would you buy it again?
Work out the outfits you can create with the items you own. Match bottoms with various tops, or tops with various bottoms – do they all work together?
Stick to styles that work for your body type. Don’t worry about matching exactly what I have, some things might not work for you. Perhaps you are not a fan of tights, or hardly wear dresses. Keep what works for you.
Replace, don’t add. This is key, once you get rid of a lot of items in your wardrobe, your first instinct will be to go out and buy more to fill the void.
Try living with less for a while. At the start, it will feel like you have nothing to wear, it will cause panic and anxiety. You will feel like you wear the same thing every day. Push through, because let’s be real, we all have our faves we always wear even with a wardrobe full of clothes!
You don’t need to stick to black, white and grey. Often people think you have to stick with the same palette. I disagree, I love adding colours to my wardrobe – do what works for you!
If you love an item of clothing, you will make it work for you in your capsule wardrobe. I think the key is that the separate items I have in my wardrobe can be mixed and matched, and create various outfits – regardless of colour.
Think before you buy – do you need it? how will it work with the other items in your wardrobe? does it fit your style?
Fold your clothes, and pack away in your wardrobe, so that everything can be see by just a quick glance.

With everything in life, I know my closet is not perfect. There are items I know I need to still sort through, but right now, I am actually not sure if I need them. Perhaps I will use them in the future? So I have decided to keep what I have until November. That will mean that I would have had these items for one whole year, so then I can review again and get rid of the clothing I never wore in a year. The best part of having a capsule wardrobe is that I can really see what I have in my wardrobe, and I know exactly what I wear and what I don’t ever wear but simply doing a quick scan. It makes it easier to manage. Nothing is hiding behind piles and piles of clothes. Everything has been accounted for and weighed up before I put it into my wardrobe, I love the order a capsule wardrobe brings.

HAVE YOU TRIED THE DECLUTTER CHALLENGE?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or join my exclusive Facebook Group. And because I seriously am an open book, if you ever want to bounce ideas off me, or just chat and connect send me an email (I really love chatting!)..

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Six reasons to visit South Africa (excluding Cape Town)

April 6, 2017 by Meg 34 Comments

Since living in Ireland, the small talk when meeting new people often leads to a conversation about whether they have visited my home country, South Africa. 7 of 10 people will say they have been to Cape Town, for the other 3, they have been fortunate to explore Kruger National Park.

It always kinda annoys me that everyone heads to Cape Town without really looking at everything South Africa can offer a tourist. Truthfully, there is so much more! South Africa really has it all: mountains, beaches, good food, the best weather and the people are by far the friendliest! We proud Saffa’s love being super modest about how awesome South Africa is, but truthfully, our country is our best kept secret! Maybe we don’t talk about it enough because we like to keep it all to ourselves?

So I thought I would let you in a few of my FAVE places in South Africa, and why you need to make a detour (or Sho’t Left as we Saffa’s would say) and try visit these places. Yes of course by all means go and see Table Mountain, but open your mind and expand your horizons that South Africa has a lot more to offer you.

Mountain Views:

Keen for a bit of outdoor adventure, some hiking and hitting the trails? Then you need to visit the Drakensberg. The pic above is from a place called Thendele which has great views of the Amphitheatre . My most favourite place in the Drakensberg is Injusiti. It will always hold a special place in my heart because that is where Rob proposed to me. If you are looking for a limited cell phone reception, great hiking trails, splendid views and stories around the campfire. You need to visit the ‘berg, as we locals like to call it.

Outdoor adventure:

Another one of our fave holidays was actually last year, when we went to Blyder River Canyon, Bourke’s Potholes, God’s Window, The Pinnacle, The Three Rondavels, and Pilgrim’s Rest. All these stop-off sights have the varying terrain, with endless views. It has the perfect spots for panoramic 360 shots to make your friends back home jealous.

Looking for cheap thrills:

Bit of a daredevil? Like to live life to the full? You could head to Bloukrans Bridge to bungy jump (you will not find me there). You could also head to the midlands in KZN and do the Karkloof Canopy Tours, which admittedly, was super fun even though I had my eyes closed for most of it. Rob’s sister and hubby have jumped off the Soweto cooling towers (see pic below), I have bravely run past them (what? 21km is a tough run!).

You will find adventure of all types all over South Africa, just please don’t be that person who goes shark cage diving. Similar to riding elephants, or feeding lions, it makes my skin crawl that we humans like to taunt animals for pleasure – don’t. just don’t.

Let’s go on “Safari”:

So you are keen to tick the big five off your bucket list? What better place than travelling to Africa to go on Safari. Firstly, when visiting South Africa, you can’t call it “Africa”. Africa is the whole continent, and South Africa is one of 54 countries in Africa (and it is miles away from Cameroon – totally FYI). Secondly: we don’t call it a safari, we call it a game drive. And although I will admit that I have not had the fortune to explore the Kruger – there are a ton of other game reserves that you can explore. Some of my personal faves are actually in the Eastern Cape; at the start of my honours year my class went to Lalibela for our orientation. Also while studying, I met a few friends who worked at Shamwari Game Reserve too. Another under estimated game reserve is actually the Pilanesberg, which is just a short drive out of Joburg (near to Sun City).

Hit the beach, bro:

Instead of heading to the over priced and over crowded beaches around Camps Bay (plus the water there is freezing!) My personal fave beach growing up was Cintsa: rolling dunes, vast open beaches, and back in the day – the best place to collect sea shells. More recently, we went on honeymoon to Coffee Bay, and Hole in the Wall. Not only is it affordable to visit, it has some great beaches. It truly is a slice of South Africa that is still, for the most part, untouched.

Wine and dine:

You came for the wine and cheese. I hear you! If I am completely honest, you may have got me on this one – Western Cape has all the wine farms you could ever want. It really is a treat to wine farm hop along the garden route. However, two of my fave foodie towns are actually Knysna and wait for it… Johannesburg.

Joburg has a massive foodie scene. Great restaurants like: Marble, DW11-13, Licorish, Wombles, to name a few. Heck, you should even go to Thundergun, which has the best ribs in South Africa! I could go on but it is making me hungry and I am already craving a good piece of steak. I haven’t even talked up the food markets in Maboneng and Braamies. If you are looking for good food, trust me, Jozi is the place to visit. And if you do, let me know, I can send you a list of all our faves.

While I could go on and on about how wonderful South Africa is, I hope this post has showed you that there is more to South Africa than just visiting Cape Town and Kruger. South Africa is filled with everything you could ever want, it has deep history and great lessons on the power and resilience of it’s people. This post has actually awoken a bit of sadness as I am yet to find a place that is as good as home sounds right now.

So, when are you planning on visiting South Africa? and for the locals – where is your fave place to take tourists?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.p.s. I try post varied content 2 -3 times a month, to be sure you don’t miss out on the new post you should sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox – Sign up now!

This is Us… Living

March 23, 2017 by Meg 8 Comments

First official post on the new blog! Can I get a woop woop! *waves hands in the air, like I just don’t care*

OK, but seriously, I am SO excited! I have been working on this blog re-brand with a new look for a few weeks. And, I haven’t shared it with ANYONE (not even hubby) until today!

You know when that light bulb flicks on and you are like, YES! YES! YES! That is what I want!! Well, we had that light bulb moment first when we were on honeymoon back in 2015. I think it was when we were both so relaxed and just in a space to really let our minds wonder. What did we want most out of life? Since then, its been building up, this niggle at the back of my mind, this deep concern that I needed to be true to myself, and that to be true to myself meant a lot of soul searching, and a lot of vulnerability. It is exciting, and terrifying to stand up and say “Ya, you know what, I actually don’t want to keep doing this. It’s not working out for me. I want something different”.

Friends can I be honest here? I am tired of the expectations, I am tired of the FOMO, I am tired of the thinking that to be happy you need to earn money to spend money. That you need to show only the best side of yourself, the one with that sparkling new something with the big giant label – you know, because only then everyone will know you have made it. Life is not about the stuff we collect. You can’t take that to the grave wit you (unless you want to be buried in a pyramid with all your worldly belongings – but who has the money to afford that long term rental?!). And be truthful, are you really happier having the best stuff, or could you just as easily be happier having the best life? Life is about building relationships, creating memories and going on adventures. Well, that’s my opinion at least. And I am happy to say, Rob is on the same page too.

Here is a little back story for those of you new to the blog; which is taken from the about page.

In 2016 we made the big decision to move from South Africa to Ireland. The main objective of the move was so that we could travel more and explore more of the world. We absolutely love travelling and exploring new places. And, we intentionally try to see places from a unique outlook –often avoiding the obvious tourist hotspots. We especially love to find local gems, and hidden secrets in big cities.

Back in South Africa, we had a house filled with things we had collected over the years; things we loved and worked hard to get it. But even with all the things, we were not really happy with our life. You see, we wanted to travel more than anything. But frankly, we couldn’t afford to maintain the things we “had to” own, and still travel.

It was the reality check we needed. We needed to get our priorities straight. What did we want most out of life? Things or experiences? We decided to scale down; and in the process we sold most of our treasures, sold our cars and looked at the move to Ireland as the fresh start that it was. A new start, with a completely new outlook on life.

The biggest lesson we learnt, was that we had to get comfortable with saying NO to things that did not help us live a life we wanted. Click To Tweet

Now that we have successfully moved over, we are more determined than ever to get it right. We have figured out what matters most to us; now we just need to work towards ensuring we get it.

It is our goal to further declutter our living space, look to experience real life – in real time, and inspire others to do the same. We have happily traded in a life filled with labels and must haves, to a life that is intentional, positive and filled with adventure. We don’t believe that to have less means that you are continually saving, and never doing anything. In fact, the opposite! We believe that money is better spent on living a life that is filled with memories and adventures, not possessions.

At the end of the day, we seek to unlock the simple life, where having less, means we are living more.

SO, THIS IS US… LIVING.

Here are some tips on how to navigate this blog:

How we do it: This is where you get real insight into our life; how we moved countries, simplified our home; cut down on expenses and started living a life filled with travel!
Challenges: Check out Challenges page if you are looking to commit to making some changes of your own.
Travel Inspiration: If you are looking to be inspired, and want to see where we have traveled to and what we suggest you do/see – then you definitely need to check out our Travel Inspiration.
Contact: Looking to get in touch with me? Sweet, I love getting mail. Email me.

Let me know in the comments below: What you think of this blog rebrand?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or join my exclusive Facebook Group. And because I seriously am an open book, if you ever want to bounce ideas off me, or just chat and connect send me an email (I really love chatting!).

p.p.s. I try post varied content 2-3 times a week; I am also setting up exclusive challenges; guides and templates that I will only share with my subscribers, so be sure to sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox! Sign up now!

My focus for 2017

January 4, 2017 by Meg 7 Comments

2017 has officially started. I have taken a bit longer in writing this post because for a long time all my thoughts were just a muddle in my head. My goals for this new year are simple, yet overwhelming at the same time. I realised I needed to be more specific with my goals for this year. I still like the resolutions I had in 2016 but I decided to really break them down into manageable, quantifiable goals, so here goes:

Run once a week for the year – 52 runs at least (regardless of time and distance)
Run a 5km comfortably – get a training plan in place and start by 1 Feb
5 walks/hikes – I have a list that I will share with you soon
Visit 3 counties in Ireland (not including Dublin!)
Do 2 big holidays – I cannot wait to share what these are!
Read daily – with a focus on mind and body
Complete the 8 week Beach Body Program
Start and complete a new challenge group
Track my steps everyday with my Fitbit (the goal is set to walk 10k steps a day)
Eat breakfast at least 5 days a week
Run a race in Ireland (races here are kinda expensive, so it may just be one race this year)
Blog consistently – stick to the plan and blog weekly (I still need to do that live FB video!)
Pay my folks back 1/3 of what I owe them
Get my credit card down to a more manageable figure
Review my goals at the end of each month and celebrate my successes

Along with my goals for 2017, I tried to think of one word to encapsulate 2017 – one word to live by. I thought long and hard about it too. Every day I would tell Rob a different word: appreciate, enjoy, less, simplify, breathe, journey, relish, savour, cherish… the list never seemed to end, and I just never could get a word that I felt I could honestly stick with, and one that encompassed all that I was feeling.

My biggest challenge in 2017 will be to overcome this comparing phase I seem to have been stuck on all my life. In high school, I felt you needed to be cool to be popular. In varsity, I thought you needed to be popular to stand out. In work, to stand out, I thought you had to be earning big bucks to be successful. In marriage, to be successful, I often think society says you are not complete if you are not a mother, you need to have babies. But none of that is true.

I learnt too late that my quirkiness and weirdness makes me authentic. That the fact that I love my job makes me successful. That a marriage is only as strong as the two people who communicate to each other – and communicate every day. That if you work as a team you can achieve all your goals and dreams – and that your goals and dreams as a married couple might not be to have kids, and that doesn’t make you a bad person. I really need to stop worrying what I think other people think – because maybe not everyone thinks that way, and who cares if they do!

My hope for 2017 is that I continue to follow my own path, and to enjoy my own journey. I need to stop comparing myself to others. I compare my life to others all the time. I look at what some friends have or do, and I feel jealous, regardless of all the incredible things that have happened in my life, all my amazing achievements, I am still hungry to please others. I still want what others have. I often don’t stop to think that everyone has their own path, their own journey. That my path will lead me to all the things I want, with hard work and focus, I just need to trust myself and keep my focus on me, looking forward to my own future.

In 2017, I want to challenge myself to live with less. To focus on what truly matters, and trust me it is not stuff. I want to simplify how I live. I want to buy only what I need, and to stop trying to live up to the Jones’s. Material objects cannot bring you happiness – adventures, experiences, travel, meeting new people, trying new food, seeing new places – these are things I want to spend my hard-earned money on. Not on fancy shoes, or designer perfume.

I hope you will join me this year as I try to be kinder to myself. I aim to continue to love and support the ones around me that are having a fabulous life, and not to tarnish it with my jealousy. I plan to simplify, quantify, and be consistent – not just in January but throughout the year.

I think I have finally figured out what my word for 2017 will be: KINDNESS. To treat myself and others with kindness – that will be my focus this year.

What are your hopes/dreams/goals for 2017? Do you have one word you have chosen to live by for 2017? Share with me in the comments!

~ Meg ~

journey

How to build a capsule wardrobe (plus the guidelines I use)

HAVE YOU TRIED THE DECLUTTER CHALLENGE?

PIN THIS AND READ LATER:

Six reasons to visit South Africa (excluding Cape Town)

This is Us… Living

SO, THIS IS US… LIVING.

My focus for 2017

Get all the posts by email!

@Thisisus_living

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HAVE YOU TRIED THE DECLUTTER CHALLENGE?

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SO, THIS IS US… LIVING.

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