Project 333 for Moms: How My Capsule Wardrobe Saves Time and Mental Load

What is Project 333?

Project 333 was designed by Courtney Carver. The concept outlines why and how to create a capsule wardrobe of 33 items. The items include all clothing, shoes, accessories, outerwear, and jewelry in your entire wardrobe. Not included are workout clothes (if you’re actually using them,) in-home lounge wear, underwear, and any sentimental jewelry (i.e. wedding rings, family heirloom pieces, etc.) You will rotate through these items for a period of 3 months before revisiting it to adjust for the next season or just to keep it fresh. 

Why I Did It

I heard about this concept while hanging out with Dawn from The Minimal Mom on YouTube several years back. I was immediately intrigued by the concept. Courtney Carver believes that “you can remove a significant amount of stress from your life simply by reducing the number of items in your closet.” I am ALWAYS open to removing unnecessary and significant stress from my life, so I jumped right on board!

The Process: How I Did It

1. Laid ALL items out on my bed
2. Sorted like with like
3. Counted each category

This is where I got nervous in the process because I had already met the limit of 33 items with JUST SHIRTS in my closet. Yikes! My total item count was as follows:

33 shirts
10 pants
8 skirts
18 dresses
8 outerwear
3 cardigans
12 pr shoes
2 camis
4 hats
?? jewelry
?? bags

No wonder I was often feeling frozen at my closet doors. It was just too much for my brain to have to weigh out each time I went to pick an outfit. 

From here, I went through each item category and divided them into 3 different categories:

1. YES – Things I LOVE 
2. NO – Things I will definitely NOT wear in the coming 3 months (for various reasons)
3. MAYBE – Things somewhere in the middle

Consider Seasons of Life

I have found that my closet just naturally changes depending on my season of life. When I am breastfeeding/pumping, baby wearing, dealing with a “spitty” infant, having multiple children to care for, etc., my preferred clothes are different than when I had only one 4 year old at home. And the clothing certainly changed a lot from the days when I was working full time as a teacher before I had any kids. None of that even takes into account my personal tastes, personality and/or interests changing over time. 

So, be gentle with yourself. Even if you LOVE something, but it doesn’t fit your current lifestyle, this doesn’t mean you have to get rid of it. I have different blog posts coming on what I did for the nos and maybes. I’m not gonna leave you hanging with any “yeah, but what about…?” questions.  

Important Notes About the no Category

Choosing the no items should be almost automatic. If you have any negative feelings or thoughts about an item when you pick it up, I encourage you to put it straight into your no pile. That can be for a variety of reasons. It could sound like, “I never really liked this color on me. This item is itchy, saggy, bunchy, sewn crooked, a little too big, a little too small, etc.” It doesn’t matter what the specific reason is. If you don’t love the color or fit, don’t have anything to wear it with, or it is uncomfortable in ANY way, don’t allow it to take up space in your closet or in your mind as a potential option for what to wear.    

For Moms Who Feel Overwhelmed

If your closet feels heavy right now, you are most definitely not alone! If project 333 feels like just too much, you can still bring ease to your wardrobe and your life in smaller measures. Start with one drawer, one shelf or just one category of clothing.

Simplicity is a kindness you give yourself. And you deserve it.

The beauty is…once you start, it ripples out. Simplifying your clothes makes it easier to simplify other parts of life, too.

Your Turn to Try

If you want an easy first step into decluttering and/or simplifying, grab my free “Drawer Reset” guide! It’s essentially the same overall process I used to kick off my capsule wardrobe.

Download the guide here.

And if you’re ready to completely overhaul your full wardrobe and/or kitchen, please join me for the Rooted Home Reset!

If you’re interested in watching in video format from beginning to end of my project 333 process, you can watch that here on my YouTube channel, @AmandaSimplified!

Relevant Affiliate Links

Please never feel obligated to purchase anything from my blogs. I share items that I use and love already that have either made my life more simple, beautiful or joyful in some way. If it makes sense for you to purchase something, please know that I do receive commission on qualifying purchases as an Amazon Affiliate. 

• Project 333 Book by Courtney Carver
• Black Velvet Hangers
• Black Velvet Pant Hangers