Are you a blogger? Been doing it long? Do you ever sense that this internet world is kinda like high school?
I may be wrong…seeing as how I was homeschooled…but I did watch a lot of teen movies that included love stories, Alicia Silverstone and makeovers that turned a sarcastic pretty girl with glasses and a ponytail into Cinder-Hottie-ella…so I think in my mind that I know what highschool is like. There are cliques. There are the cool girls and the stylish ones…the popular ones and the crowd that is super artsy or have money….there are the peeps that know everyone and EVERYONE likes them.
And then there are girls like me. blogs like mine. I have one ridiculously popular friend and a few gals that everyone and their mother and Betty White likes and they acknowledge me. But for the most part…I am still that quirky girl in the corner that laughs at inappropriate jokes at inappropriate times and is kinda scared to step outta my comfort zone. Sure, a bunch of people know my name mostly through association…but the majority wouldn’t acknowledge me if I was getting slushied by my locker. My press page (likened only to the listing of page numbers behind your yearbook name) is so short that it isn’t even a page…
All that to say – this girl. this odd thirty-year-old-homeschooled-girl-who-lives-in-the-boonies-and-thinks-bacon-jokes-are-funny – she deeply appreciates all of you who say hello day in and day out…those of you that I read and I visit whenever I have a free moment between photo editing, matchbox car racing and attempting to keep these bushy eyebrows tweezed enough to see out of and I see that you list me in your blogroll…those of you that send me emails and link up and tell me normal and hilarious things about your normal and hilarious day. You make me laugh and cry and love life a little more….and feel less like an outsider looking in and more like a girl with a great circle of dear friends. real friends. so thank you from the bottom of my heart. you are one giant reason I blog. much much much love my sweet darlings. much much love.
Now onto closet crashing…
You see that door to the right of our master bedroom hallway? That there is my closet.
Yup, in this new house I no longer had to dedicate a room to getting dressed (like I did in the old house) nor did I have to take over all the other closets (um yeah…I did that in the old house too) because in this new house, I have a huge wonderful closet that makes me feel like Carrie Bradshaw….it’s obviously not as pretty as Miss SATC but it holds everything and that makes me feel like a princess 🙂
I wish I had a photo of this space when it was messy – but just imagine that it looked like a bohemoth pile of dirty clothes that stood two stories tall and small children were burrowing through for loose change. That’s a pretty accurate description.
We actually wanted to use the Ikea wardrobers that we had in the old house for me in here (just simply because it is amazing storage) but we had to make it fit. In order to squeeze them in, we removed a rack that was on the right hand side of the closet and thankfully the wardrobe pieces didn’t block the door.
Onto closet crashing! Here is the left side….
right below it…(oh and there are more shoes in one of those fabric shoe holder thingies on the back of the door)….
opposite wall of wardrobes….
The first wardrobe is scootched out from the wall to allow me to slip my hand back there to turn on the lights.
In the center is a narrow wardrobe – it is nice because the baskets and shelves help with things I can’t hang up.
My belts – just because 🙂
The left side wardrobe…
And beyond the wardrobes on the right side of the closet is this little alcove area with even more shelves. Don’t mind the mess…I was tryin to keep it real and didn’t style anything…
Oh and to show that it is not completely disorganized – I labeled the things in all the photos below…
My shirts I kind of organize by style then by color. It goes from white to yellow to red to blue to green to brown to black. I feel like that is more information than anyone really wants to know. I’m oversharing today I guess.
So in the spirit of oversharing, you may be wondering why I have so many clothes.
The answer is simple – I’m kinda a clothes horse and I don’t get rid of anything.
I have clothing from seventh grade in this closet. And yes, I still wear it. Sometimes I skip a year and then wear it the following year. That’s why I don’t believe that old rule of “if you haven’t worn it in a year, you should get rid of it” doesn’t apply to me. Tomorrow could be it’s lucky day. Or it could be Sept 8th, 2013. You just never know.
Some clothing I have outgrown…but that goes in a couple big storage boxes…which I keep as a backup plan just in case I ever wake up and the Skinny Fairy has paid me a visit. It could happen.
Oh and this closet also doesn’t contain my maternity clothing (which got packed away after Will was born – AND I’ve been praying every month that I get to pull it out) – but I feel like those clothes are way more stylish…probably because they are newer 🙂
And yes – 7 pairs of those jeans don’t fit…but they might. one day. when that dang thief comes to steal my love handles. What is the world coming to….when you can’t even count on criminals anymore?!?! sad sad world.
Like I said – nothing has been styled…including that Laura Lynn milk carton box that requires refrigeration.
I don’t even know how to get rid of clothes if I tried. I save all old t-shirts…I wanna make a t-shirt quilt one day when I have enough…oversharing again….
Do you get clean out the ole wardrobe every year? Do you actually follow that “fits well, 1 year worn, stained or torn” rule for chucking stuff? How do you do it? Do you donate? Ebay? Craigslist? Yardsale?
p.s. I did just remember that I yardsaled a BUNCH of stuff when we held our annual yardsale at the old house…and I remember it because this lady bought thirty Abercrombie items at a dollar each because she was from Britain and she said her kids were obsessed with that store and she figured that even if the item didn’t fit, she could cut out the label and sew it into random clothing. Funny, huh?
Oh man Katie B.,you just made me cry!! What a sweet heart you are!Don’t ever change your special self.I enjoy being a part of your day.Thank you.Lisa R.
Oh Katie you’re way more popular than you think . . . I click over every morning at 9am just to see if your new post is up. So thank you for brightening each morning for me!
And that closet! Holy guacamole! I can’t get over how much clothes you have. . . Wanna trade? I definitely go through my closet every year (or every 6 months) and get rid of stuff. And I hardly ever shop (as in once every 18 or so months), so my clothes collection is dwindling. Maybe if I had the space to fill I’d be inspired to shop more though . . .:)
I occasionally hold onto things thinking I am going to wear them…and every now and then I wake up and I’m like…who was I kidding, and then I put it in the donate pile. But I do have to hang on to some things because my weight fluctuates about 5 pounds up or down pretty regularly and you just never know what is going to fit haha. its awesome (oh wait its actually not).
But your closet with all its space and specific places to put things is awesome. oh how my teeny tiny closet could use some help. Its like an explosion all the time. Maybe I need to clean out some stuff so that it could actually be organized…but who am I kidding.
ps you are not the weird high school girl who is friends with the cool kids…you are the cool funny kid that everyone wants to be friends with. totally true. have you seen all the comments you get…you are totally popular. Trust me…I was the girl who was friends with the cool kids without being cool myself. haha.
I’m so jealous you brat! My closet is big, way larger than anything I’ve ever had… but yours is so organized! I’m pulling things out of boxes still – I haven’t even bothered to hang up most of my clothing (we’ve been in our house for 2.5 months). Next time you visit Sherry – drive 45 minutes South to Gloucester & help me with mine!!!!
I’m new to blogging, and I absolutely LOVE your blog – I would totally save you from a slushie toss anyday. Plus you’re too cute – they’d never slushie you…
In LOVE with your closet. I mean I love the fact you have a crazy amount of clothes, especially bras, makes me think back to the video you and Sherry posted not so long ago, not sure I could survive off one bra (too funny!) but I also love how organized it is! Closet heaven.
I’m pretty sure you ARE one of the cool girls. Can I come borrow some clothes? K thanks. Seriously, your closet is amazeballs!
oh wow, you were homeschooled? So was I… and yes there are times that my friends are like – but you didn’t go to high school??? And I am like – well I lived vacariously through you, remember??? haha
And the closet – I fight with myself every time I need to purge, I make a pile of stuff to get rid of, then keep that for a while because I end up pulling stuff out of it. Then I send it to Goodwill, then remember 2 months later that I really wanted to keep that shirt/skirt/pants.. ugh. My husband just refuses to put anymore clothes in the attic. I do that with the baby’s clothes too .. kills me to get rid of anything!!
Helloooo! YOu reall just never know when you will want it!! And then you may have to buy it again.. and thats just silly.
I’m so jealous of your closet!! I have a walk in closet at home that is the biggest closet I’ve had…and it’s no where close to as big as yours! I still have it stuffed to the brim, two entire dressers full of stuff (one in my bedroom and one in one of the spare rooms), and a closet in one of the spare rooms full! It’s crazy. I definitely need a closet like yours 🙂
By the way, I read every morning and love your blog! You and I are so similar (other than the whole bacon thing :)) and I really love reading about everything going on in your life.
I wish I had the amount of clothes you had, however, when it doesn’t fit I get rid of it because I feel depressed when I see something I love and can’t put it on. We clean out our closet probably every 3 to 6 months to pull out anything that doesn’t fit and Goodwill it. We are constantly getting new clothes/t-shirts from both our jobs so we feel the need to go through it all often. We have one little closet in our master to store it all in so only the things we wear/fit can be honored enough to live in there.
1. I am super jealous of your giant closet. Styled or not, it is WAY BIGGER than mine!!
2. I love you too! You make me laugh all the time and I totally steal your ideas for my house. 🙂 You have great taste! Also, I may have shared your Halloween costume posts with every single one of my facebook friends. You’re welcome 🙂
Mucho love to that ‘gojess’ closet of yours!! My husband and I had just bought our first home so just like you I had taken over a room (and pretty much all the closets in the house) and am calling it the ‘diva headquarters’!!! It’s fun being a princess (or diva) once in awhile!!! 😉 Can you purchase the IKEA shelving seperately??
Katie, you’re still the girl who I think is pretty awesome on her own – popular friends aside. It doesn’t matter that I found your blog through hers, I visit yours every day on it’s own merit. Your blogs are both great in different ways. All that aside, I read your blog because you’re so funny and homey (not homely) and awesome. You’re real. Maybe it’s just that I’m that girl in the corner with you, loving four wheelers and high heels, who also lives in the countryside, and finds inappropriate jokes hilarious and anything bacon related fantastic – but I like you Bower and I would happily laugh so hard water came out my nose right along side you.
Awww! You’re so sweet! Your blog is one of my favorites to read because I too make inappropriate jokes and laugh at all the wrong things 🙂
I wish I had your closet! Actually I’d need a lot more clothes for that closet lol. I had to down size a lot when I got married (bye bye clothes from the 90s) because we have 1 very small closet to share (the other bedroom closet is for storage since we have no attic) and 2 dressers. The only thing I really throw out are clothes that absolutely do not fit anymore, mostly ones from college.
Good talk Katie. Although I definitely feel like giving some nerd a swirly in the bathroom now.
We have a new home that came with wire shelving in our closets, but I think we’re going to add storage and functionality with a built in like yours eventually.
Thank you. I feel so much better about my “dressing room” now. When you live in a bungalow with 5ft tall closets, a girl just needs an entire room. It’s good to know I’m not the only one.
DANG! I’m super jealous of your closet. We’ve got a walk-in (that looks like the scene you were describing – two story piles of clothes! ha), but it’s nothing like yours. GORGEOUS. I’m so with you on the clothes hoarding – sometimes. I have tshirts that I wore in 7th grade too. Not to overshare too much myself, but I’ve been seeing both the Skinny Fairy and the Scary Kettle Bell Instructor Fairy over the last year, so I’m constantly going through my clothes. The second that an article is too big, it’s in the Donate pile. But, like you, I’m all over holding onto the things as I outgrew THEM, so I have a whole new old wardrobe every couple of months! 🙂
PS – you’re crazy if you think you’re not at least Dionne.
Mrs. Bower, you have to be one of my favorite bloggers. Not because of your beautiful house ( it is lovely), or your mad, crazy photography skills (your black belt in photoshop is enviable sensei), I just find your blog incredibly witty and well written. I am positive there are hundreds of girls wanting to hang out with you in that corner of yours, I know I do 🙂 keep that adorable head of yours up <3
Oh KB I have never left a comment, but thought I would today. I hail from Bham and one day may run into you at Ikea or the PB outlet. I love your posts and sweet Will. I got preggers around the time you had Will and read all of your preg blog entries. They were amazing, fun and entertaining! If you are ever in Bham and want to shop, see our amazing new park (railroad park) or go hiking shoot me a note! My family and I would love to show you around.
xoxo
Nicole
I have closet envy. We bought an older home that we love, but the closets are tiny!
I have the habit of pulling out clothes and putting them in a bag for donation but they just always end up hanging back up in my closet. My old clothes are like a Ouija board, you can’t throw them out!
I have a ratty old sweatshirt from 2000 that I still wear weekly. It has holes in the armpits. Seriously…how does a sweatshirt get a hole in the armpit?!
Super jealous of your closet!
dang girl! you ARE a clothes horse! Well if you have the space… and your hubs doesn’t complain (like mine) then I say more power to ya! Keep on shopping.
I like to go through the closet at least once a year and donate some clothes to my favorite thrift store.. a little old lady at my church decided at age 80 that her new calling was to open up a gently used clothing store for women. how can you not support that! So I usually give her a bag or two and she always is so grateful because my stuff is so “young and fun.” ha! me? hardly but I’ll take it!
Your closet makes me drool *almost* as much as bacon.
OMG I heart yor huge closet. I am jealous you have all that space! Between me and my hubby’s clothes and shoes, there is not enough room for all our stuff in the tiny walk in we have. We keep off season clothes in bed boxes! But it’s like going shopping when the season changes because I forget about all the clothes I had!
Katie Bower, you are so awesome.
..and I’m kind of completely jealous of your closet.
im one of the if you havent worn it this season youre not going to people. your closet stresses me out! 🙂 if it is something nice, then i might/maybe/(probably not though) hang on to it until the next year. life is too short to hoard clothing and too many other people could be wearing it. 😉
KB, you are awesome. I love reading your posts everyday. Yes, I consistently check your blog everyday, several times a day. Yes, I am at work and need something to distract me, but it has to say something that your blog is what I turn to. 🙂
Love the closet! We live in a house that has a freakin’ huge master bedroom and a teeny tiny closet to go with it. We still haven’t figured out what they were thinking with that one. What’s worse is that my husband and I both share it because there is nowhere else to expand. (Storage is a MAJOR issue in our house!) I can’t wait until we move – storage space is at the top of the list of house necessities!
Hello Katie! I am sure your post will unleash an outpouring of comments so I thought I’d add to them! I’ve been reading for a while and not commented before. I think your blog is BRILLIANT and love how your personality shines through! I moved to a new town a year ago and it’s hard to settle in and meet people.. reading your blog is one thing that makes me feel a little less lonely! You have also inspired me. Bought a cheapo chest of drawers (i think they are what you guys call a dresser in the US?) and been plotting ways to make it over for the last week.. v excited about this! Probably way more excited than is normal. Anyway, I’ve blabbered on. But just wanted to say how much you’ve brightened my days and how the appreciation is most def two-way! Keep it up KB! xxx
oh but i do think your blog is great!!!!
Every single thing in this post describes my own philosophy about clothes. (Though I really don’t want to count the jeans I have that don’t fit or the number of clothes from ten years ago that I may randomly decide to wear one day!) And your closet is awesome. Mine is a walk-in closet in that I can stand in it and turn in a circle… So all of my clothes end up shoved into the closet and falling off hangers, shoved into the dresser and falling behind drawers, or shoved into storage boxes that I sometimes remember to rotate. (And my belts just turn up in the weirdest places.) The only things even remotely organized are shoes and purses. The organization lover in me longs to one day have a huge closet!
Your closet is amazing! But, where does Jeremy keep his clothes? 🙂
The rule I try to stick to is everytime I buy something new, I get rid of something I have. And most often it works out!
This was awesome! I’m totally jealous of the closet, and I too keep tubs of too small clothes hoping someday the skinny fairy will pay a visit to my house! But, it’s our shared insane love for bacon that brings me to this comment…I read your post and then the next web page I happened to stumble upon was this “Gifts for Bacon Lovers” http://www.bing.com/shopping/bacon-gift-ideas/r/137?publ=msnhp&crea=bacon&form=HPSHPC. You will have to copy and paste to see it as I am technical impaired and have no idea how to link it so you can just click on it! Have a great day!
huh, apparently just putting the website in, creates a clickable link…you learn something new everyday!
Oh, BTW Katie – I saw your ceramic egg holder on the side. I just got mine from Anthropologie ($12-$14, don’t remember) and it is *fantastic*. I absolutely love it! I can keep my eggs in the door without fear of mass humptydumptycide.
I may not comment every day, but I do read every day!! I read while I’m at work in between doing other stuff and then whenever I remember while I’m at home I’ll try to catch up on posts that I may have missed or comment on ones that I didn’t before. I’m sure there are probably a lot of lurkers like me! You are totally way more popular than me….so you’ve got something going for you!
And GIRL your closet is AWESOME!!!!! How do you have so many clothes? You are so colorful too. I still have clothes from 7th grade as well. It takes a lot for me to throw stuff away. Even stuff with holes in it….becomes my painting clothes! I am insanely jealous of your closet. Scratch that, your entire house!
Dearest Katie,
Oh my, how I have fallen in love with your blog! I wish I had a closet like this. Hopefully one day I will. 🙂 I organize by colors too. It feels so good to do that! It’s the little things in life.
I am new to your fab blog but wanted you to know that I absolutely LOVE IT and pretty sure we’d be besties in real life (with $herdog of course). It’s people like you that make me feel “semi” normal (however, what is normal anyways? That’d be a boring life, huh?)
Anywho, I’ll quit my ranting. Just wanted to give you some major kudos and snaps. I adore Bower Power. 🙂 Hopefully you can pull out your new maternity clothes soon.
PS. Internet is totally like high school. Now only if Mr. Hall had his own blog… that’d be a sight to see.
He has a closet on the opposite side of that little hallway. Oh and he gets the two dressers in the room too – He’s kinda a clothes horse too 🙂
xo – kb
Long time lurker, first time commenter. I found your blog through YHL forever ago, and love your style/humor/sweet baby. You definitely have loyal readers, even though some of us are silent!
I totally enjoy reading your blog. You keep it real and it’s so very endearing. Keep it up. You’re funny, you’re great with words and you have such a sweet little cutie patootie…I’m not talking about your arse! That little man of yours with his lack of sideburns and shakespeare hand make me crack up! *Tangent: my 3 year-old made a Shakespeare hand the other day (but was a little more Vanna White).
Anywho…thanks for sharing all that you do. It’s a nice escape from happenings in my own home that seem so mundane. xoxoxox
Katie your closet is to die for!! So Carrie Bradshaw!
I am 100% the opposite of you as far as “clothes horse”ing. I get rid of stuff like it’s my job. Me and Goodwill are BFF’s. Last month I took 15 pairs of pants that don’t fit to Plato’s Closet and I made $30 bucks! I think it comes from going to boarding school for high school and moving in and out of the dorms twice a year every year. You learn to live with less when you have to lug it up and down three flights of stairs in August heat with no AC.
Katie B – I just realized why it is that I like reading your blog so much. We are the same person, closet-wise. However, I don’t separate my types of shirt… I keep all my shirts within their color and then I arrange everything by sleeve length, thickness of fabric, etc. The reason I started doing this was because too many of my friends in college started borrowing clothes and never returning them, so I could find out what was missing by noticing the gaps in my color sections. It worked like a charm!
I’ve been saving old t-shirts for a quilt, and I think I actually have enough now!
And I used to keep WAY too many things that will never fit me again because I’m dreaming about the Skinny Fairy. Only recently have I realized that if I lose the weight I want to lose, I would rather treat myself with new clothes than pull out old, style-less stuff with sweat stains and holes. So I put everything that was nice and wearable into a huge bag for Goodwill and gave it away! Threw away everything else. Do it! I promise you’ll feel so much better when you do 🙂
I think you are great! My husband always makes fun of me because I pretend you are my friend and include what happened on your blog when he asks me about my day except I never comment…I guess I am one of those blog stalking types…oh well! Keep up the good work!
I think all the Ikea stuff can be purchased separately 🙂
xo – kb
I am jealous of that closet! And don’t let anyone make you feel bad about those jeans — I have a wide variety of sizes in my “jeans drawer” (yep, prob about 20 pairs), not to mention the styles that will never come back (I still have my carpenter jeans from middle school during the grunge era).
Thank YOU so much for your blog! I originally found you through Sherry back in the day and I love reading about everything from your DIYs to your boyfriend to your hot brother to the cutest kid ever who happens to love throwing things. I’m a single 27-year-old in DC and it makes me smile to read about your adventures!
http://pinterest.com/source/bowerpowerblog.com/
you are liked
Your closet is huge! It must take you forever to decide what to wear each day, so many options!
Okay, so because of the first part of your post I’m commenting – my first time commenting on any of the blogs I read. You, my friend, inspired me to go to Goodwill (generally the only time I go is to drop off clothes, in answer to your last part) this past weekend in search of items that could be used for my Christmas mantle. However, I stood in the aisle (I go to the Buckhead/Roswell Rd Goodwill) staring at what amounted to nothing in terms of my creativity. I put a bunch of plain vases in my cart with the idea of spray painting the heck out of all of them.. when I chickened out and put them back. I love Young House Love, don’t get me wrong, but I check yours first – you’re a fellow Atlantan (kind of, don’t hate because you live out in the burbs and I’m busy rockin’ Peachtree) and it’s exciting to see if you’re going to post about something I can do (or go to) too.
There. I’ve entered the world as a blog commenter.
I don’t have a blog, I only stumbled upon this wonderful world of blogging a little over a year ago (I know, I’m yeeaaars late to the game!) but you were one of the first I started following and I’ve been hooked ever since the first post I read! I check in every day for my daily dose of KB funnies because you always make me laugh 🙂 Thanks for keeping it real, it’s what makes you great to read!
And soooo jealous of your closet! Although I’m still in love with your old dressing room, it was so pretty and girly!
ohmigosh! Good thing you have such a wonderful closet for all those clothes! My husband and I share a tiny closet and I really don’t have very many clothes. The funny thing, though is that about 50% of my clothes, I still don’t ever wear!! Thanks for sharing, you are so sweet. I stumbled upon your blog totally randomly, and I read it every day. It’s been fun getting to know you through your blog!
Not popular? Surely you jest. I have this site favorited on my new smart phone that I barely know how to use. That way I can check for new posts when I am stuck in traffic, and then get aggravated because I can’t really read them on the tiny phone screen.
Nope, wrong. You have to remember that high school feels very important at the time but it’s not real. Perhaps you are the person whose quirks were not sufficiently appreciated by the high school crowd but you found understanding and acceptance once you escaped. That was my experience, and it’s probably yours but you don’t know it yet. I very much appreciate how exhibit your personality without worrying what anyone thinks. It’s very authentic.
JUST STOP with that closet. It almost makes me weep with lust.
I NEED a closet that side. It would ease my closet-organizing anxiety oh-so-much. I too sort by color (rainbow order for me), and then sort by sleeve length within each color. Yeah, I’m weird. I don’t like to get rid of stuff either, but I force myself to do it. I usually just keep a bag nearby and put items in it when I’m motivated to do so. I usually end up taking a couple of bags to Goodwill each year this way.
And, Katie? You’re totally one of the cool kids.
i would have kept my clothes if i had space to put them. sharing a closet and dresser with your hubby prevents it. must be the time of year to do the closet organizing and detailing.
so i’ve been reading for what seems like forever and have never said hello (sorry… i’m shy… and also seem to have the bad luck that whenever i click over to say hi, something pulls me away from the computer) – so, HI!
and i want that closet. that’s all. (given my tiny manhattan apartment, it’s probably bigger than my bedroom! and it’s organized in the same way i organize my – sadly, much smaller – closet!)
Love your blog! Love your closet! I gave away my maternity clothes in hopes I will get pregnant soon and wished I hate kept them. Ha. Is that crazy?
Several things,
#1 Let the haters hate, lets start a dorky bacon lover clique. We can rock paper scissor for the presidency.
#2 My closet looks like that, except half as big and much messier. And I am waitng on the love handle thief too so whoever gets him first, give him the others address.
#3 Thanks for making us all laugh out loud with your silly-ness.
Oh, such a great post. Hope you’re feeling the love this morning! I read the blog every morning.
And, the jealousy over your mega closet is palpable. 🙂 Great job organizing it – I’m a sucker for those little belt/sock drawer organizers. Count me in the nerd club in your little high school scenario.
I feel like there’s something about closets that makes them soooo hard to organize. For serious. But yours looks amazing. I love it!
Your closet is awesome!! I only get rid of clothes when I can no longer fit new items into the closet. I sometimes get rid of things that no longer fit but usually I just keep my fingers crossed for a miracle that they’ll fit again someday.
And, I heart you KB. I look forward to your blog everyday. You always make me giggle, or sometimes cry a little. Hope you have a fabulous day!
Hi Katie! I have been reading your blog for a while now, but never comment. Thought I would jump out from the shadows and say hi…in a totally non-creepy way… yeah, blogging is just like high school…
I DREAM of a bigger closet (or even my own) some day. My husband and I share a walk-in closet that is constantly cluttered and overflowing with laundry. Simply for space reasons, I try to abide by the “haven’t worn it in a year, toss it out” rule. We donate everything we get rid of (that’s in good shape) to Goodwill. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still have old items of clothing that I’m holding onto “JUST IN CASE,” but I am getting better!
**T-shirt quilts are the best! My mom had one made for me last Christmas using all of my old sorority shirts. It’s my favorite blanket in the house 😉
Girl, what are you smoking? You are totally one of those cool, popular girls! Because you are fantastic! If you got locker slushied, many people would rush to your aid.
Serious time. You are a huge inspiration to me. I promise I’m not just stroking your ego. Heh. Stroking. But back to serious time. You inspire me to write in my true voice. Because of you, I feel that is ok to blog using my (mostly) inappropriate sense of humor. I can be goofy and accepted. You are the example of that. Plus, a Southern girl who loves bacon, DIY, and dirty jokes is my kind of peeps. We are not alone in this blogging world.
Just like Mary G, I reference you as my friend when I talk about something I read on your blog. As in, my friend and her son dressed up as Jersery Shore characters and he had fake abs and it was so hilarious! Does that make us crazy? I hope not because I would totally be friends with you IRL if I were cool enough!
Um. Hi. I’m Britiney. Pretty sure I’ve never commented. Ever. But I ALWAYS read your blog on Google Reader. And your bacon jokes make me blow coffee out my nose. In a good way. And I love that you love God. Me too. Just wanted you to know that I’m here. Even if you can’t see that I’m here. Cuz I’m over on Google Reader. Stalking you just a little. In a good way. And I think you’re the bees knees. AND all those skinny clothes? They’ll be out of style if someone steals your love handles. AND if you get rid of them now you’ll have NO CHOICE but to buy a new wardrobe to reward your skinny self! Just sayin’. xoxo. p.s. I think you’re awesome!!
Katie-you’re great! You just are! I read this blog every day and laugh quietly at my desk. Also, you’ve made me get over my fear of having a little boy, which really makes my husband happy!
I clean my closet all the time. I always have a goodwill bag going, but I think that I throw things away too soon, because months later I’ll be longing for that one shirt, or pair of shoes. Luckily, I have never gone to a thrift store to buy back something I gave away, although I came close once!
Hi Katie B 🙂
Your closet reminds me of a friend’s in high school… I would go “shopping” in her closet whenever she wanted to clean it. I still wear a lot of the stuff she gave me and it’s been, um, since 2003 that I’ve “shopped” in there. So if you want to try emptying some stuff out, maybe invite over some similarly sized friends who might wants some new clothes?
I try to keep my closet pretty pared down because we move a lot. I haven’t lived in the same place for more than 18 months in years. So it helps keeps the number of boxes down. I guess you could say I keep it clean out of laziness 🙂
I love your blog and I think you’re one of the cool girls! I promise. In fact, you’re cooler than the cool girls because it’s your personality we like, not just your pretty house and cute baby. Keep doing what you do! It brightens my day every day.
So. Jealous.
I dream of having a closet like that one day. I used to have way more clothes and stuff when I was in high school, mainly because I was a size zero and everything looks good a size zero. Plus I had nothing else to spend my money on, and now I have to worry about things like school and getting approved for a mortgage lol.
And, honestly, you are in my Top 3 Favorite blogs. I really really love seeing what you guys have going on, even the random stuff.
The primary reason I haven’t blogged yet, is because I get online and read something like Heather wrote and think, “That’s EXACTLY what I was thinking! I don’t need to say it then… she already did.” That’s not fair, so here goes:
Ditto to everyone who thinks you are Real and Adorable and wants to be your pal. Your posts are inspirational and hysterical. When I get brave enough to post my projects, I will have to tag all the ones you are responsible for planting!
Wow wow wow what a closet! I’m inspired to go organize mine now like today kind of now. And I love your blog, you are so funny, and totally cool 🙂 I never comment but I read every day.
Bippity Boppity Bacon!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaK9bjLy3v4
Love your site Bower Power!! PS Your closet is bigger than my master bedroom!! Can I sleep over?
Your closet is awesome huge, but I think I’m kinda glad I don’t have one that big. That just means I’d make a bigger mess in it. I was so glad when we moved and I no longer had to share a closet with my man. I could finally drop the facade of keepin a neat closet. Tornado-blew-through mess is just more my natural style. Although I do get a kick out of hanging his shirts in rainbow color order.
Just because not knowing the reason will make me crazy – why are the hangers hanging backwards in your first picture? At first I thought you were doing that to mark what you’ve actually worn and get rid of the rest, but then you said you don’t get rid of clothes.
OMG. You’re my closet twin!
Why did you hang your hangers backwards on the left side of your closet? I turn all of my hangers around once a year and then when I wear something I put it back the correct way. After one year, I know what hasn’t been worn by the way the hanger is turned and then I can at least make an attempt to part with it, but seeing as you don’t believe in the one year rule…
So I read your blog every day, twice a day, and you have no idea how wonderful it is to read your blog and literally laugh at loud (especially if I’m at work). You have an amazing sense of humor and your willingness to be open with all of us is greatly appreciated. Thank you for making my days a little brighter with a full belly chuckle or even a good knee slap 🙂
I’m not a clothes horse, but do understand saving clothes – some of mine were bought at age 12. I loathe shopping and wear clothes into the ground to avoid it. What made me start cutting drastically was realizing someone else could really use my things while I waffle for a year or three. Plus, I hated the clutter. We take our castoffs to the Salvation Army because they support great programs with the proceeds. I love knowing that skirt I wasn’t wearing anyhow is feeding our housing several people on a cold day. We go through everything in the house about twice a year – do we love it. do we use it? even if we think we MIGHT use it in a year, will we really miss it if it’s gone and we can’t? Do I love it, but constantly have to pull it up or down or layer or squirm to keep it modest or comfortable? Could someone else use it more than us? I think it was the “this could be doing some real good rather than sitting in my closet when I have plenty of other nice stuff to wear” that finally made me take cutting things down seriously. On the other hand, it’s easy because I’m just not a big clothes person – everyone has something that’s their “thing”. Ask me to weed some camping gear, tools, or classic novels and I’ll tell you I MUST KEEP THEM ALL IN CASE I USE THEM! Love your site and the ideas you share – we may need to look into some Ikea shelving since we lack a dresser….
Katie, I don’t comment much, but you are always my 1st read in the morning! I love that you are so open & honest. You are NOT the weird girl, you are the girl everyone wants as their friend because they know they could be totally comfortable around you & be themselves… inappropriate jokes and all! (This coming from a girl who’s 2 favorite words are ‘poop’ & ‘pootski’ lol)
I think I might have you beat in the ‘clothes I refuse to get rid of’ category- I have a Paul McCartney concert T-shirt that is well over 20 years old! I would totally still wear it if I wasn’t so terrified of it disintegrating the moment I put it on. So, it’s packed safely in a box along with my other old-enough-to-be-married-with-children sentimental clothes I just can’t part with- I’ve totally been eyeing that Tshirt quilt making the rounds on Pinterest!!
Love you katie bower!!! and damn you have a lot of clothes. but so do I…. and my closet is very SATC like too. 😀
i. have. closet. envy. that is all.
Oh…my…lord! Who needs that much clothes!? Where does your boyfriend put his stuff? It’s the opposite in my house, my husband needs 4x’s the closet space I do, becuase he hangs his “talking” t-shirts! We could build a house for children in Africa with the amount of hangers we have in our closet, becuase of it!
Who cares if you’re one of the “popular” girls. You’re talented, hilarious, and awesome! On what other blog could I have asked about the nipple situation with the boob lights AND actually have gotten a response!!! I love your blog and read it every morning!!!
i am beyonddd jealous of your closet space!!! we took over the third bedroom in our house to make way for a proper master suite…but our closets and bathroom are nothing compared to yours!
http://retroranchrenovation.blogspot.com/2011/09/4-1-more.html
and since we won’t have all the space in the world, i just did a major clean out of my clothes, shoes and bags. it was painful…and honestly, i still have the garbage bags full of everything sitting in our bedroom because i haven’t brought myself to put them in the donation bin yet…haaaaaa!
Katie, you are hands down my favorite blogger. You were the person who inspired me to finally start my own blog, even though it’s mostly filled with my failures at domestication. Even my husband knows who you are, because I talk about you like we are friends in real life. I tell him on a daily basis that I think he’d be best friends with Jeremy, even though he doesn’t own any soda shirts. Although you don’t consider yourself one of the popular girls, you are definitely the “it girl” in my book. Thanks for doing what you do!
My husband and I just recently cleaned out our closet (which is half the size of yours and we share it!). I had clothes dating back to high school and even a few things with the tags still on them. It was getting hard to see what I had because everything was all smooshed together, which made getting dressed in the morning for work a real challenge. So I finally gave into my husband who kept telling me that ‘less is more’ and decided to face reality under one condition: he had to help. And by helping, I mean he had to watch me pull out each article of clothing and either give it the ‘OK’ or the ‘WHAT-WERE-YOU-THINKING-WHEN-YOU-BOUGHT-THAT, give it away immediately!’. It took about an hour or so (to do just my side), and I only vetoed a couple of things which he didn’t like because he’s a guy and doesn’t know fashion ;). I donated about 3 bags of clothes to goodwill and gave a bunch of my old A&F tops to a co-worker with a young teenage daughter. In all honestly, it feels really good to have less stuff because the things I kept are pieces I love and can mix/match into a ton of different outfits. Plus I found things that I had crammed in the back of the closet and thought the washing machine had eaten! Whoops!! (on a side note: I did keep a couple of pretty colored t-shirts and some wool sweaters to do craft projects with this fall/winter)
OMG your closet is so big you could make it part closet and part Mom cave. Picture it… clothes on one side and on the other side a comfy chair, some bacon wrapped in bacon, and journal to write all your thoughts to the Skinny Fairy (which always passes my house each day- that stupid fairy). My previous apartment before my home had a closet so big I could have lost a small child in it. My house is a tad bit smaller and finally we installed more rods so my Hubby could move out of the playroom closet and into his closet. What a nice wife I am…
Ohh, Katie I hope that all these comments help you realize what an awesome blog you have! We should all be thanking Sherry for being your friend so that we have the priveledge of reading about your life too.
I have to ask because it seems crazysauce to me, but why ohh why are all your hangers backwards on the left side of the closet?? Is that some awesome closet trick I don’t know about?
That closet makes me want to cry. Its beautiful.
I Ebay clothes like crazy. When I get 3 or 4 items of the same size that I don’t want anymore or dont fit, I sell them as a lot on Ebay to make a few bucks for some new stuff.
Good Gracious, Woman!! You have a lot of clothes! ALOT!
Katie, I can’t throw away old t-shirts either. I have a ton of squares from t-shirts that I cut out with the hope that I (make that my mom) will make me a t-shirt quilt one day. I probably have 50+ t-shirts, dating as far back as when I was 7! If you cut them up now, they at least take up a lot less room – leaving more space for new clothes!
Hey Katie- just so you know, I read your blog because it is so incredibly honest and fearless, not because you have popular friends. 🙂 I so admire someone that can just put it out there and say, “There, that’s me. Deal with it. But you know you love me. :)”
I was super pumped with the HGTV show Bath Crashers put in these huge closets for me into our new bathroom. 4 months later though we’re still waiting for them to come back to put closet doors on so it doesn’t feel like we’re brushing our teeth in the closet. Cross your fingers for us! http://oneprojectatatime.blogspot.com/2011/06/bath-crashers-master-bathroom-reveal.html
Here’s how my morning goes…. I get to work, open my laptop, plug in my lame-o Sprint air card (we’re in an industrial area that hasn’t been wired for wireless internet… YET) and type “b-o-w-e” in the top search bar, my history pulls up and I click “enter” and keep my little phalanges crossed that you, Katie B, have written a new post for the day. Then I go check everyone elses’ sites. I don’t always comment, but I always, always, ALWAYS read. It’s true, that I might have discovered you through Sherry’s blog, but your’re my go-to girl for a giggle and my first stop on my daily interweb adventures. Maybe I’m the weird girl in the corner too. Don’t change who you are, most of us think you’re pretty awesome.
PS: Holy crap, you have a lot of clothes.
PPS: I organize mine tops by color and arm length too: http://bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com/2010/06/keeping-my-ocd-in-closet.html
Great closet. I’m glad someone besides myself has a hard time giving things away. Do you and Sherri ever compare your style of closets? You guys are quite a pair! and you cheer up my days so vividly, don’t ever think of yourself as less than special.
katie, that’s why everyone loves you so much — the “clique” girls are intimidating. you’re real and relatable. don’t change! (people used to write that in yearbooks. how weird is that? like leaving for the summer was going to be some crazy, life-altering experience and you’d come back goth or with a boob job. then someone writes “don’t change” in your yearbook and it makes you think, ya know what, oprah? i’m gonna pass on the makeover.”)
Katie,
Your blog is awesome. I read it every day and laugh at your quirky jokes. And I think you would have been quite popular in high school. I mean anyone with red high heels like that can be my friend! 🙂
Katie, where did you get your wardrobe pieces?? I need them badly! My closet looks like a bomb went off!
Oh, and by the way, I read your blog every day and it makes my day so much that I get giddy when you post 2 or 3 blogs in a day 🙂
Boo – I think you trashed my comment… Guess you’re not a fan of Gaffigan’s bacon schtick. I just wanted to throw some internet love your way! No worries, I’ll still read your blog 😉
LOVE IT. So jealous of the big closet and all that beautiful organization.
PS- YOU brighten my day! 🙂
What happened recently that made you post the first part of this entry?
hi Katie!
because i am oh-so-curious (and a little ocd) i have to know if there is a reason that your shirt hangers are backwards??? maybe i’ve been doing mine backwards this whole time?! please enlighten me!
also, I went to public high school (and this is NOTHING against $herdog, whom I absolutely adore) but in real high school the popular girl is totally overrated. Girls who are obsessed with bacon and ceramic animals, and think tweezing their eyebrows is optional if you spend your days making the world a prettier place and continue to treat their husbands as their “boyfriend” (thank you for supporting the movement) are the real special girls 🙂
ps. please send the love handle thief my way if he ever stops over
I would kill for this closet… even if you do hang your hangers backwards. 😉 My closet is maybe a quarter of the size of yours, and I can’t take over the guest room closet because it’s the coat closet (what house doesn’t have a coat closet??). Sadness. Thanks for sharing even though I’m wildly jealous now!
It’s funny…most people do ‘spring’ cleaning but I do it all in the fall. I ebay clothes in lots, and others I donate to SA. Your closet is beautiful 🙂 I finally figured out the joys of Elfa Shelving (from Container Store) which I plan to blog about soon. Woo hoo! PS-we love you!
I have the exact oposite problem. I. cannot. keep clothes. I hate clutter and have small closets care of a 1960s house. I feel the need to purge several times a year. And when I can’t find anything in my closet/dresser to purge, I go after my kids’ and husband’s closet.
That being said, I am way jealous of the awesome closet you have and your ability to “save” for the future.
Oh, and last, but not least, I love your blog. It’s one of the few I truly LOL when I read. Bacon humor is the best.
Katie, you perfectly describe how I’ve been seeing the Internet world too! Glad to know I’m not alone. And Girl, trust me, you’re the one blogger who I would love to cut up with in high school. Bower Power rocks! 🙂
Katie…..I would acknowledge you if you were getting slushied by your locker…in fact I may just help you out! And if you’re the awkward girl in the corner making bacon jokes than I’m the even more awkward girl in the corner admiring the other awkward girl in the corner who is making bacon jokes! I absolutely adore your blog and aspire to reach your knowledge and status in bloger-dom (I’m still a novice, more like the strange freshman and you’re the super cool senior). And thanks for your closet peek! I LOVE closets and yours is pretty much amazing!
I just recently found your blog and love it! I read it every morning. And you don’t at all seem like the un-cool kid, trust me. I was home schooled and went to public school, so I saw both worlds. I can totally picture you as one of the cool kids I always wanted to be friends with (cause I was the dorky kid) when I went to public school.
I was super excited when I saw that you had turned a room into a closet at your old house, cause I did the exact same thing! It was wonderful, and organized, and I even made the closet in the room my ‘shoe closet’! However unlike you, when I moved I did not end up with a giant walk-in closet (aka Heaven), so I spread my clothes to all three bedroom closets in then new place. But then I got married and my new hubby wanted a place to put all of his clothes, so I had to (reluctantly) give up one. And then we had a baby (1 month ago) and i had to consolidate again and squeeze everything into one tiny little closet.
Hi Katie!
I don’t comment often but I read your blog every day… you’re more popular than you know, I bet. I’m sure lots of peeps do the same… read but don’t comment. We should all change that! 🙂
You’re awesome, you’re hilarious, you’re a wonderful mother, wife & friend, an amazing photographer, you do beautiful things to your home(s), you have super fab hair AND you have a kick-ass closet! … all of those things are far more important than being “popular”. You just keep being exactly who you are!
And my b-day is Sept 8th! I’ll be 35 in 2013. Ack! So wear something old to celebrate how old I’m getting! 😉
I am in LOVE with your closet! Carrie Bradshaw would be proud. I have no shame in admitting that I have overtaken every single closet in my house (which are all quite small). Not having to share closet space may be one of the best things about being single.
If you ever think your blog is the unpopular kid that eats lunch alone every day, you’re wrong! I’m pretty sure that’s my blog. 😉
I LOVE that you color coordinate your closet too! My mom taught kindergarten and always referred to roy g biv (the colors of the rainbow) and that’s how i do my closet!! Total OCD.
I have gotten better at ditching though since I had to make room for my man when we got married-but i too have a stack (bigger than yours!) of jeans that i hope will fit again someday.
Thanks for sharing and making this girl feel a little more normal 🙂
You’ve got 84 responses already on this post. And you think you’re not popular?! Come on now. 😉
I want your closet. I find myself purging a couple of times a year simply because I don’t have the space. I typically donate to Goodwill just b/c it’s easier.
first of all, keep being awesome. blogging is like high school unfortunately. but don’t worry, i’m probably the one getting slushied, not you. you are my popular friend. with really amazing hair.
and a sweet closet.
second, i’m glad someone else is neurotic enough to color code their clothing. i still can never find anything but it’s nice to know that when i look in the closet, i have a fighting chance.
third, bacon is the new black.
I do have a blog, actually, two. The one I have had the longest is focused on my kids and I share only with friends and family. Last month I started one to write about all my other interests. You are so lucky that people comment on your blog; I know people are reading mine but I rarely get comments. Blogging is a lot of work, so THANK YOU for keeping us entertained and teaching new DIY ideas!
I HAVE to get rid of stuff every year so that I have room to put new clothes! I take my clothes to Goodwill, but I’m thinking about consigning some to see if I can make any money. Your closet is awesome! I, too, organize my shirts by color, and within each color by sleeve length. Does Jeremy have a similarly sized closet across from your’s?
Aww, Katie, I think you are the bee’s knees! I love your blog and get excited to see new posts. Love that you have been posting frequently lately. I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of years now but only recently started my own a few months ago. I hope you’ll stop by and check it out sometime. That would make MY day. =)
Your clothing collection is awesome!!
just realized today that i’ve been blog-stalking your site and never left you a comment – the shame!! i look forward to your posts every day and they bring me much encouragement and inspiration. even the bacon jokes. always impressed with their gratuitous appearances. want you to know that you make a difference and i feel a comradery with you because of our DIY love, our love of our homes and most especially that you too have a rockin’ son like me!
on a blog related note: i usually am a huge follower of the “fits well, 1 year worn, stained or torn” rule, but I always end up regretting in time that I got rid of something. So your way is just fine!!
Good day to you and yours!
I just sold a bunch of size 4 Express jeans that I have had for about 4 years now to a consignment store. And I doubt the skinny fairy is going to come see me so I was ok with doing it 🙁 kinda, sorta.
I usually go through our clothes (I have myself, a boyfriend, and 3 kids – 12.5 years, 11 years, and 21 months) about 2 times a year, in the winter and spring. Then we make 3 piles: Consign, Donate, and Trash. That seems to help with keeping our closets in shape and makes room for new items too.
Katie, you are incredibly popular. Every time I read your blog, I’m like, man I wish I had all of the friends she had in the blog world and in the physical sense too. But I think I kind of understand how you feel. I recently just moved to entirely different state after living in another one for 5 years and I feel completely friendless right now. 🙂 When you posted earlier about how hard it is to find adult friends and how grateful you were to have Sherry, I was nodding my head and emphatically saying (to myself) “Uh, huh. Right on girl.” So, all that to say, you are incredibly popular. And beautiful and your blog is inspiring every day. Thanks for doing all that and still being the sweet, humble person you are.
P.S. My hubby is from Georgia, so I love to read about areas that he talks about from his childhood.
Katie! I check in at the ol’ BPB every day and have never once left a comment! How rude of me. Just wanted you to know that I appreciate you sharing your life and experiences with the interwebs for people like me (in Canada!) to participate in by proxy! BPB is a part of my morning routine, right alongside brushing my teeth, checking my e-mail and nursing a big mug of tea at my desk! I hope you never ever feel for one second that the energy and care that you put into this blog goes unnappreciated!
1. Loving the closet… the color-coding is amazing. And the belts, ooohhhh… swoon.
2. The philosophical part of your post is making me wax philosophical as well, so apologies in advance. 🙂 You know what I think is ironic? In my observation, a majority of the most popular kids in high school hit their peak of coolness about then. That’s kind of sad when you look back and realize that ages 15-18 is nowhere near the middle of life, generally speaking. My sis is a teacher, and tells me regularly that she can spot kids who may be overlooked by the “cool crew,” but who are really going to be somebody in life! Not that there aren’t “cool” kids who go on to live useful and productive lives, but generally speaking I’d rather fly under the radar for a while, and keep getting better as I get older. Reminds me of Proverbs 4:18. I think most people, in hindsight, would probably want to do the same. Now if only we could show our kids that perspective.
I don’t have a blog to link up to you but I wanted to let you know that I read and laugh with you every day. You’re on my list of “Good Things” to do for myself and I appreciate your humor and “real-ness”. Just thought I’d give you a pat on the back, because we all need one, and tell you how much I enjoy reading about your life and compare it to my crazy, living in the country mamahood. I also wish the love handle thief would stop at my house… he’d hit the jackpot!
I’m happy your super-blogger friend talked about you, because your posts crack me up every day! 🙂 I’m really glad to have found it.
And, uh, your closet is AMAZEBALLS. And that’s all Ikea? I’m totally going to have to keep this post in my “to get in my new closet” catalog.
This comment box is intimidating! I go to your blog everyday like its yahoo news! But I decided to comment today because I bought my first house this summer and used the SAME Ikea waredrobes for my closet! (only in brown!) and I love them! So when I came to your page it was like seeing my child in the newspaper. (ok I dont have a child, and who reads the newspaper anymore, but were only talking about waredrobes, so calm down!) Anyway, I remember how long it took me to put those bad boys together and how when I tried to stand it up myself, it was a complete nightmare! But in the end, totally worth all the blood sweat and tears. (only -the blood + smirnoff ice).
Thanks for sharing daily! It gives me tons of ideas for my own place with a plate of humor on the side!
KB – I can’t get rid of clothes either. But mostly because I just HATE going through that deciding what to keep/what to give away/what might I want later when I lose weight, etc PROCESS. Mr. Skooks is much more on top of clothes purging though and seems to be completely ruthless with cleaning out his clothes. I should take some pointers from him . . . I’m pretty sure I have a tshirt hanging around from 4th grade in my closet still!
1. i love this blog and your sweet little family. read everyday!
2. so jealous of how big that closet is!
3. i so desperately want to come over and help you clean out your clothes. i clean out my closet often and LOVE doing it (seriously). makes it feel new and i can get rid of the clothes i have grown tired of wearing (or that i don’t wear anymore). i typically try plato’s closet first and then what they don’t buy goes straight to goodwill.
if you ever need some closet cleanout encouragement….
🙂
I read your blog almost daily and laugh so hard I sometimes pee myself. Not really, but you know what I mean. I completely agree about blogging being just like high school at times… I am definitely in the “hiding in a corner/band geek/not popular” type, but I try to remember that I’m blogging for the memories, not for the comments or attention.
All of that aside, I’m extremely jealous of your closet. It may or may not be the size of my entire bedroom! It’s amazing.
Katie,
It was your blog that finally convinced me to start one of my own. Your honesty, humor, and down-to-earthness keep me (and it looks like everyone else) coming back day after day to see what the Bower family is up to. I doubt if there’s anyone here who wouldn’t give their right arm to be your bestie and most of us probably talk about you so much to our husbands know your names. Kevin has asked me on several occasions “What was up on Bower Power today?”
You’re the blog that inspires me to let my blog be my blog, no matter if it’s filled with a million pork recipes no one will ever try, sad attempts at DIY, and references to engineer humor that no one but me gets. You let me know that being the real me is okay… something I never was in high school (I was that nerdy, quirky girl in the corner… still am).
And to be honest (and probably share too much), your love for Will is what has convinced me that I do want to me a mom someday. There was a time in the not to distant past where I thought that kids weren’t for me, but seeing the pictures of you together has let me know that that love is something I can’t miss out on and I’m looking forward to the time when Kevin and I are ready to start our own family.
So. Keep on keepin’ on. My mornings wouldn’t be the same without Bower Power in them.
-Jess
PS. I think your closet is the same size as the Little House’s spare bedroom.
PPS. I organize all my tops the same way!
I realize it’s completely none of my business, but I was completely blown away by the sheer amount of clothing and accessories in your closet. You can’t possibly wear it all ? and it seems a bit wasteful to me. I guess I’m a “minimalist” but I have only a small dresser, about 10-15 things hanging in my closet, I only own 1 belt and a few pairs of shoes. Your closet looks like a store!
Katie, for what its worth, I was reading your blog long before I even discovered YHL. (I love them too, but I loved you first). I actually found out about them through YOU.
And your blog is one of my favorites. I look forward to your updates in my RSS daily. xoxo
I am a recent reader and I love your blog (and cleaning out my closet). Not really sure how those things are related. I usually donate my wearable clothes to charity as yardsales aren’t as common here in Europe. I do love your story about Abercrombie. It is definitely a must have brand for teens here and there are long lines to get into the London and Paris stores (both are on swanky shopping streets).
I don’t think you’re too far off base about high school life, but it’s nice to see that in the blog world people can be popular by being sweet, funny, likable and sharing all their great ideas and pieces of their life with the world. That’s definitely the case with you, anyway.
Man, my closet is half the size of yours and I share it with my hubby. Yours is fab. Would one of the big wardrobes fit in that alcove? Because I think I’d put one there and the other two on the back wall. No matter how you arrange it though, it’s a great space!
It was fun crashing your closet! It’s so nice and big – good times :). Oh, and in regards to your intro sentiments – I love your blog and read it every day. If my day is looking like it’s busy I read my two fave blogs first and if I can get to the rest later, I do. If not, at least I’ve read the two that mean the most. Who would that be? Well YOU of course… and that ridiculously famous best friend you mentioned (which is how I learned about fabulous you in the first place). Thanks for being you and entertaining all of us daily.
Wow you have a lot of clothes! I have maybe an eighth of that. Not that I wouldn’t like more. By the way, if you find the Skinny Fairy, send her to my house next, okay?
I am IN LOVE with your closet. I wish I had a closet like that!! But I don’t have nearly as many clothes, even with the “no-fitters” that are in storage.
I try to go through my clothes every year. If it’s way too small, like nothing a fairy could ever get me back into, or I don’t like the style anymore or I haven’t worn it in muliple years, I eventually put it in a Goodwill pile, as long as it is in good condition. I have another pile for stuff not in good condition that I put in a clothes bin that collects used fabric for recycling.
I like your blog Katie because you have a more traditional style than most DIY blogs- and it’s hard to DIY traditional, much easier if you like really modern, or romantic-cottage-y looks.
But your style is also fresh, with clean lines, and I think that’s unique for traditional as well. It encourages me to think about design options that would have intimidated me on my own.
And you’re funny. People who make design decisions without a sense of humor terrify me.
Holy mother… dream closet!
If you’re ever in the mood to have a closet sale I’ll be happy to swing by and take some things off your hands… I am in Atlanta after all! 🙂
I thought about Sherry’s bra drawer (or serious lack thereof) too. And then I felt like a pervert. Thanks a lot.
You have a crazy amount of clothes!
PPPS. Sorry for leaving a book of a comment.
I’m not sure if I’ve commented here before, but I’m sure there are a ton of other readers out there like me who enjoy your reading your website every day but don’t necessarily comment to let you know we’re here – although I’m sure you’ve got some sort of tracking feature to let you know how many “hits” you have in one day. Not being a blogger myself, I have no idea.
Anyway, I wanted you to know that I LOVE your blog. I would have thought you were one of the more popular blogs/blog writers out there, but what do I know? Your irreverent and quirky sense of self translates well. Keep doing what you’re doing lady.
Katie!! Remember, Jewel COPIED your nursery…you are the cool girl:). How many other bloggers can say that a celebrity found design inspiration through you?? Will is famous…you know, that spread he did for My Publisher…again, how many other bloggers can say that? None that I know of. And, you’re awesomely funny, a good momma and like bacon – girl, you are cool.
Now, that closet – jealous!! Where did you get the white wardrobe piece from? My closet is like a million times smaller than yours AND i share it with my hubby – I need something like that white thing (yep, that’s the technical term). Also, do you have a dresser or do you just use the closet for storing your clothes? I am not a fan of dressers and I have one in our super tiny bedroom…would love to get rid of it.
Sorry, I am at work sneaking to read your blog, as usual, so I don’t have time to make sure someone has not already said this…but your hangers are backwards! You silly goose! That was the 1st thing I noticed, before my eyes adjusted to the rainbow of clothing heaven, that is. The ones on the wall are all hanging backwards. LOL. Anyway, Love you, stay exactly the SAME!!!!
Wish my closet looked like that. I keep the clothes I usually wear on the floor or the edge of the bed, so I don’t have to climb the mountain in my closet to look for things.
Just wanted to let you know that anytime a blogger does a yearly survey and asks which blogs I read, I ALWAYS list yours. More people need to know about you. I’m not a blogger, but I go through my Google Reader everyday. Yours and Sherry/John’s are the only two blogs I read every word of. That’s not true. I love Under the Sycamore too. You three are the only blogs I read every word of. Can’t get enough. If you wrote 5 posts a day, I’d read those too. I even enjoy your vacation posts, which I usually hate from other bloggers. Anyway…I think you rock. Thanks for being awesome.
My little sister, an avid Katie Bower fan, is a terrible clothes hoarder. This summer I was helping her pack for a move and we were trying to whittle down some of her wardrobe. At one point I tried to get her to toss a bright pink velour skirt. When she refused I asked her where she would be wearing it. Her straight-faced reply? “My surprise 16th birthday party!!!”
She is 23.
Your closet is AMAZING. We live in a townhome with tiny closets – so I have banished hubs to the guest room closet that we affectionately refer to as his “dressing room”.
This cracks me up because I totally hang on to old t-shirts as well hoping that one day I will have enough time to DIY a quilt (my husband doesn’t understand this) 🙂 There are more of me out there! (except for the home-schooler part)
I went to public high school and it messed with me. Trying to fit in, and be yourself is impossible. My guess is no one feels good enough until they comprehend God’s love. Whether you’re 12 or 50, once you know He fills you…popularity doesn’t matter. Hard lesson to learn. I’m still working on it! Oh, and I love your blog! You’re my fav! 🙂
Katie, you have too many clothes! But I must say, they are colorful. My closet is 1/4 the size of yours and it’s a sea of black, gray, white. I feel like I’m wearing a costume if I wear color. I know, it’s weird and I wish it weren’t that way, but it is. Get thyself a few garbage bags and off to Goodwill!
kb, I love you and this blog! It’s part of my morning repertoire, ranking right up there with getting my coffee and kissing my husband goodbye. I love to laugh, and you make me do this every single day. thanks!!
Katy, let me be honest in saying that I have a closet crush!! Wow, if only mine was that organized and beautiful. One day…one day. Thanks for sharing. Its weird that women want to see other women’s closets, but we do 🙂
Katie, you are too modest. I think you are one of the cool girls! Your designs and ideas inspire me every day. I kind of feel like I know you, in the bloggy universe kind of way.
I too keep my clothes color coordinated, in my closet and my dresser. My husband complains that I take up all the space, but he seriously encroaches on mine.
And just to give you an idea of my highschool experience, I was the nerdy girl that didn’t really have any friends… and then was hated by all the Mean Girls because I started dating (and ended up marrying!) the captain of the basketball team. It went against the social order 🙂
If you ever come out to the Phoenix, AZ area (it’s pretty nice this time of year), you have a place to stay with us!
Holy closet space, Batman! I think all three closets in my house (yes, THREE and it’s a three bedroom) could fit into your closet. Literally. My apartment between college and marriage was big enough to fit all my clothes from every season without being crowded. Some days I really miss that! But I love my little 1920s house, lack of closet space and all.
Partially due to our small dwelling, we clean out our closets at least yearly, usually when we switch out clothes for the season. Our church started a yearly clothing sharing event a few years back and I hang on to our old stuff and donate it for the event. It’s awesome! You donate if you can/want, and pick out whatever you want/need for free. Any extras get packed up and donated to a local charity. It’s such a natural extension of what Jesus says the church should be!
Love how you write the way I think, except I don’t have a blog because I don’t have the gift of translating what I think to print.
I totally have a clothes problem, I love to refashion, old tee shirt that’s yellow under the arms, most people would toss, Me…Oh that would make a great dress for the little one, Too many old Virginia Tech t-shirts from the college days? Oh lets cut them up and make a tree skirt for the Virginia Tech Christmas tree.. so I keep too many clothes planning to cut them all up and create something new and fabulous, however the pile of inspiration vs. completed projects is 2:1. I have created cute things, however I should really be more selective with what I keep!
Katie, from one “laughs at inappropriate jokes at inappropriate times” to another, I think we are the cool ones. “They” just don’t know it!!! Love your blog and totally get your humor!!
When it comes to our closets that where our similarity ends, I am a minimalist in that department, I figured out I tended to wear only a few of the things in my closet so they may as well be the things I love. I also tend to wear a lot of the same colors, you will find a lot of white grey and black in my closet. I am very OCD about how it’s organized and I love how organized your closet is.
The only thing that could make it better is if you painted it pink like your old dressing room! I’m still envious of that room to this day!
Everytime I see a pig, an owl or something combined with bacon that normally wouldn’t be, I think of you. You make me smile everytime I get on here. And even in those moments when I hear that awkward laugh from the corner, I am thrilled to know it’s not just mine! 🙂 You rock. Like a big ol’ batch o’bacon on top of a maple bar. {I’ve heard it is uh-maze-ing!!} I love ya!!
Ah, I knew I wasn’t the only one wondering about the backwards hangers! It’s funny that my eyes were immediately drawn to that.
Love your blog, Katie. You have a beautiful family AND a beautiful closet! 🙂
Another comment from a loyal, but up-til-now-silent reader. Katie, don’t be too down on yourself for having a weird sense of humor. Most times, you’re just saying what we’re all thinking, but aren’t brave enough to say.
Plus, you have great style! Your style, your creativity, and your candid-ness about your feelings and beliefs are what keep me reading. However un-cool you thought you were in high-school years, you are now the girl that lots of people see and admire, and wish they could be friends! (Funny how that seems to work out…)
Thanks for sharing your life with us, and I hope blogging continues to be as fulfilling for you as it is fun for us readers!
*Amanda
I am in complete Awe. I seriously didn’t think girls had that many clothes except for on SATC. Haha. That closet is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I think it bigger than our Master. Seriously. This is going to be the perfect excuse to go shopping, I will just tell the hubby: “Look, I got nothing on Katie. (Open up this post)I think I can get a couple pairs of jeans to fill my single rod in my closet.” haha.
Your way too humble. I did come across you through YHL, but I only come across YHL through a search on how to paint cupboards. You may think you are increasingly popular because of YHL, but you can hold your own girlie. You make me keep coming back to hear about house projects, your boyfriend, Will, and bacon 😀 And maybe a little fashion advice. About 2 weeks ago, we finally got a GAP outlet and I told my husband that we had to go and check it out cause Katie shops there and she always looks great 🙂
Keep it up hun. Your doing great!
I used to save clothing A LOT! Like dresses from my first date with my Husband. T-shirts from high school, etc. But, now I really try to get rid of what doesn’t fit anymore or what I haven’t worn. I keep some stuff, like the pile of jeans that I’m determined to loose the last bit of baby weight to fit into kinda thing. 😉 I have a memory obsession w/ clothing. If there’s a memory made in an outfit it’s so hard to part w/it for me. The rest of the stuff I try to donate it, or pass it along to my Sister.
You’re not alone in this 🙂
Want to know something ultra hilarious? I actually don’t comment because I figure you are so gosh darn popular that you won’t notice the girl sitting in the corner sucking her thumb because she is just one of those lowly bloggers that is excited if she gets more than 2 comments in a day (also I am becoming the queen of the run-on sentence). As of right now you have 98 comments. NINETY EIGHT. That’s a whole lot of love my friend. Oh wait, you don’t know me so maybe I shouldn’t frighten you with the whole friend talk yet. I’ve been a super long time stalker and I think I have commented once or twice. Anyway, you are so popular you make the cheerleaders cry. Oh and I love how you and $herdog (ha!) are total opposites when it comes to clothes. Also, I only have one bra. Unless you count my nursing bra and then I have two. Maybe one day I’ll have enough to fill an ENTIRE DRAWER! Too much info? Yes.
I lovvvvve this closet! I am building a house now and we MUST have a closet this size! How big is it?? I think ours is supposed to be 8 x 10, is yours around this size? I love your blog and you! Adorable 🙂
Um, yeah, I’m very jealous of the amount of clothing you own! Your closet is very impressive. And you are way more fun to read than the clique-y girls…love your honesty 🙂
I have a small walk-in closet that I share with my husband, so I try to get rid of things that I’m not wearing, that don’t fit, or that are worn out on a regular basis. I used to hold on to things forever but then I realized that it’s much easier to get dressed (and less depressing!) when I like everything in my closet, it’s not worn out, and I know it fits me. And if the skinny fairy ever comes to visit me, then I’m going shopping! 🙂
Katie you are absolutely fabulous, just like your closet 😀
Katie,
your closet in amazing. and i too have 7 pair of jeans that don’t fit but i cannot bear to get rid of them. and right now on the very top of the jeans pile is my ‘after Thanksgiving jeans’. oh yeah, i am ready. aside from jeans i am a tosser. i donate bags and bags of clothing to goodwill. and the kiddos clothing goes to dear friends. you have done a great job organizing all those clothes tho. props to you!
Nessa
Wowsers! You have an entire store full of clothing in that closet!! 🙂 I happen to have the exact opposite disease….I get rid of stuff out of my closet like crazy. Sometimes a good thing/ sometimes a bad thing. There are two ladies that I go to church with that put on a huge consignment sale twice a year. It’s a really upscale boutique type sale so it’s great for getting rid of some stuff and not just putting money down the drain. check it out: http://mysistershousesale.com/ It’s great because they make a great profit and I do to!
Ah Katies, thanks for all the lov!
I’m super jealous of your closet. I have too many clothes really, but I do wear them all. Keeping them all organized is hard – if I can’t see them I tend to forget I have them.
My rule is that if something doesn’t -flatter- me, I get rid of it. Even if it was expensive, has plenty more wear in it, might come back in fashion etc. If it doesn’t make me look good, it goes. I donate everything. Makes me feel better if a charity gets some of the money I wasted!
To add to the blog (katie) lovin’
You have to be one of my fave bloggers… You are funny, smart, and creative. A lot of bloggers I feel get big heads (even the popular kids) once they get to a certain level but you’re not that way! And I also refer to your blog to my husband a lot (esp. because we live in Alpharetta and whenever we are in Gwinnett Co – like to visit Bass Pro Shop or go to Medieval times hahah – I ALWAYS think of you!) And just throwing this out there…if you want to have a game night with a leadership dork and her hubby we’re game. 🙂
-Meg
Katie girl! You’re sooo wrong! You are the sweet girl that everyone loves in my high school! And those who don’t love you are just jealous of that awesome closet of yours!
love you and your blog and your famous friend and of course your cutie pie Will!
Mallory,
I am right there in the corner with ya sister. And I notice every.single.comment. I read them all the time. repeatedly. sometimes obsessively.
xo – kb
I am so happy that I am not the only one that organizes their closet by color. My friends think I am funny for doing that but how else do you find anything. Also I read your blog almost everyday and love it, you and your adorable little family! Keep doing what you do! People like you are the reason I started writing my little blog 🙂
Holy Moly! total closet envy, I share half that with my husband…I forget about clothes often cuz they are in a box in the attic or spare bedroom closets for the seasons I dont need them. Would love to be able to keep it all in sight so I dont go and buy new sweaters that I basically already have…
also wanted to add that you are awesome, I love your quirkiness and you are always good for an embarrasing chuckle at work in the mornings 🙂
You know what Audrey – that is a fine idea. I need to start pinning pink rooms stat!
xo – kb
Can I just say that I love your closet!! Wish I had that much room. I can totally relate to the “taking over all the other closets in the house!”. We just moved into a new home and already the upstairs “guest closet” has become my dress closet.
I recently gave away a ton of clothes though.
My friends and I have these wonderful gatherings called SWAP PARTIES!! They are fantastic get-togethers where all of us bring all of our small, torn, “out of style” clothes to the chosen host’s house and throw all our clothes in organized piles. It’s then a take all for everybody before giving the remaining clothes to Goodwill. I gave away 4 pairs of jeans to my skinnier friend and gained 3 new pairs of jeans from my tall friend who shrunk hers. (sometimes it’s nice to be the shorter one.)
It’s saved me a ton of money and I get new-to-me clothes! Plus it’s nice to see my friends wearing my clothes later that had recently spent the past 4 years in a box. Not to mention the giant load we give to charity. All in all, good times!
Aww Katie…..We love you too! We get all topics from your blog, but in a way that is easy to take in! You are entertaining and it appears to be effortless (I am sure you make an effort, but good job fooling all of us).
Best Wishes,
Luckyjayne
HILARIOUS!
I need to use that line 🙂
xo – kb
I found your blog through YHL and I’m so glad I did. I’ve been reading every day since. You are so relate-able. Reading your blogs feels like talking to a good friend. Don’t change a thing – your blog is great!
P.S. I’m super jealous of your closet!!
I decided to hang them backwards right after I organized the closet – when I wear and wash something, I flip the hanger rightside so that I know I wore it. I decided to do this so that if I don’t wear it in a year, I can confidently say – it can go 🙂
xo – kb
Yeah, I’m definitely the opposite in that I obsessively get rid of clothes! Anything that doesn’t fit or doesn’t get worn is out the door. It makes getting dressed in the morning remarkably easy since I have almost no clothes. But I also have a small closet…maybe if I had a bigger one I would expand to fit the space?
Aww thanks Desiree….
and the wardrobe is from Ikea 🙂 I only have the closet – but Jer (who is also a clothes horse) has a closet and two dressers!
xo – kb
A) I love your blog, and it’s crazy to me that you don’t think of yourself as one of the bigger blogs out there! Mine is just a teeny tiny fish in the huge huge ocean at this point. Your blog is awesome!
2) I NEVER throw jeans away…I think there is at a range of 5 different sizes in my closet…I just keep hoping someday I’ll be skinny again!
C) I still have shirts from junior high in my drawers and I still wear them! That’s totally normal. 🙂
Lastly) I love how your closet is all arranged by color in each section…I hope mine can look like that someday!
I have a handful of ancient hole-y t-shirts that I’ve kept since junior high because they are the most COMFY clothes I own. I get made fun of incessently for them but at least I’m comfy. So I get not getting rid of your faves. 😉 Love the closet, though and am completely jealous. I keep mine fairly organized but that isn’t terribly difficult to do when it’s just two tiny closets.
Also, I don’t comment much either (here or anywhere on the blogo-sphere, actually! lol) but I just had to say, you and your blog rock my socks. I check it obsessively throughout the day–enough that I sometimes get paranoid that you’ll check your stats and send the cops to Mississippi to arrest me for stalking. lol I may have discovered your blog through YHL but I only discovered them while googling for how to paint paneling. I continue to blog-stalk you both because you’re equally awesome. 🙂
Hi Katie! I love your blog, you are so funny and sweet and genuinely seem to love your life. Plus you are super handy, I’ve used plenty of tips and design ideas in my own home that I’ve seen here.
Don’t worry too much about the high school business, not all schools are like the movies. There are cliques of course, but in real life the kids in the cliques are actual people. Just keep in mind that the blogging world is made up of real people too, and everyone gets nervous about people liking them or their ideas or their designs. If you keep making yourself happy people will keep coming back!
I’m most intrigued that all your hangers on the wall are backwards. Does it make me strange that’s the first thing I noticed?
I purged my closet a few years ago and now have a very small number of clothes. I felt weird having clothes that I only wore once or twice a year (with the exception of super fancy dresses). But I’ve gotta admit that it gets boring and I often find myself whining, “I have nothing to wear!” before remembering that I purposely brought that upon myself. With a closet like yours, I’m sure I’d never get bored! Love it!
Oh, and I think of you as that lurking girl who’s super duper awesome but not everyone knows it and I’m kind of excited that a small number of us get to keep you for ourselves. I guess that makes me a hispter, to think, “I read Katie Bower BEFORE she was popular.” 🙂
Oh Katie I have you filed in my bloglist under “Everyday Reads”… Your closet is so organized!! I love it! LOL @ The Skinny Fairy comment! Too funny!
We measured out a bunch of different arrangements…but this was the only one that would fit (and we would still have maximum storage). Bummer, huuh?!
xo – kb
Oohhh! I just love closet organization! We moved a year ago to a quaint cottage with tiny closets… that my husband and I have to share. I got rid of half of my clothing and to be honest I don’t miss one thing. I still have to switch out from winter to summer and my maternity stuff is in totes as well. Of course it would be great to have a HUGE closet but so far we are making it work. I do follow the clean out rule and it seems to be working BUT if I had a huge closet like that it would be very hard to purge.
It’s kinda crazy – but honestly I do wear about 98% of it. I guess I wear layers…a lot of layers.
xo – kb
Come do my closet – there’s an IKEA right up the road and I’ll give you cash to buy all the supplies! LOL
Hi Katie!
It’s funny that you talk about high school. I’m new to this blogging thing and feel like I’m “the new kid.” I have so much to learn, so many people to meet, and not sure how to actually get out there. I totally love your blog, and wanted to show some love. Since I’m new to this stuff, I didn’t know how to “link up.” So here’s a link to my post about you (and Sherry) inspiring me to attempt this paint swatch art (http://lovetenfold.blogspot.com/2011/10/diy-paint-swatch-art.html). I saw it on your house tour of your old house and thought it was so neat! And what a coincidence! I totally just purged and reorganized our closet this weekend, and it feels so good to have room in there!
Anyway, just wanted to show how much you’re appreciated! Hope you have an awesome week!
His is definitey smaller but he also gets the two dressers in the bedroom…so I think it is more than fair 🙂
xo – kb
We can be slushied together 🙂
xo – kb
Wowza Katie B! That is a very organized closet! Covet the ikea cabinet-organizer-closets!
I am glad to see that I am not the only crazy-awesome person who organizes my shirts together by color.
One question, does boyfriend get a closet in the basement or something?
I purge like a crazy woman! twice a year! mostly because I have a tiny closet. But also because I know im just going to wear my favourites over and over so why hold on to things I dont really like and probably wont wear? Its so much easier to find what Im looking for in the morning.
It also helps stop me from shopping for new clothes because I know exactly whats in the closet and what I am lacking.
and I always toss clothes that dont fit. if the skinny fairy shows up, im celebrating by shopping for NEW clothes!
I usually pawn old stuff off to a friend. They love it when I show up at their door with a garbage bag of clothing!
haha…you are the purging queen! I need you in my life 🙂
xo – kb
I think that you’d be a whole lot more popular than you think in this made up high school world of ours, Katie. The thing about fake high school (and even real high school back in the day) was that people never really appreciate how great they are.
xo!
JL
I didn’t know you were homeschooled! ME TOO! I am so glad to find another “normal” person that never went to school. Well, okay…so maybe we aren’t normal, but at least we have things in common and that makes me think we are normal because there is more than one of us…
I just started reading your blog, after finding you in Sherry’s. Haha, I talk like she is a mutual friend! I only wish I knew you two in person, you both seem hilarious. I love reading both of your blogs – so thank you for giving me something to keep me inspired as I reno our new house! 😀
They are backwards as my REALLY new system to figure out if I am actually wearing all my shirts…once I wear and wash, they go on the hanger the right way…and in one year – I am gonna bite the bullet and get rid of the stuff with backward hangers.
EEK!
xo – kb
I just died. I am so jealous of your closet. I want it. I need it in my life.
Katie, something tells me that if we had grown up together we’d have been good friends! You seem like such a sweet genuine person, and not like so many of the fake plastic people that I often encounter here in Miami, especially back in my primary school days! In fact, just before I clicked on your blog I was reading some updates for my 10 year high school reunion on the dedicated Facebook page and was laughing my but off because everyone is saying things like “we were a special class unlike any other,” “everyone was friends, no cliques, everyone bonded and was full of friendship and unity.” – HA!!!!!!! What dimension was that in? I distinctly remember catty girls and elite snobby cliques.
Anyway, I thought it was funny when I clicked over to your blog and you were talking about high school! Growing up I always had a few close friends but none of them turned out to be genuinely good friends. I was wise to remember that my family are my best friends, my mother was always my best buddy above everyone. Even today, I have noticed that people that I worked with, people I went to college with and people who read my blog regularly seem to be the interested and genuine individuals. I always find that interesting.
Also, I laughed when I read your part on closet crashing and your inability to get rid of clothes because THAT’S ME! A few years ago when I was roommates with my high school friend, I was going through my closet and she came in to talk and gasped when she saw a dressy top that I’d had since middle school and screamed “Catherine, you’ve had this since we were in middle school! You need to get rid of it already, you hoard old clothes!!!” and I was like “But it’s a beautiful top and it’s like brand new, I take care of my clothes, it’s still stylish and….” and she chucked it in the TRASH! Blasphemy! In my family we never throw away perfectly good things, we either hold onto them forever or give them away to a family/friend to be used… or there’s always garage sales, the place where things that have been senselessly hoarded and saved for ages go to die, or go to be begrudgingly sold for a quarter – LOL! Suffice it to say I fished it out of the trash and might still have it in a bag full of doesn’t fit me/I can’t bare to get rid of clothes. Either way I always convince myself that I’ll wear/fit into it/like it again! HAHA… So your story is funny, now I know I’m not alone and that others have this problem. It can get stressful, especially when it comes time to move, but like the strong kooky woman I am… I carry on (with 15 large boxes of clothes on my back, err clogging up my uhaul)…haha…
Ok this is getting long, but I want you to know that even though I’ve only just discovered your blog, I think you are super witty, friendly and engaging! People who keep it real will always have good friends, lucky for us bloggers – we aren’t limited by friends in the flesh, which usually makes the possibility of meeting all the “real” where-have-they-been-all-this-time-people much more likely. Thanks for the afternoon laugh! 🙂
Have a wonderful day!
Catherine
[email protected]
InspireBohemia.blogspot.com
1) Nicest thing ever to read when I logged on during my two-year-old’s nap. You may think you are the oddball-loner looking in, but that is also how readers feel sometimes. Like the writers are too cool to be approached. You, my friend, made yourself approachable to me today and I love you for it 🙂
2) Your closet is AMAZE-BALLS! I love it! I have no rhyme or reason to how I get rid of things. When the seasons change I pull out the tote for that season and look through it – generally I will find a small pile of stuff that makes me say “WHY DO I OWN THIS?!?!” and I donate that pile to the Goodwill (Yes Husband! Keeping my donation RECEIPT for tax purposes!). The rest gets washed and put in drawers and closets and the last seasons stuff goes in the recently vacated tote until NEXT TIME!
Right now though, I am prego! So even though I have some stylish maternity clothes I live in yoga pants, beaters and zippies (my own quaint term for a zippered jacket) from the Under Armour outlet. BTW sweat wicking sports bras during pregnancy = BEST THING EVER!
Oh my goodness Katie.. you are awesome. You are my favorite blogger ever. I love how you keep it real. I feel like I know you just through reading your blog every day.
In other news, your closet is amazing, as is your belt collection. 🙂
Just wanted to say that in high school I was also the girl in the corner with a few dear, weird friends. So I get it, and love your blog! As far as closets… Except for a few sentimental t-shirts (like from horse camp when I was 8) I’m not a clothes hoarder at all. In fact, by necessity my boyfriend and I fit all our clothes into one small closet and one dresser. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love a bigger, more stylish closet like yours 🙂
Strange, the number 8 plus a parenthesis equals a sunglasses face. Wouldn’t it be cool to be sunglasses-years-old?
Nothing in particular. Sometimes I see other blogs…blogs that have been listed in magazines and are listed in everybodies blogroll. I’m okay with it…but every blogger will tell you that sponsors, press, and links help make you feel validated. It’s just hard to remember sometimes that I am not everybody else…and that my blog is not like everybody elses…and that what I have is sweeter than honey 🙂
xo – kb
All the wardrobe pieces are from Ikea 🙂
xo – kb
I also found YHL through you. 🙂 I just got hooked on design/diy blogs and so far yours is the only one I check religiously.
I err on the side of purging clothes too fast, but right now that is a good thing because I share an eensy weensy closet with the hubs so I really can’t keep anything I don’t wear. And probably 90% of my clothes are second hand or clearance rack from Target/Kohls/Ross/Burlington so I don’t feel so bad getting rid of them.
I just found your blog a few weeks ago and I love it! I’m the quirky, odd girl with the outgoing and popular husband. It’s an adventure to say the least:)
I just laughed, really hard, when I saw your closet post. I did this short little post last week and thought it was super funny to see the difference in our closets. I closet is huge, but only about half used! (http://growingbrowns.blogspot.com/2011/11/wardrobe.html)
ooooh i’m so jealous of your closet!!!!!!!! seriously, watch out ’cause i’ve got my eye on it. and, embarrassingly enough, my toss out rule excludes tears and stains, which simply get translated into this-is-now-an-under-cardigans top or this-is-now-a-tuck-in-only blouse or (most embarrassing, perhaps) these-are-now-to-be-worn-with-high-boots-only tights. 😉
And to you my friend…I recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Your-Closet-Ultimate-Organizing/dp/0061343811 My bestie from college just got done reading it and is recommending it to everyone. She too has lots o stuff in her closet. PS I am totally one of those who links to your blog. You make my gut hurt and for that I thank you! Cheers.
First off, I love reading all of your posts! I check daily!
Second off, closet organization is by far my absolute most favorite kind! I don’t have any issues with getting rid of clothes, though. Once a year I go through and make myself get rid of at least half of my wardrobe to donate to goodwill. If something isn’t a high enough quality for me to enjoy wearing it, I try not to give it away just for that reason. I try to donate high quality clothes so that less fortunate can still look just as fashionable. But I totally get the desire to keep it all! I mean, sure I haven’t worn this dress all year, BUT IT’S PERFECT FOR THAT ONE EVENT THAT MAY JUST OCCUR THIS YEAR AND I’M GOING TO KICK MYSELF FOR GIVING IT AWAY! AHHH!
So, yeah. Keep it up:)
I love this blog and check in with it every week!
As far as clothes go, I live in Juneau, Alaska which means no real places to shop for clothes, so my girlfriends and I have Naked Lady Parties where we gather clothes that don’t fit or that we don’t want (but aren’t nasty, stained, ripped, etc.), throw ’em into one big pile, and go crazy! Anything that doesn’t get swapped heads either to a consignment shop or goodwill.
Katie,
So sorry I haven’t chimed in regularly but I just wanted to give you a shout and say I love your blog.
You’ve had me since that heart warming post about chopping off Will’s ponytail.
Kasey
I’m pretty sure I’d have a lot more clothes if I had a closet that big, but I don’t, so I have to play the haven’t-worn-it-in-a-while game and get rid of things if they’re just taking up space. I usually try to get rid of at least one clothing item every time I get something new. It doesn’t always work, but then I’ll go on a cleaning spree and clean out a huge pile of stuff, so I guess it evens out! Here’s a post on my closet I did a while back: http://www.lovely-nest.com/blog/2010/9/10/an-organized-closet.html
Also, I don’t comment a lot, but love reading your blog! I’m trying to make a better effort to leave comments on blogs, but sometimes life just gets in the way! Just want to encourage you that I look forward to reading your posts!
First off, I stopped following the blogs with the popular girls. Their posts on cool launch parties in NYC with fancy dresses got annoying. But your blog- it’s great. Keep up the awesome posts.
And second, I’d die for that closet space. I share a smaller closet than that with my Husband and soon-to-be Baby Girl. It does require me to purge a lot!! I just so wish I had enough room to line up my shoes like that!!
OMG, I’m bad at getting rid of clothes as well. You know who isn’t bad at it? My mom and she makes me do it a couple of times a year. It sucks. So while you’ve gotten a lot of great advice on how to get rid of your stuff I say keep hoarding you sexy hoarder!
Oh, and with your Genious Pinterest Challenge idea, you gave me a reason to start blogging. So thank you. Thank you HUGE. So day, if I ever make it as big as you, I’ll owe you big time.
When are you going to cut your hair!? Im so excited to see that. Im going to wait a few more months before its really long enough to donate.
Thank you so much for this post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a new follower and I LOVE your blog because it is so REAL!!!!!! I love that you are honest about stuff. Thanks for being you.
I am also a clothes hoarder. I have stuff in my closet that dated 10 years. I though i was the only one that hang on to clothes.
This is horrible, but I get emotionally attached to clothes in an unhealthy way. For example, I can’t get rid of anything my mom has ever given me because I’m afraid someday she’ll be gone and I’ll wish I had never donated that plain white button-up she gave me for Christmas 2001. So yes, I do still have a cardigan from KINDERGARTEN in my closet, thankyouverymuch.
Seriously. This post makes me so happy/jealous. I don’t know why closet crashing is like porn, but it is! Thanks for sharing, you know all us ladies are curious what we’ve got in our closets…
I love your blog! I love you when I read it I feel like we are real life friends and you are so genuine! I think that bets press roll any day because you know how it is with any press, you are in one day and out another…having readers who love you will stick.
Also, I love you when you reply to comments you are nice and not short, which is can come off stuck up in my experiences with commenting on other blogs.
Keep it up, girl! 🙂
I never comment on blogs, but I just wanted to say from one weird, bacon-loving, geeky girl to another that I might have gotten here through YHL but I’m staying because of how awesome you are. Tru dat.
You may not feel it but you are popular, At least to me. I have you at the top of my blog list. I try to look at your blog everyday. Sometimes if I don’t have a lot of time because the baby needs me, I only look at yours and sherry’s. I actually mentioned you two last week in a post. Love all your posts, diy, your little guy, life etc. Your fun to read and I love your sense of humor!
Katie,
I suppose you could call me a blogger, since I do have a blog. I enjoy it though it’s certainly nothing like yours. I actually very rarely comment for fear someone might somehow stumble upon and read my blog. ( However, when I read your post today I felt I needed to comment. To me YOU are one of the popular girls. I would be the dorky girl you might see at a school dance all by herself leaning against the wall wearing braces, ugly glasses and twirling her braids. I do hear where you’re coming from though. It would be safe to say I’m a bit “socially retarded”.
I truly enjoy your blog. I actually much prefer it over some of the more “popular” blogs. There is a genuineness to you that’s very refreshing. They like you Katie Bower, they really like you. (I’m a chunk older than you so not sure if you get the Sally Field reference).
Thank you for being you.
My closet is about half the size of yours, but only has one very small hanging rack. (The rest is just open space with no shelving or storage racks.) Where would be the best and cheapest place to go to purchase some closet organizing decor?? And can someone like me (with zero DYI experience) easily install them myself?? Help!
(And ditto what everyone else is saying…your blog is the first one I go to each day. Love it, love you!)
I read you everyday! I love your blog and I love the way you write. I know I can count on you to keep it real. Those are the only blogs I read. Don’t tell me how perfect you are and use only PC language or jokes, bc I get bored thinking you aren’t like me!
Um, closet perfection! I now have a nice big closet but thats about all it is. big. I put away my clothes every season, it’s an old habit, but it’s like Christmas every time! Which also means things might get worn more than if they were always an option! I have a hard time getting rid of clothes expecially my nice/good ones! I have a pair of Tods shoes and a pair of Birkenstocks, neither have been worn in a while, but I CAN’T get gid of them!!
I’m with Sarah…I have a purging problem, and usually clean out and donate twice a year (once for Spring/Summer and another time for Fall/Winter). It may sound very organized, but I ALWAYS find myself regretting throwing out something because later I have the perfect outfit for it.
And by the way, I read every day but this is my first time commenting…I adore your blog! 🙂
i love you and your blog! i like that you blog about the random daily stuff and that you’re open about a lot of things – makes you seem more approachable and relatable! i am definitely with you on laughing at inappropriate things at inappropriate times!
as for the wardrobe… slowly but surely i’ve taken over the closet in the guest room and i’m working on painting a second dresser since i’ve run out of room in two closets and a tall boy. again, i’m like you, waiting for that skinny fairy to pop by so that i can fit into that stash of “one day” clothes! maybe it’s time to do a little purge…
“If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself”… need to remind myself of this sometimes too. It’s just not worth it.
I look forward to reading your blog every day! I even check back later in the day to see if there is a bonus post. I love your closet! I do purge every season. My hubs and I share one tiny closet and we each have a bureau and that is it. We share a space that is the size of where you hang your skirts. Seriously. I an not even Exagerating.
. I love your blog, thanks so much for letting us peek into your life!
That is one big, fancy closet. I’m not jealous for the content, arrangement or size (well, maybe a little), but you don’t have to share!!! So lucky!!
PS – I found your blog before I found the blog of your famous friend.
Even if your blog was about something I didn’t care about entirely I would still read it because you are witty, caring, genuine and hilarious!!! Who wants to be the popular girl anyway? So does Jeremy have his own closet or none at all because you have so many clothes ;)?
Wow, you have a lot of clothes:) Yeah, I am one of those who goes through the closet once a year and donates the clothes that I haven’t worn in a year or 2. I give it all to Goodwill. I just don’t have the storage space to keep all my clothes. I think it’s awesome if you can keep it because the stuff you wore in 7th grade is probably back in style again:)
I love your blog! It’s my favorite!
I really thought I was the only person who could hang on to a piece of clothing, not wear it for a year or two, and then throw it right back into the rotation! I am always thinking “I am so glad I didn’t get rid of that!” AND don’t get rid of those clothes that don’t fit because I am now finished having babies and thus had no reason to not get back to my dating weight… except that now NONE of my pants fit. See??!! I should have hung on to those old jeans!
You are so funny! 🙂
Katie
I love your blog and your honesty. I feel the same way, I have tons of acquaintances, but no real close friends. I love your jokes, maybe it is the southern gal in me! Oh and bacon totally rocks! One day I will make pork wrapped in bacon. Did you know they make bacon salt?
I am assuming you are a UGA fan (I could be wrong). I am an Auburn fan, and going to Athens for my first Auburn/UGA away game! Random information, I know…
Love your closet! Glad I am not the only person that takes over multiple closets! I also rarely toss anything. Most of the time, I will clean my closet out before winter and donate items to the local goodwill or charity. I always think… I might wear this again…
Thanks again Katie for allowing us a glimpse into your awesome world!
Brittany
I think the best compliment I get applies to you too. “Seriously you were homeschooled? You don’t seem like a homeschooler. And I mean that in a good way” Haha.
As a fellow ex-homeschooler myself, I feel a bit like an outsider too. But don’t worry, that part is all in your head. You’re so likable and fun, I wish we lived close so we could be real world friends! Not just because I want to borrow your clothes.
Wow, I’m really, really jealous right now! You have a great closet, not to mention the amount of clothes…
The amount of clothes I have is quite small. 🙁 We’re still renovating our bedroom slow and steady (can you say steady if nothing really happened in the last two years? *blush*) and we have a tiny wardrobe for me and my husband and something had to give.
I also suspect that What not to wear type-of-shows, decluttering sites and other evil forces in this world have brainwashed me into thinking it was a great idea to follow the ‘fits well, 1 year worn, stained or torn’ rule only to find out I got rid of something on a bad day and now I regret it. And cry. And then go shopping.
I just remembered a bunch of stuff that I want back in my closet and am feeling a bit depressed. I hope bacon will help. 🙂
And also remember that not only Jewel copied Will’s old room but Jessica Simpson copied the baby announcement- chin up bacon lover!
I bought the Groupon for it…which actually commited me to it now. But I’m still waiting for the courage 🙂
xo – kb
I’ve been reading your blog daily for a while, and of course had to comment on this post (my first comment to you!) and say that (get ready for some lovin!), honestly, you’re one of my favorite bloggers. I literally laugh out loud during most of your posts (and then make my husband come in the room and read the hilarious part!). That video you and Sherry made for the first Pinterest challenge makes me laugh every time. I made all of my girlfriends watch it, and we quote it… embarrassingly regularly.
You obviously don’t realize it, but so many people LOVE your blog and you, and have total girl crushes on you. And yes, a lot of us found you through YHL, but those same people would kill for that kind of blog publicity. So, don’t sell yourself short! You’re hilarious, an awesome photographer and basically generally awesome.
🙂
I found such comfort in the fact that you have several white tank tops! I do too and often feel that I shouldn’t. But you just justified my need for many many white tank tops. And the need to organize by sleeve length and style! You are a girl after my own heart!
Katie, I love your blog! Your personality cracks me up, and I look forward to your posts and all the wonderful pictures of your house, projects, and your beautiful family. Plus we share a love for bacon, so you’re popular in my book!
Me too, Allison! The first blog I ever followed was Bower Power!!
I am insanely jealous of your gigantic closet! And all the space you have.
I am in Vancouver, BC, where we have insanely high real estate prices, and so have a 750sq ft condo. Where my hubby and I share a double-wide (you know, like a trailer) closet, and a long dresser. So I have to be choosy about what stays, and what comes in.
So maybe that is a good thing, or I would probably hoard clothes too. I don’t know why it is so hard to get rid of old clothes…
Woooo closet crash! love it! Your very color coordinated!
I bet Jeremys isnt as neat as yours?!
Well color me green with envy! I would lurrrve to have a closet that big! I love the shelving/drawer unit.
I was once a clothes horse. I still kind of am. There are a few giant J. Crew men’s sweaters left over from 1995 in a drawer under my bed that came in quite handy when I was pregnant. It’s definitely possible to reform. Odds are you could cut your wardrobe by half and not miss a thing, but then what in the world would you do with all that extra closet space? Secret fort for Will perhaps? 🙂
I totally have closet envy! I am also going to use this point to show my man that I am not the only one with a lot of clothes and that he needs to stop pestering me to get rid of things!
I love that you shared this! I’m totally with you on the clothes horse thing. I was just laughing a few weeks ago while cleaning out the closet that I have some shirts from high school that I still wear! And I think every time I wear them that’s the best $** dollars I spent! 😉 I want your closet too — I’m in love with the storage system you have!!
I am the same way with my clothes! I finally went through and cleaned it out and put all the clothes I don’t wear in another closet. My closet looks really bare right now! lol!
Oh my gosh that closet is NUTS! Are you kidding! It’s HUGE! That’s like the size of my kitchen! I do purge my closet at least once a season. Probably more than that. But the closets in my house are very small, think 2 feet by 3 feet small. So there just isn’t space to cling to anything 🙁
Katie bower- I think you may have posted that top part to get all of us who read your blog religiously but are to intimidated to post to post and tell you that it is a bit of a one sided blog friendship. I love your blog. I would like you to come to Colorado and take pictures for me sometime because I think your pictures are beautiful. My girlfriends and I are spread across the US and yet we still talk about “what Katie and sherry posted” when we talk. I have used pictures of your home to convince my husband that decorating ideas are good. And most importantly (while this was probably a minor post in your world) you posted a post saying that you and J fight, and then commenting about all books that you and your husband have read to help your marriage. I read that during my first year of marriage when this little Christian girl was fighting like mad with her husband and didn’t know what to do or who to talk to. And I read all the comments, and copied down all the books, and went to the library and rented them ALL. And they helped. We are still working our way through “fighting for your marriage” and it is getting better. So thank you. And you will laugh because I am tearing up in the middle of work as I type this (instead of doing my job) because I admitted that. And this may be the last you hear from me because I am still intimidated by the whole idea of commenting.
I wish all the giggles, great moods, and ‘Honey, come read this’ yells induced by you could be measured. That way your blog would be right up there with the best of the best.
You my dear are hilarious! I prefer to read your post over some said more “popular” bloggers. 🙂 Thanks for the laughs!
You may still be the quirky girl in the corner, but you have a whole bunch of us in there, laughing inappropriately at bacon jokes, with you!!!
Like tons of PP said, you ARE somebody!! Glad to read your blog!! Wondering if you read mine. 😉
#1 – You rock. I totes get your humor! And you should be proud of your accomplishments! I only hope to grow my humble blog to the extent you’ve grown yours someday (and I’m also ok if that never happens). I will always stick up for you if someone is trying to stuff you into a locker. I like to consider myself pretty scrappy when I’m called into action. Turn that frown upside down Lady! Internet Hugs!!
#2 – I’m so glad I’m not the only person that color coordinates their closet. I donate clothes to Sal’s like its my weekend job – I’m ruthless with certain items (but I still have my favorite sweatshirt from 1997) because I don’t own much that can’t be easily replaced. I tell myself if I want to buy something new, I have to get rid of something old. It works for me. Also – a few friends of mine attempted to get together for a clothing swap and it failed pretty miserably. None of us were remotely the same size, or really shared the same fashion sense. So the Salvation Army made out like a bandit that day. But that’s cool too.
Katie.Bower.
Holy cow do I want your closet?! Or at least to be your neighbor so that I could come borrow a shirt or two when needed?? Mine is so small that I can only have one season out at a time. And lemme tell ya, it’s a real buzz kill to have to climb into the attic to get down a bathing suit or tank top or something out of season.
So yes…new goal: have a closet like KB. Probably means I need a new house, but whatever.
And you are awesome…and hilarious…and gorgeous…and sweet…and popular…and clearly, all 200+ of us are elated that you even write blog posts that somewhat shout out to us 🙂
Hi Katie, I’m a loyal reader all the way from New Zealand! I started reading about a year ago and love what you do on your blog 🙂 I love clicking onto Bower Power each day to see what you guys are up to! Even though we live about a bajillion miles apart and I don’t know half the places you talk about I can totally relate to you, your renovations, your cutie pie family and your openess and honesty…and please don’t stop with the bacon jokes! I love ’em…mmm bacon. My husband actually works for a company that amongst other things produces some of the best kiwi bacon you can buy…so if you ever visit down under you’ll have to try it to see how it compares!! 😉
xo K
I just recently found you through Sherry! LOVE your blog! Your writing is great and i especially love how you are not afraid to share your love of Jesus! That is totally awesome. Also, i am soooo jealous of your closet! Very inspiring! Can’t wait til I grow up and have a house of my own with an amazing closet! 🙂
First, your blog is always the first one I check for updates. Always. Every day.
Second, my house was built in 1950. I would take half of your closet space. I am devising a plan to make an entire bedroom wall a closet, though. Promise not to tell my Jer.
Third, I probably go through my closet 2-3 times a year looking to purge stuff. It helps that I’ve recently (last year) lost a lot of weight (20+ lbs) and am making myself get rid of those clothes. No one is happy carrying an extra 20lbs around. If it’s too big, it gets tossed…unless it’s one of those “looks cute oversized” shirts. Damn those shirts. I actually just did a purge last night – only 6 shirts and 2 pairs of pants bit the dust! I plan to donate most of it but the things that are like new I’m thinking about selling on ebay.
Have a wonderful day!
Emily
You are so adorable; your website is one of the first ones I read every morning because I feel like you are almost like one of my own kids.
I agree – that was a really great post and I headed right to Amazon for some of those suggestions. It’s nice to get a realistic look into relationships and marriage because sometimes (more than sometimes, sometimes) it is SO hard and you really have to work for it.
Wow, that closet is impressive! Sometimes I’m tempted to keep clothes I don’t really wear, with the thought that I might want to wear it someday. But then I think about all of the people who are going without and could really use those clothes today, and I would rather have them put to good use than sitting in my closet, waiting for “someday.” I saw earlier in the comments that you are preparing to donate the clothes you don’t wear in a year, and I think that’s awesome. Don’t think of it as clothes you will no longer have, think of it as clothes that others will receive as a gift. (Sorry, was that too preachy? I love your blog, whether or you give away your clothes or not!)
I’m yet another reader who basically never comments, but I felt like I just had to comment on this post, because it was so heartwarming (I mean the first part, although the oversharing in the latter closet part was sweet, too).
Your blog is one of the few in my Google Reader that I actually read, because you sure know how to write, even if it’s about normal everyday stuff (and seriously, bacon jokes NEVER get old). Your blog definitely deserves more readers. 🙂
I don’t have a blog. I wish I had a blog. I’ve tried to start one several times but found that I have nothing interesting enough to say that anyone would want to read on a daily basis! I’m not funny like you (or lots of other gals out there in blog land). No funny bacon jokes here. But I LOVE your blog & it has in fact become my newest obsession, LOL. I fcame across it through YHL several weeks ago & have been faithfully reading every morning since. I don’t usually post cause I don’t feel I have anything interesting to offer & i’m kinda like the dorky girl in the corner who just watches everything from afar but is afraid to join in. I want to but I’m afraid. But today I decided to bite the bullet & just say “hi” and tell you I love your honestly, your love for your “boyfriend” and your family & I’m in total envy of your amazingly gorgeous house!! You are super sweet, gorgeous to boot, and you simply crack me up, girl!! 🙂
xoxox
Could you give the link to that post please? :0) My husband and i are going through some hard times now. One being in school not knowing how to get to their dream job and the other working full time, not seeing enough of each other with our busy schedule. We really miss eachother.
do it! do it! do it! do it!!!!!
First of all, I totally know how you feel. I was homeschooled until 4th grade.. And when I started public school it was brutal! And I mean brutal like holler money with a hand full of poop with no target but you kind brutal. So your welcome. I think a lot of people feel this way but are to shy to talk about it or it makes them unconformable ( live it to Kate to bring up an awkward/ good/ awesome/ funny conversation) . You are such a doll and I’m sure I can say this for all of the readers… WE LOVE YOU! God bless your mother who never washed that hilarious potty mouth of yours and never cease to be you. Because your what makes me smile on days were the only thing thrilling in my life is washing dishes and taking the dog for a walk. Thank you Kate.
AAAAND on a lighter know. Girl you have more close then anyone I have ever seen!!! Maybe its because I have like none, but dang! I don’t really have a get ride of system because I have so few cloths that I just ware them out until I can’t and then they are way past due for the trash. 😛 I’m totally the type to say ‘ oh I can just pack that up…. Again’. Anything that I would normally ware but doesn’t fit I give right away to goodwill. Anything that is to messed up (or ugly) to give to goodwill (because I’m a firm believer that just because you might shop of goodwill doesn’t mean you deserve my poop green short shorts 😛 ) I save for making pillows or some other craft. You’d be amazed at how different something ugly looks when you turn it into something else! Well that its girly. PS. Im super jealous of your shoe collection. I ware a size 5 so you can imagine the amount of ‘sexie’ shoes I have :(. I’d love to see you in some of them sometime .
Katie! I look forward to reading your posts every day – I’m not sure if it shows up in your stats as I use Google Reader. Anyway, you are so funny and such a talented writer. And you make up the most unusual descriptions and similes 🙂
Also, that is one impressive closet. I also have trouble getting rid of things and still wear some things from middle school and high school. I figure you may as well, as long as you still like it.
Keep up the good work entertaining and informing the masses! We appreciate it 😀
I’m not a blogger…yet, but I’ve recently been inspired by you and Sherry and am thinking about starting one. If I saw you at the store, I’d definitely say hi! I think you’re hilarious and really enjoy reading your posts. I’ve only been reading for a couple weeks, but I enjoy going through the archives and seeing all the great projects. I work full time as a web developer and I must admit after finding your blog, I haven’t gotten much work done.
As for the closet – lucky you that you don’t have to share it with your husband! Unfortunately, I think my husband has more clothes than me 🙂
I look forward to reading more from you!
Katie – you rock 🙂 and so does your closet!
Katie you have no idea how happy I am that someone else organises their closet by style then within style by colour. That’s exactly how I do it! All my friends think it’s weird but it’s so easy to find anything. We can be quirky girls in a corner together.
Katie, I just love your blog! I love how real you are! I click over everday to see what is new in your precious life. I think we definitely would be friends if you lived in Texas 🙂
Hallo Katie!
Thank you so much for your blog. I’m a reader from Germany (Black Forest) , reading your blog is so much joy and fun. It’s sometimes a little bit hard for me to translate every word, but the more I read the more I understand. Much love to a very nice and funny person somewhere far away in USA !
Elisabeth
katie bower! i’m kind of shocked at this post—you are so very lovely and fun and witty and truly an inspiration us all!! sometime today i hope you look at yourself in the mirror, smile real big and give yourself a knowing little wink. do it.
as for the closet. omg, girl! i am so envious!! before i had the boys i was a size 2 or 4 and sometimes 6. now i am a whale. i donated pretty much everything in my closet because it started to get depressing to look at—but i did save a few things hoping to one day get back into them. three years later and i know that’s not gonna happen. let me know if you want them and we can meet up for a cup. i have this super cute plaid blazer from jcrew with the tags still on that has your name written all over it!
Here is the most awesome repurposed t-shirt project I’ve ever seen:
http://justsomethingimade.com/2011/02/t-shirt-scarves-the-art-of-repurposing/
So cute, and it looks easy to make!
Love that closet, I am very jealous. I probably have just as many clothes as you but mine are scattered in 3 different closets and lots of random places throughout the house. I love your blog, brightens my day!
I’m so jealous of your closet, I can’t even begin to put my envy into words. I used to keep almost everything too — because you just never know when you might need it! — but then I married into the military and lost all sorts of closet space in the process. Now I just keep my high school clothes instead of my junior high ones 🙂
And speaking of high school, that girl who was friends with all the popular kids, who everyone knew, but who wasn’t the queen bee type? People actually liked her best of all, because she was nice to everyone and free to be herself. That’s probably why we all like you so much!
Ooohhh!
Off to scour my closet for old tshirts that I can do that with!
xo – kb
Haha…Holly you crack me up. I will take that blazer and will come to your house to pick it up! While I’m there I can check out those AMAZING ballard beds…I am GREEN over them. Oh and hey – your images are uploading right now to the online gallery – so be on the lookout for an email from me tonight. Sorry it’s taking me so long to get these to you! You’re a doll!
xo – kb
I love that you rented all the books – I don’t know why but that cracks me up. Probably because it is something I would do too 🙂
And heck yeah we fight. doesn’t everybody?!
xo – kb
I first saw your blog on Young House Love but I like yours more now! You are so sincere and your family is darling!
Jer is the neat one in this relationship and his closet is ridiculously tidy 🙂
xo – kb
Oh Katie.. You arent just a blogger who happens to have a popular friend.. You re actually the only blog I read on a regular basis and dont even *GASP* read that ridiculously popular blog (I find it repetitive and fairly predictable.. I very much enjoy the freshness and “never-knowing-what- kinda-post-or-how-many-posts” style of your blog.. No hate for other blogs just sayin)
and.. SO JEALOUS OF CLOSET. I think we should start a “closet crashing” week where everyone posts thre closet photos.. Pretty sure yours will rule.
Ditto Ditto to Heather and Genevieve. You blog was the first one I read today, and you described my high school experience very well. Although I was the athletic friend who now tells inappropiate (&dirty) jokes discretely under my breath. You make me laugh all the time. There’s also a lot of things you talk about that I can easily relate to. God has blessed you (with this closet).
Love your closet! I share a small closet with my husband and have given serious thought a couple times to kicking him out…
Hey Katie, just dropping in cause it sounds like you needed a pick me up. Just to let you know you have fans all the way down here in Australia! I look forward to your hilarious stories everyday! You really crack me up! I can’t believe your amazing closet and in fact your humungous house! We are renovating a little weatherboard house here in Melbourne and I have ZERO storage, definitley next on my to do list! Love your work! 🙂
Can I just tell you how jealous I am of your closet? I also organize my clothes by type and color…and I drive my husband nuts by organizing his the same way.
I really hope you get to pull out your maternity clothes again soon 🙂
just letting you know that you are in the top 5 of my blogs that i MUST check on a daily basis 🙂 a definite cool kid in my books (if that means anything!).
keep on keepin’ on 😉 lol
Katie, you are who I hope to be in ten years (I’m 18). I know your life isnt perfect, but I DREAM of the day that I will have a husband, and beautiful baby. Girl you have it all in my eyes.
Long time lurker, first time poster here!! Love your blog, Katie! Can’t wait to see what you do next.
Katie,
I have never written you a comment before but, I read your blog each and every day and though I found you from $herdog, I actually click over to your blog first. You may think you are not as popular, but from the above comments you should know you are not only liked but adored for your ability to laugh at yourself, your openness to share life’s ups and downs ( crossing the fingers that Flo stops visiting you!) and your inclusion of all of us that are in the www to enjoy and mourn your life with you. You are not in a clique, you have created your own.
Anyhoo, bacon jokes rock and bacon grease is even better to a southern girl transplanted to Maine!
Fret not about your color coding, I actually do that plus have different color hangers to designate short sleeve, long sleeve, ect, ect. Aaaannnnaaaalllll 🙂
You rock girl, never forget that we lurve you!
Hi Katie!
I absolutely love your blog. I have been reading it for a quite a while now and I finally made a blog of my own.
You are so funny and I just love reading your posts!
I clean out my closet A LOT and almost always give things to Good Will or try and sell them.
Which reminds me… I need to clean out my closet soon!!
Grayson
You make me smile, laugh, laugh-snort, and chuckle each and every time I read your blog. So thank you.
You make think you’re the awkward one….. but you’d fit right in with me! haha.
Keep up the great work 🙂
I check in to your site every day. Your style is great and I like that you don’t do things just because everyone else is. 🙂 (And yes, blogging is just like high school. I agree with that – although it isn’t nearly as catty!)
I am known in our circles as a minimalist – but I kind of have to be, because I am a visual person and if I didn’t go through things and purge, there would be all of this STUFF everywhere. Plus, I feel so much better when I donate and just get it out of the house – it’s like I can breathe again!
You are funny (in the great way that shows we would have been friends in high school). I love it when people over share. That’s when we really see who they are.
Clothes! I a trying to refine the clothes that I have collected over the last 4 years. The tiny twig lady did a 31 days to a no brainier wardrobe. I will paste her website below. Have a great day Katie.
Riss
http://www.thetinytwig.com/
I feel like I follow a similar hoarding style to you. I have plenty of things that maybe I don’t wear right now, but next year it could be THE YEAR! Who am I to throw that pretty sweater away just because I don’t wear it right this second. That would be a shame and a crime.
If I do get around to cleaning out the closet in some way shape or form I donate. I try to pass along to those less fortunate than me. Plus I would be awful having a garage sale, I would probably end up just giving away the stuff anyway. So really it just saves me some time.
Katie! I have never commented before but I just have to say that your brings a smile to my day. Thanks so much for letting us into your life (and your closet!). xo
Can you feel the love, Katie B? Your readers love you because you are real,witty,and someone anybody would want to be friends with.You and your blog lighten and brighten my day. That light can only be from God. So keep up the good work….. My walk-in closet is very organized, color-coordinated and the works. I am constantly getting rid of things as I find new things. We are all wired differently, for sure!
Oh the blogosphere is very high school-eske, but then I’m slowly realizing that the entire world is basically a high school hallway. Which kind of sucks because I’m not the biggest fan of high school…
And holy crap, you have a ton of clothes – plus an amazingly large closet to hold them all!
I found out about your blog through YHL, but you’ve quickly become my favorite to read. Love your sense of humor and reading about your son, since my daughter is about the same age….. and I share your love for bacon. I’ve recommended your page to many friends!
I love your blog! Please blog forever. Seriously, though, I think if I lived in GA, I would show up at your door and ask to be friends. 🙂
This is quite funny because I am in the midst of writing a closet post, with details of the storage written on the photos. It was semi-dejavu.
I love your blog and methinks you are funny… and have an adorable child… and a cute husband. Seriously, I absolutely love your house. Don’t change a thing.
Katie B – You are so precious! I found your blog from following YHL, and I check back all. the. time. to read your hilarity and cute stories! You are a celeb in your own right! I feel like I can relate to you so much (I love how you just say what’s on your mind no matter what)!
And on the topic of closets – I clean mine out all. the. time. (kind of like how often I read your cutie pants blog) I feel like I don’t have enough room in my little rented apartment for all my “shtuff,” so I am constantly cleaning out clothes and random decorations/chotchkeys/accumulated pack-rat type things (cards from great aunts in the 2nd grade? why yes! I still have them!) I have definitely been forcing myself to go by the “if you haven’t worn it in a year, throw it out” – for about 75% of my closet. But then there are these RANDOM pieces of apparel that I just CANNOT get rid of. (Example: Skirt I wore to 12th grade National Honor Society Officer induction in 2001). It’s like a disease. I just recently purged 4 garbage bags of clothes and 1 bag of accessories (to friends/goodwill/etc). IT FELT SO GOOD (after I got over the sadness)! My life feels lighter! Closets are tricky ;o)
I actually found YHL through your blog, if you can believe that! I was reading your blog for a long time before I ever read their blog. That said, I love BOTH of the blogs. You, KB are hilarious and sweet and very, very real. I regularly read your blog to my husband as well and he enjoys it very much..nuff said. 🙂
Well, just so you know – last year (or could have been year before?) I had responded to one of your posts, and you not only replied but let me know that you found it humorous enough to share it with your husband. I kinda felt ginormously special – as in, a celebrity-just-responded-to-me-on-the-interwebs! kind of special…and I shared that tidbit with MY husband 🙂 I think you’re just fabulous and funny aaaaand inspirational. I look forward to reading your blog everyday – seriously, errrrrrryday girl! So thank YOU for putting your life out there for all of us to read about. I am proud to call myself a stalker.
Love the glimpse into your closet! Right now I’m renting and my loft has a giant walk-in. In the 1.5 years I’ve been here I’ve managed to fill it right up. I’m terrified to move because I don’t think I’ll ever find a closet as big.. ha!
You have a lot of cute stuff! Where are your favorite places to clothes shop?
Katie, I love your blog… and your closet.
Blogs like yours are the reason I started mine (which is NO WHERE near as brilliant as yours!)
Thanks for all the inspiration!
I linked to your blog through YHL and look forward to both everyday! I am in awe of your creative eye and how you are able to do bring your visios to life. We also live in Georgia – NJ transplants too. I love watching your progress in your new home and am inspired! Also love stories like today’s and your son’s Halloween in your wonderful new neighborhood. Thanks for sharing your life…bless your heart 😉
Katie…your blog is my fav! I too have a little boy name Will and an offbeat sense of humor! Your blog is laugh out loud funny and creative and genuine.
Well, I love Gap, Old Navy, Canvas, J Crew & Banana outlets, TJMaxx and Target…but lately I’ve been stickin to Goodwill…they usually smell funky at first but it’s easy enough to wash 🙂
xo – kb
haha…home-lovin minds think a like 🙂
xo – kb
Gosh Kelsey – you just made me cry.
xo – kb
I love the fact that you organize your hubs clothing. That’s something I did one time…will never do again 🙁
xo – kb
Hey there,
Love your blog! Going off your t-shirt quilt idea…there is an organic USA made clothing company (green3apparel.com) in my town that takes previously loved shirts and make scarves and many other really fun things. Some of their items can be found in Sundance and Uncommon Goods. Check it out for some inspiration!
I think your bacon jokes are funny.
I think you need to crash the boyfriend’s closet for us!
I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of years, and I think I may have only commented once…which is really weird b/c you know when you read someone’s posts and you know you could be friends? Yeah, that’s how I feel when I read your blog and your hilarious celebrity references. Creepy? Maybe. What’s even creepier is that when we made our annual trip to Corn Dawgs I was hoping we’d see you. I don’t know what I would’ve done if we actually had seen you, though… 🙂 I think the other reason I feel like we could be friends is b/c I’m from your neck of the woods…and, obviously being from the same place automatically guarantees friendship, right?
Anyway, now that I’ve effectively been Creepy McCreeperton, I just wanted to say that I’m glad someone else organizes their shirts by style and then by color. I do it that way, and my mom thinks it’s insane!
Praying for a bun in your oven…I know how hard it is to try. and try. and try.
Wow girl – you have a lot of clothes! A few of my friends and I have started “swapping” every now and again instead of spending money shopping. Wish you were closer (and that we knew each other) because you have some cute stuff in there!
And….a belated THANK YOU for your photography pricing advice. We have started a successful little business with some of your advice. Thanks!
Hi Katie. I am one of those annoying people who reads your blog religiously but never comments. But i just had to get over the “shyness” today and let you know that your blog reaches further then you even know! I read your blog every day, all the way from Australia, where i have lived for the past 12 years. For me, your blog is a little slice of “home” (I grew up in America) that i enjoy and savour every day. I can relate to your self consciousness, but please know that you’re a lot more “popular” then you think. As a mom of two kiddies under the age of 3, juggling mommyhood, wifehood, and trying to fit in a smidge of “me time” is something that i am really working on at the moment. On the days when i can get both the kids to have a nap at the same time, sit down for 5 minutes with a cup of tea, and read your blog, then i know all will be right for the rest of the day in our little world! Thanks for putting so much of yourself into this blog, and for creating a place where i can stop and “refuel” each day. Oh and PS…if you’re every in the Sydney area, I’d like to book you in for a family photo shoot. HA!
katie, i just love you. i also love your closet and all your “disorganization”. ah, good stuff. i’m waiting for that skinny fairy to come visit me someday too (sooner than later would be great!) anyhoo, i’ve been thinking of you and your love of clothes and wondering when and if you’re going to give us a list of all your fall (and now, winter) faves…i always love your picks! i also loved your outfit post a week ago (maybe longer?)….i could handle more of those! 🙂 but, really, just do your thing. your blog is one of my faves (first one i check!) and i love everything about it!
Love that you have short shorts and long shorts because I totally have both also!!!
Having an insane rabid drool like reaction to that closet as mine is tiny – as in YHL’s Sherry would have trouble with her 1 bra fitting in it.
I did find your blog through YHL but I keep coming back because I like it – esp. for it’s inappropriate comments 😉 Keep blogging – cause you rock – just as you are!
I’m right there with you on not wanting to get rid of something just because I haven’t worn it in a year. I cracked up at “Tomorrow might be it’s lucky day” because that’s generally how I think whenever I get the urge to try and clean stuff out. I have jeans hanging in my closet with big ol’ holes in them but I can’t bear to toss them because they were my favorites at some point in time. I’m glad you posted this…it’s nice to hear from someone else who thinks like me. 🙂 Now if only I had a closet as big as yours…my stuff is CRAMMED into my little bitty one!
Dude… was that seriously a Pittsburgh Steeler hat in your bottom drawer? You just moved up in my book as the coolest chick in school. Style, Bacon & Sports Savvy. Yeahhhhhh.
Katie, you may not have gone to high school. But you are definitely one of the cool kids in this crazy place that is the blogosphere 🙂
I am in awe of how many clothes you have and how many gorgeous colors there are in your wardrobe!!
Hi Katie!
…I’ve only been blogging for just over 2 months….and loving it! I’ve been following SO many talented people (you included 🙂 )…I decided it was time for me to start up my own space 🙂 I find that the internet world is kinda like high school.
I went to high school…and you’d definitely be the funny one..that everyone loves being around and has friends in different groups- for sure! Your bacon stories crap me up…your sense of humour is SO refreshing!!!! I love your blog and the way you write…just everything.
…onto you closet: you got an AWESOME space for all those clothes!…I thought I had alot of clothes. It’s a hard one: giving/selling clothes. I tend to keep things for a REALLY long time….after that: I’ll bundle them all up and give them to close Friends. problem is: I’ll see them wearing it…and I wish I still had that article of clothing lol 🙂 …but giving things away when I buy new things is a good thing I guess 🙂
Great post, as always.
Loyal reader and bacon lover as well,
Melissa.
Totally agree with you on the blogging is like high school thing! I think Twitter magnifies the popularity contest too. And I used to have a wardrobe a little like yours until we moved to Dublin where we have zero closets! Makes shopping way more difficult when you can’t save things for years!
oh.my. When I first saw your comment, I read, “insane rabbi drool like reaction” and I was all, ??? It’s obviously way past my bedtime.
Oh, Katie Bower, after reading every.last.one of these 300 million comments, I am just coming here to say that I read your blog all the time, and this is the first time I have ever commente… Oh, wait.
OK, I comment all the time, and I worry that you get tired of us repeat offenders. But I am totally that person who can’t keep her mouth shut when she has something to say (the kind who walks up to someone and is all, “I just had to tell you I like your jacket!” whether they think I am a freak or not). It just comes out. So when something comes to mind when I am reading your blog, my fingers can’t avoid the “Submit Comment” button. It’s a disease.
Katie,
I love reading your blog. You’re fabulous and funny.
As for the closet – so jealous! I split my normal size closet with my boyfriend. It’s tight. Only out of space constraint I had to donate a bunch of cloths to Goodwill. I usually do a a clean out once a year, but it’s seriously hard and can cause anxiety. If my closet was as big as yours, I am sure I wouldn’t ever get rid of anything.
Nice work – so organized!
Thanks for sharing.
Kimberly
I just recently found your blog through YHL and I’m really enjoying it!
… It also makes me feel much better to see I’m not the only person in the world that organises my clothes by style and colour (and in the same order)… Maybe my husband won’t roll his eyes at me anymore if I show him this post… 😛
I came to visit your blog after seeing the funny video on YoungHouseLove and i keep coming back!
Just 2 weeks ago i started to create my own walk in closet. Well it’s more like you had in your old house, a dressing room. Also have the Ikea closets and they definitely works like a charm. O and just like you i find it hard to get rid of my old cloths, yep also because of the what if!
Have a great day, love from the Netherlands.
I love your blog & have you on my blog roll. Wow love that closet!! I can’t believe how much clothing you have. Wow! I have 2% of that. Ha! One day I’ll have more. You are funny. I love reading your posts!
Katie — your blog is such a gem and I love reading it. It is in my list of faves on my blog, and I almost never miss a post. I will make sure to say hi when I come by. As a relatively newbie blogger I know the “is anyone reading this?” feeling. Anyway, if you ever wander my way, check out your name in my blog list and say hi 🙂
This was a great post.
Oh, and the closet? Very Carrie. Love!
Ha – I think you would have a heart attack if you saw my closet! My boyfriend and I share a 400 square foot apartment (with out cat), and it has … one tiny closet … for the entire apartment (clothes – his and mine, shoes, towels, extra sheets, luggage, light bulbs, and the list goes on). And he takes up more of the closet than I do, although my stuff is creeping closer toward his lately. So, yeah, I weed through it A LOT! Oh, to have a big closet one day…
I feel ya on the internet/high school thing. It doesn’t so much bother me, but I do wonder how some break through to the “popular crowd.” Maybe you could tell me, because, girlie, you definitely have made it! 😉
Interesting world, this blog world. I love it, even if I am in the dorky crowd!
So now I feel like going to get a bagillion hangers to hang up my tanks… Love that idea! And I feel that the bloggy world can be a little bit like that. I have been blogging 14 months. Not having one clue what a blog was before I started ( technically before I watched Julie and Julia … Love that movie) anywho, I do think one really cool thing about the blogging community is that we are all collectively those girls who constantly say ” oh I so can do that myself” and we actually do it. My friends outside of blogs don’t think like me about projects and I think that is where I tend to feel a bit more alone. I must say the older I get the more I realize that the goal with my blog is to just share things that I think may help someone else weather it’s a recipe, project, decorating tip or something personal. I hope it touches someone somewhere:) ps: I’ll totally hang out and talk bacon anytime— I’m from Kentucky it’s what we do. Well, that and bourbon:)
Thanks for the Thursday closet inspiration. Just what I needed as I am planning my new closet!!
I totally struggle to throw things out too, you just never know when you’re going to need them.
This is kind of funny to me because in my eye’s you ARE one of the popular girls! I have a blog, which is mostly for family purposes and I currently have 36 followers. I know at least 25 of them. I do kind of hope that one day I might actually make friends online that will turn into IRL friends, but I’m not sure that will actually happen. I try to comment on other’s blogs and then feel a little hurt when there is no response (not that you need to respond to this!). I guess I’m just silly and sensitive like that. It’s not something I would usually share… but since you were “oversharing”, I might as well too!
Oh, and that closet? Whoa. I don’t think I could handle that many clothes. How long does it take you to pick out an outfit? I tend to buy cheap clothes and therefore things don’t usually last too long. That, or I just wear the heck out of it until it is falling apart. My clothes are mostly work clothes, but I try to buy things that I can wear at work and also casually. It definitely helps keep the costs down. I currently NEED jeans. I have three pairs right now, which would be enough since I only wear them on the weekends, but they need to be replaced. Mama has outgrown the low-rise jeans and can’t stand to constantly be worrying about exposing her crackalacka or underoos!
Wow, can I raid your closet?
I’ve found that having less clothes simplifies things for me, it’s so much easier to decide what to wear. Though I do wish I had more clothes that fit right now (I had a baby almost 9 months ago, his name is Will also!).
I’ve so thought about a t-shirt quilt! I saw a scarf made of t-shirts on pinterest. I also thought of framing some, weird? Maybe not to you 🙂 I’ve gotten rid of a lot of things over the years, but for some reason I have a sentimental attachment to t-shirts that I’ve had since high school.
You have a lot of clothes! I tend to weed once a year…mostly because my closet is MUCH smaller than your’s! But I might have that many clothes if I had that size closet all to myself! I take gently used items to a nice consignment shop. I can usually get more for my clothes there than I can selling them at a garage sale.
I started the backward hanger thing in January and said that I’m going to get rid of stuff in December that are still backwards. I keep going to the backwards stuff first so I can make all the hangers organized again and I just don’t like the stuff that’s backward. I guess it’s a sign…
1. Jealous. I can’t see any of my clothes because, well, stupid 1960s small house.
2. I am all smiles at the color-coding!!!!!!!!! You. Rock.
I never tire of you Lori 🙂
xo – kb
Ya know, trends come and go, bloggers come and go, but you stay true to yourself, which I appreciate. Love the closet, love the post, and I don’t think you’d ever become some clique-ish blogger that doesn’t bother with the little people any more.
You’re Teh Awesome!
I am a long time lurker and first time commenter. Reading your post made me realise it’s not really fair to read and enjoy the stuff you write and give nothing in return!
I love the stuff you do and think your sense of humour is fab – i am sure you would be one of the ‘popular’ ones if blogging were a high school. (We don’t have quite the same segregation into groups in schools in England…..well not where i went anyway!)
Keep up the posting!
I love your blog. I check in more often than you post because I LOVE your humor, your photos, your creativity and style, and I really appreciate that you share your life with us. I (like so many) found you through your bff’s blog, and I’m so glad I did. Yours became the third blog that I bookmarked and continues to be a daily read…and an inspiration. My new blog goes live tomorrow, so I hope you check it it…even if it’s about 1% of the amount I check out yours!
And, whoa clothes horse. But, I love it! If I had the space, I’d never get rid of a stitch of clothes…and you’re lucky to have that beautifully organized space to do just that! Good job girl!
Keep up the bacon jokes too. =)
Katie — I believe you way underestimate yourself. I love you and your blog. You’re hilarious and I can’t imagine someone NOT wanting to be friends with you. As I’ve said to my hubby on plenty of occassions after reading your blog “I love me some Katie Bower”. He, of course, doesn’t have a clue what I’m talking about. And I’m sure he thinks it’s weird, but it is what it is. Have a good one!
Girl, whose lies you been listening to? 🙂 You are smart and cute and funny and I read your blog regularly and wish I was so clever! Love your closet and thinking I need some of those Ikea thingies for my closet. (By the way, I homeschooled both my kids.)
I’m relatively new to your blog. I started reading (and catching up) when I got a text from a friend that said “you won’t believe what KB wrote about on her blog today”. That’s right, the discipline post – props to you again for talking about it. Anyway, I love how honest and open you are!
We have a great closet in our house (our floor plan – http://thisdiylife.wordpress.com/tour-from-the-beginning/) that is waiting for us to build Ana’s master closet system. We’re pretty sure that our closet was meant to be a nursery. We’re still hoping that we’ll get to use it for that one day. We’ve been hoping for 6 1/2 years that we will need a nursery…that’s heartbreak 78 times…you know, if we were keeping track. I figure as soon as we truly accept that the closet is going to be a closet, we’ll end up needing it for a nursery, right? That’s how it works? I know that there is a reason for everything and that God has a reason for taking us through this journey, I just wish He’d let us in on the secret. Praying you get your happy month soon!
Your honesty, kind heart and sense of humor is great! LOVE reading your blog girl!
Ok two quick things…1) Love the closet tour. My mom would always include closets when she welcomed someone to our home for the first time and gave them a tour. No idea why, but she did. 2) What’s with the hangers in opposite directions? On the left, the hooks face out and on the right, hooks face in? (Hangers are debated in my house so I’m just wondering your preference.)
Seriously? You’re awesome & dont you forget it! Ok, I’ve got a question about the closet. Why are some of your hangers on backwards on one wall & not the other??? Also, I do color coordinate my clothes too. But I use the Roy G. Biv method. LOL. I also seperate them by season. Cold Weather closthes vs. Warm Weather clothes, even my shoes join in with their same colored friends. ps. I color coordinate my skivvies too. shhh…..
i’d love to have you over! c’mon!!
aaaaaand—i am so excited about the pictures!! i knew there’d be plenty of cute ones of the boys, but trying to get all four of us? and you did it! you actually got frame-worthy pictures of our whole family!! i can’t decide which is my favorite. it’s either the one where max has the broken lolly and i’m about to throw the leaves or the one where tripper is looking at a laughing max and alex is hugging my neck so tight my head is about to pop off!
thank you! thank you! i can’t wait to get prints!!!
Katie, you have 345 responses. I have like an average of .000001 per post. I think you’re at least WAY more popular than I am! haha
As for the closet sorting organizing, can I just say *drool* – your organization is like my DREAM. I’m moving to a new apartment in 9 days with a walk-in closet and have every hope of turning it into Carrie’s. It WILL HAPPEN. You’ve motivated me. In general, I move every couple of years from apartment to apartment and so I tend to go through all my clothes then and have a “Really, Nicole? When are you EVER going to wear that again?” rule. But I’ll be the first to admit that I secretly manage to toss in a few costumes and such. I mean hey – you never know when someone’s going to throw an impromptu Hawaiian party or a Mardi Gras (beads absolutely necessary) party.
I did read once on some organization website (yes… I stooped that low to seek self-help on the internet) that if you turn all of your hangers in your closet backwards and after wearing an item, turn the the right way, you can easily see at the end of a season what was never worn and make the decision to give it away.
Im sooo jealous, your wardrobe is bigger than my house!! (UK terraced house) Teeny weeny
Only just discovered your blog this week, lovin catchin up on your posts
xxx
love your blog. in high school cafeteria terms, you would totally be the girl cracking jokes and making people laugh so hard that milk snorts out their nose (okay, that was weird to type, but you get the idea).
i like your twisted (in a good way) sense of humor. your blog was great before, but i think it has gotten even better since you became a mommy and a photographer. i really like your writing style and especially the posts where you picture dump interspersed with a few funny comments. you really know how to capture those random moments that make like special.
keep being yourself!
What a very nice, well-written, moving start to this post! I don’t comment much, but I come here most days to be amused by you and your personality. I honestly don’t at all come here for the content (okay, maybe for the posts about your little boy — I have a nephew who is the greatest 4-month-old that ever lived — want to see pictures?!), but I do read this blog for your enthusiasm and weenie jokes.
I like you very much, Katie Bower!
Katie,
I meant to write this yesterday but work got crazy!
You are the most popular girl to me….I look forward to your blog the most every day! I also check a lot of your blogger friends too, but you are always the first one I check after my email. I mean you are even before Facebook, so you are kind of a big deal! 🙂 I love your blog most because of you. You are just like me, my sisters, and my gal pals. We know when to lock it up…but we are always down for a good dirty joke/innuendo. wink wink You would fit right in with an extra side of funny! Your blog charms me and inspires me at the same time. I’m hoping if I read it enough, I’ll be able to come out at a party with a classic Katie joke like “I shook like a Jew at the sight of Mel Gibson.” Awesomeness.
Just know that for a lot of us…you are the leader of the pack and we love you!
xo C
K-girl,
Here’s to my kinda gal – the gal who sees a double entendre’ in every “snort” hot dog. As the mother of three boys (yeah, that’s right 3!!! but now one is off to college, so i’m at the other end) , I gotta say that living with fellas all around changes you. Sure, every once in awhile you get snuggles, but little girls are rarely as fierce, as energetic, as ready to throw things at you!
It posted before I was done!!! Here’s what I wish I knew at your stage. Hold on to your closet and your girly self tight – you will need it. We do all admire you, and I recall the toddler stage as being some of the most isolating (though rewarding) years, so I’m thrilled to see mom’s blogging. Working mom’s in particular juggle more, and I’m so glad you are keeping your photography going. When I got out of grad school, a girlfriend and I who had gone while we had babies /toddlers looked at each other when we saw the job choices and said “you can have it all, but you can’t have it all at the same time” Only now do I have the boffo career and thank goodness. I’m thrilled that you young ‘uns have made it for yourself during this time of heavy lifting. Don’t be in a rush for that second baby, girl. Your next little angel (girl or boy) will find you in good time, and then life will increase its pace exponentially.
Katie:
Your blog rocks! I read it almost every day to keep in mind that other people like me exist. Except for the bacon part, we’re pretty similar. It’s hard to tell your friends/family your making something crafty AGAIN, redoing something to make it a better version AGAIN, knocking out a wall, painting, trying, organizing AGAIN! and not have them think you have lost your mind. I hear it a lot and think, well this other chick does it too! I love this post since I am a closet crasher (now I have a name for my disease, thanks) I purge every few months and am invited by friends and family to go into their closets (or attics/dens/basements) and weed it all out to give them some breathing room and it not take them a year. I also do this uninvited to my husband, son and parents…yikes!
Being the really popular girl isn’t so cool anyway. You have way to many obligations, not enough time for your life, people always expect you to be dressed (!) and everyone wants a piece of you. No thanks. You have an awesome approach to things, an amazing home and great style. Don’t change what you’re doing one bit.
Thanks for the ideas, laughs and affirmation that being yourself is perfect. If you are ever in the Philadelphia area you are welcome to crash some closets with me.
I love your blog! I try and stop by every other day. You’re definitely in with the popular crowd!
I’m the opposite with my closet though. I try and clean it out and get rid of clothes (ie donate) every other month. That way it gives me an excuse to go shoppping and fill it up again. 🙂
Holy cow you have a lot of clothes!
Please keep eating bacon, it keeps pig farmers (ie. me) in business!
You have a lot of clothes! It wasn’t until we moved into a townhouse with itty bitty closets that I was forced to downsize my wardrobe. Even then, I took over two of those closets. Now, I find it refreshing to go through the clothing in spring and winter and purge anything I know I am not really going to wear.
All that being said, your closet organization looks great! Mine is still in progress so I am way jealous 🙂
You’re totally one of the cool kids in my eyes! And not only are cool, funny, creative, down-to-earth, and a great blogger but super nice too! You answered a question I had the other day about blogging, and you got back to me that same day. It made my day – a celebrity blogger wrote me back! Shine on, KB!
I’ve heard that some people turn all their hangers the “wrong” way at the begining of the year and as they wear something, they turn the hanger the “right” way. If at that time the following year the hanger is still backyards, then the items get donated. That’s what I assumed until Katie admitted she won’t get rid of anything. I don’t blame her. If I had that much space, I would have zero motivation to get rid of anything.
BTW Katie, you must watch My So-Called Life! I feel like that was the only show to ever get it right as to what high school was really like!
I was wondering the same thing! Here’s hoping she’ll shed some light on that.
Katie, I love your blog. I may not comment a lot, but I check your blog everyday and love to see pictures of your adorable family. Keep up the good work!
Holly cow your closet is huge! I live in an old house and have to ‘season’ my closet. But that’s kind of fun because it’s like shopping twice a year for free.
FYI…I love your blog and think you are the coolest blogger I know/read! I would totally drive out to the boonies to hang out with you. Which says a lot because I never go OTP. Also just so you know, you will also be our go to photographer now and for forever, my husband is still raving about the pictures.
I think you are AWESOME! I just started reading your blog and I am hooked– you are honest and sincere in your posts and your home is beautiful– seriously, very inspiring! Also, I love your sense of humor and your writing style!
So glad to know that even a “mega-blogger” like you can feel insecure in the blog world like it’s high school all over again. Cuz that’s totally me. I just have to{practically daily} remind myself that I blog b/c I LOVE design and everything about it and if no one reads my blog, at least I enjoyed writing it…after all the Bible says not to let “man’s empty praise” be our motivation. Love your blog, Katie!
Miss Katie Bower,
Count your blessings (and maybe your shoes)! My husband and I share a closet maybe the size of ONE of your armoires. Unfortunately, I couldn’t raid the other closets with my clothes so we , scratch that, I had to pair down. Andrew is a chef so he only wears street clothes maybe two days a week, so his wardrobe is significantly smaller than mine.
This must be another one of those ways you and Sherry differ, huh.
Oh, but she has a bigger closet now doesn’t she.
I feel ya on your opening comments. I have to remind myself that I’m blogging about my projects because I just like doing them and sharing (and maybe oversharing 🙂 ).
I do not have a big closet, but I had to redo it. We have some of those wire shelves because they were cheap, but having had them in rentals before, I was hesitant because they leave lines on the clothes on the bottom of the stack. But Lowe’s had cedar planks to line closets. They were not expensive at all and for less than one box, I covered all the wire! It’s been great. We also put a wood trim on the front. You can look at here: http://domesticatednomad.blogspot.com/2011/07/closet.html
It was just such an easy, affordable fix for our closet that I wanted to share. 🙂
totally related with this post. i have a TON of clothes and i have a hard time getting rid of stuff as well– i may put something on one day and hate it and then six months later, i put it on and love it again! you just never know, right? i also have my clothes organized by style and color. it’s so much easier to find what you want! i’ve tried to convert my husband (organizing his whole side of the closet that way) but he just can’t put it all back where it goes! some people just don’t get it! 🙂
i have a very small blog but i have a couple friends who are what i would call “super-bloggers,” like my girl Erin at suttongrace.blogspot.com. i have to remind myself that my blog is really for ME– i started it since i’m NOT a scrapbooker and i didn’t want to forget all the moments that make up my life. if anybody else gets enjoyment out of it, that’s just the icing on the cake! keep on doing what you’re doing– your blog is real and funny and perfect.
er, i meant that make LIFE special.
Ladies, to Sherry’s defense, I only own one bra too. I think this is more common than we think it is. Unfortunately mine sqeeks everytime I move! And Katie I too have clothes from 7th grade and like 10 jeans that don’t fit because sometimes I get this wild hair to try them and and see if the seams magically were taken out. Negative. Nothing wrong with hanging on to stuff, although it would be fun to sell some clothes and then go on a new shopping spree or something rather.
Seriously, you crack me up. You and Sherry are like peanut butter and jelly. If I read one I can’t not read the other. So hence my daily routine during second nap time is to cozy up on the couch and see what you two are up to. Sidenote: fun fact of the day, KB homeschooled?? Would have never thought. Thanks for letting me stalk you daily. (in a non-weird, creep way)
Hey, K — I’m actually really grateful that you put up this particular post right now, because I’m having a crisis of confidence about my blogging & I’d love to pick your brain a little.
(Sherry & John have been surprisingly responsive & supportive with all of the blogging questions I’ve asked them, but really, they’re in a TOTALLY different league than I am, so while I’d appreciate their input, I don’t know if it would really apply to my sitch, ya know? Frankly, you’re out of my league too, but I’m gonna ask anyway because you seem genuinely nice & I have no shame. Heh, heh.)
So here it is: I’ve been blogging for about 5 months. My blog is similar in concept to YHL, except that it focuses on what renters can do in terms of improving their properties, since renters simply aren’t allowed to do much of what you see on home improvement blogs/TV shows. I’ve been a renter all my adult life & a DIYer for much longer, so I feel relatively confident about the advice I give & my readers seem to honestly like what I post.
My problem is that we’re… well, poor. When I started the blog, I had hoped to do it as a sideline project that would eventually generate a little revenue through sidebar ads.
(I’m technically a journalist, but in the past 3 years, I’ve lost every writing job I’ve found to “restructuring.” There’s just no work out there for writers — I lost my last-ditch job just this week.)
I’d love to keep doing the blog, but the investment of time/money is making me nervous without a steady income to rely upon. At this point, I only have about 30 regular followers & I get about 100 views per post, total … usually over the course of 2-3 days. I get practically no comments, either, so I don’t know how many of those are intentional visits versus just accidentally-stumble-onto-it-and-never-come-back browser searches.
How long did it take/how many followers did you have before you were able to sell ad space on your blog? How much $$ (ballpark) does your advertising bring in per month? Any tips on how to find/approach/lure advertisers?
Unfortunately, I just can’t justify pouring so much time & money into something that isn’t likely to pay off… (and of course I know that you can’t promise me success!) but before I give up entirely, I figured I’d ask someone who’s made it work.
Any advice you could offer would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Amy 🙂
Wow your closet is amazing!! I wish I had half the space to store all my clothes & Shoes. LOVE reading your blog.
That closet is amazing! And the sheer volume of clothes makes me excited. Do you feel like you’re getting dressed in a department store? My closet is more like how you said yours used to look….2 foot tall mound of clothes. I have to climb into my closet 🙂
and you are WAY more popular than you think.
I organize my tops the same way! Except my closet isn’t quite as long so I have from non-sleeve to sweaters on one side of the closet, light cardigan to thick cardigan/light jacket on another, and then dresses from summer to winter then dressy on the third. The hubs thinks I’m crazy. I think it makes things easier to find. 🙂
I own 2 bras… and they both squeak haha…
I am one of millions to say this, but dang–you have one amazing closet! I was weak in the knees when i saw your built in drawers and the belt organizer.
I just got upgraded to my own closet since we moved into our new house and it delights me to be able to see all of my clothes. I still wear my Express pants from highschool, which definitely demonstrates my inability to let go. Now that I have more space, I am even more reluctant to get rid of things. Everything eventually comes back in style…right?
https://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2011/01/maahwidge-weeds/
Here it is, Maggie. I remember the “Helpmeet” book so I was able to search pretty easily. That wasn’t the book for me, but some of the other ones were good!
Good luck to you and your hubs!
Katie!! You’re way more popular than you think, and you aren’t the only one who thinks bacon jokes are the bomb!!!!
Keep praying for another bub – it will happen when God is ready! I prayed for months and thought I’d never have a baby… Then I got pregnant… WITH TWINS!!! Be careful what you wishs for! 😉
Love your closet. It’s WAY more filled with clothes than mine – and by coincidence I posted my closet last week on my blog, if you want to compare. 🙂
Katie, you are hilarious and adorable. I read your blog regularly (but have never commented before), and I enjoy it purely because you are quirky and have a dirty mind and love bacon as much as I do. Keep being yourself, cause that’s why we’re all here. The house is nice, and you and your family do make for pretty pictures, but really, it’s because you’re a great writer who touches a chord within many of your readers, so just keep being you. If I’d known you were coming to DC, I’d have invited y’all over for some bacon pancakes 🙂
Also, girl, you have a lot of clothes!
I remember when my closet used to look like that! Now I’m compact into a regular sized wall closed (thankfully the hubby has a matching one of his own). I used to keep allllll clothes too with the same rationale that you’ll never know when you’ll wear it again! Finally, somehow, I started getting rid of things. I threw out shoes that I knew I couldn’t comfortably wear for a whole day, or that had started to wear out. I started to get rid of things that weren’t my favorite – or that I was waiting to fit into again. And slowly, garbage bag by garbage bag I got rid of probably 70% of my hoarded shoes and clothes! I let my friends go through it and grab whatever they wanted (which made me feel less bad about getting rid of it) and then donated the rest. The best part – was that there was more room for some new peices! Good luck!! And I’m super jealous of how much space you have – but girrrrl you need a shoe rack!
Because I read your blog daily – even if I don’t always comment – I feel like I can say this to you – Girl, please with the I’m not popular business. You’re like the homecoming queen for crying out loud! Seriously- who doesn’t like a bacon joke?! Really are there actual people that don’t? Because that is concerning! 😉 Love your blog – if I ever saw you on the street I’d probably ask for your autograph – don’t be scared – I live in Kentucky- also don’t be scared – I’m not from Kentucky – I’m from California – again – don’t be scared. Apparently the dash is the new period?!
Seriously though – your blog is great and so are you!
Your closet is ridic- mine is tiny and I have to share with the hubs- which sucks because I’m an only child and I don’t like sharing anything ever! 😉
I am so jealous of those red, pointy, stiletto heals of yours. I bet you rock them… now I have to see if I do too. Go girls!
Whoa. I would take twins in a heartbeat 🙂 I prayed once that I would have two twin girls…but I don’t know if Jer could handle that much estrogen 🙂
xo – kb
Well, this is tough because I am definitely not the norm. I didn’t advertise until after I had been blogging for over two years – so there was already my small group of steady readers and a definite voice and a commitment to keep going. I always say – don’t blog unless it’s just for you…not for readers, not for money, not for anything else. So it isn’t really fair to compare a relatively new site like yours to one that’s been around a little while longer. I don’t know how to find or lure advertisers – I just put the info out there for them….and then wait for them like everyone else. I wish I could be more helpful!
xo – kb
I have the solution to your closet non-problem. A clothes swap.
I live in Seattle and since we are all “reduce, reuse, recycle” over on this coast, my friends and I meet up and swap our stuff, drink wine and eat cheese every few months.
It makes it so much easier to give up things you are on the fence about because 1. If you wake up weeks later pining away for your old faded jeans, you can call your friend and beg for them back 2. You get so many cool new items, that you forget all about the oldie-but-goodies you gave away 3. When I see one of my old items turned into a new item on one of my friends, it makes me feel happy that it found a new home and a new (second) life.
So there you go. Call your real life friends, blog friends, or heck- call that guy who give you would from his wood pile and see if they want to come over and swap.
Recently, we have expanded into housewares, books, jewelry… lets be honest, the only thing we don’t swap is underwear and husbands.
I’m actually writing to you while wearing a new-to-me JCrew plaid shirt I got LAST NIGHT at our swap.
I’m telling you. It’s almost as good as bacon. Actually, it would be better if you incorporated bacon into your swap treats.
Love your bacon, love your crafts, love your pining away to be preggers (me too).
Another one I like is “How we Love” by Milan & Kay Yerkovich. I got the one with workbook included – long but worth it. About marriage primarily, but applicable to a lot of relationships in life, not just marriage.
I rarely get rid of clothes like you. I finally got rid of my last middle school t-shirt a few months ago. I have been more honest with myself about never being able to fit into a size 2 again, so some of friends and family have benefitted from my realization and resulting purge. I am so incredibly jealous of your closet.
Actually, that was a big help. I started blogging as a way to keep me motivated to work on the house, not as a money-making endeavor, so I really should keep looking at it from that perspective.
I guess since I started writing professionally, it’s just habit to “look for the money” every time I touch a keyboard. But that’s whack. It’s been nice having a place to write just for the fun of it. Thanks for the reminder & for taking the time to ponder/respond. You’re a cool chick.
katie,
first, i just wanna say thanks for guesting on kojo (i have to say, i’m friends with kirstin from church and it’s so cool you read her blog).
second, i feel like life is still like highschool, i was such a mega nerd in HS… i was band queen… just be lucky homeschooling didn’t have band…
third, you are a blessing to my day. i am sitting here with a sick little 2 month old on my lap, and just reading about bacon jokes/lindsay lohan makes me laugh & i need that.
fourth, you should road trip to denver and stay at our house (okay that may be creepy to have a blog-reader offer that, b/c what if i was a serial killer) you could even have our bed and we could sleep in the basement 🙂
I could introduce you to kirstin from kojo (that would make me look soooo cool)!!!
i hope you have a fabulous day.
Katie, what a sweet note to us! I’ve never commented but I absolutely adore your photography, your style, and most of all, your willingness to open your life to others. Your family is simply precious and deep down, we’re all freaks. 🙂 There are so many of us who are young mothers, pinching pennies to create our dream nest, trying to find outlets for creativity. Some of us are reading it and you are doing it — congratulations, girl!!
If blogs were like high school you would be the girl that everyone hates, but cant help but love. You’re georgeous, fashionable, super funny, creative, love bacon, sweet to everyone and you dont even know how awesome you are! You are so humble and dont even realize you ARE the popular girl. I love reading your blog (along with about a million other people)! Nobody really reads my blog (except my hubby), but thats ok. Its more for me and him anyway. It would probably help if I posted more than once a year! Anyway, this post just leaves me wondering, what does Jeremy’s closet look like?