There is a magic box in my inventory closet I have come to rely on.  The magic box is special for it keeps my inventory all nice and neat.  Inside my closet is also a magic button, but I must warn you, it gives you great power over cluttered closets and the more you use it the more intoxicating it becomes, and like a drug you will want to use it again and again.  The magic box and button are tools I can no longer live without.  With their help my closet is clutter free and staying that way. I am talking about a prim box for storage and the delete button and you have these magical tools at your disposal as well.

I have been doing some math (not my best subject mind you), and I figure there is approximately 90K in my closet with only 22,800 actually showing.  My goal is to have 20K showing in my inventory before all is said and done.  It is a lofty goal which may be out of reach but I am going to give it my best effort. Several peeps have asked how I do it and this post will try to explain it. At the end I will provide links to sites I have used along the way to streamline my inventory.

Like most shopping is a favorite pastime and by the time I was three months old my closet was out of control. It became frustrating trying to find anything. A dear friend guided me to a builders group that had classes on inventory control…gooses the bee.  Since taking that class I have become very anal when it comes to my closet and what stays or goes. There is something to be said for having a place for everything and everything in its place. I also admit to being a pack rat and there comes a point in time when a large inventory is just as bad as a messy one. Time for a clean sweep.

My first order of business was to go through each and every folder of clothing. I tried everything on and if it had not been used or worn in over a year I trashed it. If I could not bear to trash it into a magic box it went.  Every piece of home and garden was rezzed and either kept or deleted.  Yes, it was time-consuming.  Would I have rather been doing something else?  UMMM maybe 🙂

Now I have always saved the originals of copyable items, placing them in boxes once I have opened.  Pants in one, tops in another, dresses, etc. There was just so much that I went through those boxes as well deleting every copy or freebie I could find save for 5 outfits.   Memories ya know 🙂  Those were lovingly placed in a box of their own.  Outfits that were not copy, still out inventory and worth keeping I boxed up individually and placed in the corresponding box. Now even my storage boxes are much leaner.

The same steps were repeated for home and garden stuffage.  With the advent of mesh I have been slowly getting rid of prim and sculpt landscaping plants and you would cringe at the stuff I have deleted, but it sure feels liberating. Magic boxes were made according to rooms; living room, dining, kitchen, bath and bedroom for the major pieces kept. Pictures, candles, knick knacks, trees, flowers, potted plants, spas, pools, outdoor furniture all got their own box and in they went. There are quite a few more categories but you get the idea, I hope. Why keep it all out in your closet? It is just sitting there taking up precious space. Lost Horizon is essentially completed, and if something is needed it can be pulled out of the box right quickly. If the SL gods deem to take my boxes from my inventory it is something I am prepared to deal with.  Knocks on wood.

There is 2K stored in the box above and this is just ballgowns.  I base that on each gown having ten items total to wear.  Some have more.  There are boxes for dresses, pants, coats & jackets, tops, lingerie, shoes, swimwear, jewelry, hair and the list goes on.  Imagine storing 2K in each box and there are twenty-two storage boxes for clothing alone and each one a different category.  That is 44K packed and stored away in clothing alone, give or take a couple K.  I become giddy just thinking about that. There were outfits that had never seen the light of day and all were deleted as they would never be worn.  Such a waste, but I have become very intimate with what is left and what has been stored away, and no longer will I succumb to impulse buying.  I am definitely not giving up my fattie packs though 🙂 , or gachas lol.

I have kept a selection of system clothing to blend with the mesh in my now lean closet, and I have to admit mesh is fast taking over the number one spot in my closet, something this chickie never thought would ever happen.  Never say never 🙂  I am happy to see more and more gowns created using a combination of system, prims and mesh.  Mesh is a wonderful replacement for the system skirt and I still firmly believe you can’t beat the soft movement prims create when you are dancing cheek to cheek on the ballroom floor. Until you can tuck mesh pants into boots I will continue to wear my favorite system jeans with my knee boots. Sculpt and mesh shoes have each found a niche in my closet.

Redoing my closet was a major feat completed in increments of several hours a day over several weeks and it was not easy but, anything worth doing is worth doing well. Right? Spending thirty minutes to an hour each day on my inventory is all that is required to keep myself organized these days. Now I know my paltry sum of closet content pales in comparison to most bloggers/models and even the average avie’s closet, but this can be done with any amount that is sitting in your closet and it all starts with a magic box and button and the desire to maybe, just maybe make your SL a little bit more enjoyable.  Be kind to one another.  TWMA 🙂

For more information or organizing your closets I have provided a few helpful links below.

OhMyOhmai Inventory Sorting Tutorial

Harlow Heslop Inventory Tutorial

Chey’s Second Life Blog Inventory Control 

Happy Hippsters