I spent 10 hours last Sunday doing a massive closet clean out.
My clothing situation was out of control and a true embarrassment of riches. I had clothing spilling out of three larges closets, something needed to be done.
When all was said and done, I had 13 large bags of clothes to be dropped off at Savers and an additional 5 bags to be put out for the trash collectors.
I should not of waited so long to do a closet edit. It's just seems like such a daunting task. Although, once I got going, it went quickly.
I know right now the "Kon Mari Method" is all the rage. It simply doesn't work for me, and I'll tell you why. The Kon Mari method stresses only retaining items that "spark joy". Here's the thing though,to me there is no inanimate object that causes joy. I learned long ago that things are just that, things. Things are not worthy of love. Things serve a purpose and fill a need. To me though, even my favorite things don't spark joy. I might like them, I might like them a lot. However, I get joy from watching a sunrise, having coffee with a good friend, getting a bear hug from my husband, etc, not from a sweater or little black dress.
Anyway, I knew that something needed to be done. By the time dinner rolled around on Sunday , I had tackled the beast and did what needed to be done. Once it was done, it felt so good. These are the tips and tricks I used to get this job done.
1) Start with anything & everything that needs to be thrown away.
If it is torn, stained, ripped, has buttons missing or in any other state of disrepair, it needs to be thrown out.No, no charity wants your ruined clothes. No, you don't need to save it for paining, gardening. Throw it away.
I find that doing this first , gets the ball really rolling and gives you good inertia. Its not subjective as to if something is torn or stained. It is or it isn't. This is the easy part.
2) Deciding what to keep and what to donate
This is where it gets trickier. I've had people say to me before "I'm not wasting my money,by throwing this out, this was expensive!"While I certainly understand that sentiment , I don't agree with it. You are wasting your money by letting something rot away,unworn in the back of your closet. Especially,when there are so many people in need. For me, this is a big source of motivation as to if I should donate something or not.
My college friend, Jill also had a great matrix as for whether to keep something or not. She'd say "Would you want to be wearing this if you ran into your ex his new girlfriend?"
It's a hilarious way of looking at the situation, but it makes sense! Last time you wore this, how did you feel about yourself? We're you feeling frumpy, or did you feel like a million bucks? It doesn't matter how on trend something is, if it just doesn't work for you. Trust me when I say, Baby girl you deserve to feel so much better than just okay. You deserve to feel spectacular.
3) Yes, you can keep things for sentimental value
I've seen countless "organizational experts" say that you have to toss things that you are only holding onto strictly for sentimental reasons. "Rocking horse droppings"! I say to that. (I have a very waspy neighbor who says "Rocking Horse Droppings" instead of "Bull $hit", i love it!)Off the top of my head, I have several purses from my late aunt, my high school track jersey, the outfit I wore on my first date with Chad, these are things that I'm not parting with. No, they are not front and center in my wardrobe. However, they mean something to me and will not be parted with and that's okay.
4) Have a "Maybe" tote
Often the reason why doing a closet purge becomes so time consuming is because we spend so much time hemming and hawing over "Does this stay or go?".I've come up with a solution, my "maybe tote".
If I'm truly on the fence, I pack them item up into a specified tote that I have easy access to.
I'll give it a set amount of time. if I don't find myself reaching for that item with in a specified time, it goes. If I need to access that tote to get said item, it stays.
I find that this really takes the pressure off and helps me decide in a rational manner if I should be keeping or donating something.
How long has it been since you've done a deep closet purge? Are you overdue like I was?
XO,
SheShe
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