Sunday, March 13, 2011

It's National Clean Out Your Closet Week!

Today is the first day of National Clean Out Your Closet Week. Yes, there is a holiday for everything. Tomorrow is Send Me Cookies Day (don't go Google it, because today is Be More Trusting Day).

So if your dresser drawers look like this: 
National Clean Out Your Closet Day
Sadly a Before AND After picture for today,
but I'll take my own advice soon.
Read on.

This is the first in a three part series on how to clean out your closet. Today, we'll talk about the nitty gritty of how to, and next we'll talk about what to do with pieces you don't want.


Get started: 

  • Clear off space somewhere (I always use my bed). You'll want to pull everything out of drawers, and you'll need some space to see everything.
  • Look at your current organizational system and decide if it works for you. Yes, I know it's messy now, but does having all of your shirts together work? Or do you want to have your long sleeve and short sleeve shirts separated? Do you want pants with skirts? Or do you want skirts on their own? If you're pulling everything out, take advantage of it. 
  • Sort out clothes that you know you wear frequently from clothes that you're unsure of. 
  • Refold the pieces you frequently wear and set them aside to be put back into drawers in the new (or current if it works) organizational system. 
  • Try on everything you don't wear on a regular basis. There's no point laboring over the decision to keep or toss it if it turns out you don't like the way it fits any more. 
  • Anything that fits and you know you want to keep, refold and place with the keepers. 
  • For everything you're not certain about, here's a nifty checklist to make a decision. 
  • Once everything's sorted and the keepers are folded, place back in drawers. I love this feeling because there's always so much more space afterward. And I know I can buy fun! new (sort of)! things!
For everything else, set it aside. We'll talk about what to do with it next. 
To be continued . . . 

4 comments:

  1. Hey, I like your blog! This post is timely for me because I've been on a decluttering mission for the past few weeks (and the next few...years?!). One thing that's been helping me is counting my clothes in various categories. Like, I discovered I had 40 pairs of socks. Way more than I need, but before I counted them, I was thinking, "Hmm, I could use some new socks" :)
    --Emily

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why thank you!

    I finally, finally got rid of some of my jackets in this round . . . I may have almost that many jackets. But not any more!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You don't post pictures of your change jar on the internets.
    Didn't you learn anything from your parents?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Whatevs. If someone wants to steal my change, I think they will find it weighs them down.

    ReplyDelete

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