I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my closet most of my life. My mom nicknamed me Imelda Marcos, not because of her criminal record of course, but because of my obsession with shoes and accessories. I love organizing and storage just as much as the next OCD person, so my closet was always organized, but crammed full and overflowing into storage bins under the bed and overcrowded dresser drawers. I could never understand why I couldn’t find anything to wear each morning and why I didn’t feel organized, even though everything was arranged by color and style.
After being introduced to minimalism, it was an honest struggle to reduce my closet space, but now that I have, I am better for it. I’ll never return to the organized disorder of my former closet. Here are five of the tips that got me on the right track. I hope they help you too.
1. Remove items that don’t fit
We all have those clothes that we’d love to fit into again someday or those that are kept on hand just in case we discover that the weight we once lost has suddenly reappeared. Get rid of them. Keeping clothes that are too small in hopes of wearing them again someday is depressing and counterproductive. Every time you look at those clothes, it becomes a mental reminder that you are not happy with yourself the way you are. Do we really need a daily reminder? Letting go of those clothes is one step toward letting go of the internal struggle. On the other hand, keeping clothes that are too big after a weight loss for “just in case” is putting doubt into your mind about your accomplishment. You’ve reached a great goal! Celebrate by getting rid of the clothes you no longer need to wear. Getting rid of those clothes will also cement your goal of maintaining your success.
2. Remove items that don’t bring you joy
If you don’t feel great when you wear a particular item, it’s time to send it on to the donation center. In fact, I’m willing to imagine that if you have clothes in your closet that are uncomfortable or unflattering, you pass them by when picking out your outfit for the day. Free up your closet space. Don’t feel guilty about not keeping a perfectly good shirt; feel guilty about allowing it to stay hidden when it could become someone else’s joy to wear.
3. Remove items that you don’t wear
This ties into the previous tip, but I want to add a couple of suggestions for help in deciding whether an item is worthy of closet space. I understand that it can be a daunting task to eliminate so many articles of clothing at once. So, if you’re unsure, one option is to box up the clothes and store them for a couple of months. If there is something that you wish you would have kept, it’s a simple step to return it to your closet. If the allotted time goes by and you haven’t missed any of it, you can easily pass it along to a donation center. One caveat is that you should not reopen the box at this point, because it is easy to start adding back to your wardrobe if you start going through everything again. A second option is to begin a season with all of your closet hangers facing the same direction. Once they are worn and washed, return to your closet by placing the hangers facing the opposite direction. That way you’ll visually see quickly which items that you have and have not worn for the season. This will make deciding which clothes to donate at the end of the season a super simple task. Just remove all of the clothes with hangers that stayed in the original direction.
4. Try a 30 day challenge
Challenge yourself to wear only a specified number of clothing from you closet to see if you can live on fewer items… and to see if anyone else even notices! Some people decide that 30 makes for a nice sounding challenge: wear only 30 items for 30 days. The key to this challenge is to choose pieces that coordinate universally, such as a black skirt, and opting for solids over prints.
5. Institute a buying ban on clothes/accessories (yes, that includes shoes and purses!)
This last one is the best way to reduce closet clutter. Even if you only follow this last tip, eventually you will increase closet space by attrition. Clothes eventually wear out, either physically or stylistically. But keep in mind, if this is the only tip followed, it will take a long time to free up your closet. Your best bet is to pick at least one of the tips from above in combination with this last one to really makeover your closet.
The less you have, the fewer the choices in the morning. Less to choose from means less stress and less time spent deciding. Freeing up your closet means freeing up your mind and schedule too. And who doesn’t need more of that!
If this post has brought new inspiration to you or you’ve tried one of the tips, I’d love to hear about it! Feel free to comment or send me a message.
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