Welcome to day 14 in our Clutter-Free Challenge. You’ve almost made it! We are rounding third … actually almost to home. And I’m so proud of you!!!
We’ve got a lot to cover today regarding closets, so I’m going to jump right into it. But I also want to remind you that I’m only dealing with de-cluttering – not organizing. My inclination is to start with organizing when it comes to closets, but I don’t want you to worry about that right now. Just focus on minimizing the clutter, and it’s very possible you won’t need to make major organizing changes.
No, this is not my closet. But a girl can dream.
My guess is you are frustrated with your closets. And you might even think your problem is not enough closet space. You could be right. However, the reality is, unless you have a custom-designed home (or are already well-organized), no one thinks they have enough storage. Why? Stuff expands to fill empty space. So almost all of our closets, cabinets and garages get filled to capacity.
That works until it doesn’t. When our clothes are smashed and wrinkled, when we can’t find winter gloves, and when we spend money on gifts we forgot we’d already bought – then we realize it’s time to do something about those black holes. Then we are forced to make decisions. Maybe the hardest place to make decisions is our clothing closet, which is our focus today.
Before you start to de-clutter your closet, you’ll need some supplies. If you haven’t done this for awhile, you are probably going to get rid of a lot of things. My favorite piece of advice is to use black garbage bags. Why? Once you’ve removed an item from your closet and put it in the bag, you can’t see it. And if you can’t see it, you are less likely to go soft and pull it out.
Next, get ready to deal with broken dreams: Dreams that we can still fit into that dress, wear those heels or that someday our favorite pink shirt will actually look good on us. Clothing is associated with special events and seasons of our lives, and is very difficult to give up. Having to admit that I’m older and can’t wear certain styles is painful. De-cluttering my bedroom closet means I might have to let those dreams go. However, I’ve found a way to make it easier.
When it’s hard to part with a dress I once loved, there’s an image I bring to my mind. It’s of a single mother, trying to get a job. She doesn’t have anything nice to wear, nor the money to run to the mall and pick up a cute outfit. Then I look at the lovely skirt I no longer wear. That skirt can either hang in my closet gathering dust, or help a sister I haven’t met.
There are always exceptions, but mostly it’s just wrong for me to keep things I don’t use, and likely never will. I strongly believe we should be living more like the first Christians who shared everything they had with each other. No one was in need. Whether I give it away or sell it at a yard sale, depends on my family’s needs at the moment. Either way, someone else is being blessed. I want to live open handed, not closefisted. For if my hands are closed, it’s very hard for God to place something new in them.
So, with that in mind, as you look at your closet, consider the following two categories of items to remove:
1) What you don’t need or want anymore.
Here are four reasons to remove items.
Damaged or stained beyond repair. Re-purpose these clothes when possible. Use scraps for dusting or arts and crafts. Give some to quilters you know. Make clothing into other items like purses or tote bags. Set some aside for messy or dirty jobs such as yard work, cleaning or arts and crafts.
Not my style. No matter how much you love them, remove clothes you don’t wear due to style. Fifteen years after working outside the house, my dress clothes hung in my closet. Even if I could have fit into them, they weren’t my personal style any more. Or, they were too “young” for me.
Not worn. Shari Braendel, author of Good Girls Don’t Have to Dress Bad, wrote, “Without emotion, take everything out of your closet you have not worn in the last 18 months. The reason for the 18-month rule is that this gives you two seasons of the previous one you just went through. For example, if summer has just ended and you have things hanging in your closet that you didn’t wear this year OR the summer before, chances are you are not going to wear it next year” I like Shari’s advice better than the typical one-year rule.
Undecided. Some items of clothing present a challenge. We don’t love them, nor hate them. Professional organizer and Mission: Organization guest, Monica Ricci offers this piece of advice, “Go through the ‘undecided’ pile piece by piece, and ask yourself what value each piece currently gives you. Clothes that aren’t serving you need to be culled to make room for those pieces that are valuable.”
Wrong size. We have the opportunity to look stylish at any age or weight. If there are clothes that don’t fit well, or not at all, let them go. Of course, keeping some things makes sense if you are on a weight loss plan. Just be honest with yourself.
The other category of items to remove are those that could, or should, be stored somewhere else. Here are some tips for them:
2) What can be stored elsewhere
Sometimes our closets are catchalls for miscellaneous items. As you evaluate the odds and ends in your storage spaces, consider if it would make more sense to store them elsewhere. Try to keep items close to where they are used.
1. Move items to another room. When possible, keep like items together, and in a logical space. If you’ve stored golf clubs in your closet try to put them with other sports equipment. This might involve a whole-house approach if you’ve got like items stored in multiple places.
2. Remove items you want to keep, but seldom wear. For example, formal wear or ski clothes. These items can be stored in an attic or garage depending on fabric and weather. If you have room, consider storing seldom-used hanging items on a rolling garment rack. Buy one with a clear or fabric zipped covering. For under $100, you can get a large portable wardrobe with rods for hanging and places for shoes and other folded clothing.
3. Remove off-season clothing. Hopefully you can rotate seasonal clothing. Store these items under the bed or in another dresser. Or consider a portable garment rack tucked in a garage or work room.
Clearing closets is often easier with a friend … an honest one … and one with some style if possible. I’d still be wearing somethings from the 80s if not for some honest friends.
Once you’ve trimmed down your closets, I hope you’ll spend some time considering adding organizational helps. If you want ideas, visit websites like www.organize.com or www.containerstore.com.
Please join me tomorrow as we wrap up this Clutter-Free Challenge. I’ve got some final thoughts to share, one last giveaway, and I want to give you an opportunity to provide a link to your blogs to share your success stories with each other.
Grace & Peace,
Glynnis
Heavenly Father, it’s going to be tough going through my clothes closet. There are many emotions connected with those items. Help me to trust You enough to release the past. I don’t want to hold on to things that I need to let go. Help me to see this as a chance to release the old, to share with others, and to be open for the new thing You want to do in my life. There’s a part of me that’s afraid to let things go for fear I won’t have enough. But today I stand on Your promise to meet my needs. Thank You for your faithfulness. I choose to trust You today. In Jesus name, Amen.
One year a friend who had way too many clothes in a variety of sizes finally purged and put good clothes in black plastic bags and left them on my door step. I went through them and got some beautiful clothes I would have never bought for myself and my daughter took all the pajamas and athletic clothing. There were still lots of clothes in the bag, and we added items from our closet and sent them to another door step of another friend. The bags hit several door steps before arriving at the local thrift store. It was lots of fun, and expanded my wardrobe and style. Another person on the trail was experiencing significant weight fluctuation due to illness and was thrilled to have a variety of sizes to choose from.
I love this idea! Thank you for sharing it!
I love this idea! Thanks!
What a great idea!
wow! that is a great idea
Glynnis, Your words today helped open my heart to letting go of some things that have no reason to really beheld onto any more! I’m grateful for thrift stores, because with 4 ever growing children we are in constant need of “something” because we out grew it! But, I never really thought about it the way you worded it today of how ” living open-handed allows God to put someting new in them!” Your words touched my heart dearly and now I know there is definately some things in that dark closet upstairs that need going through, AGAIN! Thanks for speaking God’s truth today:) Brenda
I know it’s going to be a lot of work, but I also know with God’s strength.. I CAN DO THIS!!
AMEN!
I love your reminder to use our clothes to bless others. Thank you!
We don’t call our closet the black hole… it’s the “closet of shame” or the “closet we do not speak of”. It’s underneath the steps that lead to our 2nd floor. It’s been the dumping ground of many “emergency” cleanings and things were just opened and shoved in there. Pictures…. kids school stuff (that prob. could have been just thrown away with the exception of a few pictures and special projects) LOTS of empty frames and all around junk. I found a suitcase full of clothes that got shoved back in there from over 9 years ago when we FIRST MOVED INTO THE HOUSE!!! I had forgotten all about them! The only thing in there worth keeping was the socks and underwear and a few old shirts from High School that will fill my need for crap clothes to wear when we paint the kids’ bedrooms. I’ve been tackling that closet off and on over the past month. The motivation is that the christmas ornaments go in there and I can’t put them away until I have a PROPER storage space in that closet! What’s taken so long? Each box or found stack is filled with so much stuff, I HAVE to look through it and get side tracked with memories. I just HAD to look through all the pictures (but atleast put them back organized by year and child so that when I am ready to photo ablum them, it will be easy)! These last 15 days have helped so much! Thanks!
Denise – I think everyone has had one of those closets at some point in their lives.
It’s quite a process to go through that much DIFFERENT stuff. But just tackle it one item at a time, and you will work through it.
I used to do a grab & stash into my closet whenever guests were on their way until the time a friend brought her mom over to see our new house. To prove to her mom that the house was not only pretty but organized she whipped open my closet door & everything tumbled out! Boy was my face red. I was cured ( now I use the oven!)LOL
My closet is multi-functioning, meaning that not only are my clothes & shoes in there, but it also serves as my gift closet & linen closet. This has been a busy week, but I hope to have more time next week to dig into all the decluttering tips I’ve read on here this week!
Sandra, my closet is also multi-functional with linens and gifts. Mine is also my medicine cabinet. I’ve learned to make the most of high and low spaces. Plus, I put a step stool in there because I realized I was discouraged from putting things up high.
I like the idea of keeping a step stool in the closet. Never thought of that, but I can see how at will help me keep my upper spaces more organized instead of just throwing things up there and hoping they don’t fall! : )
This past August I went through my side of the closet and then asked my husband to go through his. We donated clothes to a local ministry. Boy was I surprised when my husband actually did his side.
I am saving each day in my email and will try to start doing them once a week after tomorrow. Thanks!!
My husband was resistant too the first time he did it. Before I would just try to get rid of one thing at a time. But getting started is really more than half the battle. Once you start, it’s so much easier to continue.
My husband dropped 100 pounds and we did the closet together last May. It was amazing how much of our stuff we were able to give away and purge. All our clothes were either hanging nicely or in big rubbermaid containers on the floor when we finished.
Then 1 month later our bath, bedroom and closet completely flooded. I was SO.HAPPY we had already cleaned our entire room and closet out. I might have cried if I had to figure out what was good or bad – sorting through it while soaking wet would have been totally horrible. Instead I got new carpet
My problem is that I don’t have a linen closet, so all my sheets and towels are in my bedroom closet. Also, I don’t have a dresser, I have one of those small plastic 3-drawer chests that holds my intimate items; my t-shirts and nightgowns are in a over bar hanging organizer. I have blankets and quilts in plastic zippered cases on the floor of my closet
Teresa, I completely understand about limited space. I’ve lived in homes of all sizes. It sounds like you are very creative in your use of space!
wow…the black hole…that is how my closet is…dare i take a before and after picture?…thanks for your insight…I have applied & used your suggestions on previous days and have successfully cleaned out 3 rooms, one downstairs closet and even recarpeted 2 rooms…..but the black hole…my closet…beyond my strength…i hope to tackle it this week. blessings to you!
Kathy – I hope you do take some photos. You will feel so good about your work. And you should!
I took some before pics and was even brave enough to share with a friend….hopefully it will help me with my follow thru of the cleanup. I will be delayed as my husband came down with the flu.
I would like to say thank you again for being a light in my life and sharing good tips and encouragement from scripture and prayer for strength and guidance.
….and I have your book now, so I will be able to refer to it for help.
I have one thought on the heavily stained clothes….I had about 15 “yard work” or “painting” shirts. But Guess what? I rearly do either of these tasks! lol So had to cut that pile down to about 5 for the few times that I really do need a dirty shirt to get dirtier, or use as a Smock for the kids painting projects.
thanks for all the tips! If I can get my stuff de-cluttered, I am praying my husband and boys will follow suit with my help!
So true about those “work” clothes. I just keep a few.
I Love this Garbage bag/door-to-door thing. Maybe i’ll get some friends to join me in that! One rule i have with my kids(and myself) is that whenever i buy a new item of clothing, the least favorite/out grown/oldest item has to go. That way you don’t accumulate too much, and the closet actually has room for the new item.With girls esp it can be a problem if you don’t watch out. I have been blessed by other ‘givers’ and due to that i had TOO much for my 6 yr old daughter. I finally realized, ok…there is just TOO much, so i think maybe giving it away is better then selling, since it was GIVEN to me.No point in keeping EVERYTHING for the next child to grow into. Only fills up my storage faster. Besides, with kijiji and garage sales, not to mention 50% off days at value village
i can always get it when i need it. Thanks for the “open hand” encouragement. Blessings!!!!
Emily – I love those 50% off Value Village days. I was just thinking about that this morning and wondering when the next one will be. I love sending my daughters on a treasure hunt to put together an adorable outfit. And I’ve found really cute things too.
“I want to live open handed, not closefisted. For if my hands are closed, it’s very hard for God to place something new in them.” – Yes Lord….please help me to live open handed!
A speaker said once that it not emotionally healthy to have ” too small” clothes in your closet because every time you go into it those clothes are screaming insults at you like, “hey, fatty!” or ” you are so ugly cause you can’t wear these cute things anymore”. She was right, I got so mad at those little clothes insulting me I gave them all away, eventually replacing them with clothes that have good manners & compliment me!
That’s good advice!!! Thanks for sharing it.
That makes so much sense! Instead of holding onto those clothes, tell yourself that if you ever need smaller clothes, you will reward yourself with a new outfit.
I organized my closet yesterday- except for the huge pile of clothes to donate. i even had a few minutes to put all like hangers together! I organize my clothes by color- and get alot of grief from my family, but it helps me feel more organized. I love these ideas in this series, I take 10-15 min a day (sometimes more if my daughter decides to take a longer nap) to tackle one portion of a project at a time. I felt like God has been wanting me to become more organized this year. I told this to my husband literally 6 hours before seeing the “coming soon” about the blog from Proverbs 31 Facebook post! I consider this my gift from God!! And, if I could show you my husband’s excitment when I tell him what project I did that day. I think I will finally be able to tackle his “stuff”, because he has been reading the blog posts as well!
Thanks for acknowledging that there can be an emotional connection to clothes. My husband thinks I’m crazy remembering when I wore something and hating to part with it because of that. I need to realize that memory should be stored in me, not my closet! But at least I must not be the only one.
Our closets are truly black holes. Unlit and extending several feet into darkness on one end, I’ve even tried the battery powered push-on lights without much success. Thanks for showing me that if I haven’t “seen” things for years, I must not need them.
I’ve certainly enjoyed your post each day and the precious comments from women around the country who are plugging away to make room in our homes and in our hearts for what God desires for us.
I couldn’t remember if you said you would have this 15 day challenge in your blog archives, so I’ve saved them all. This process will take a long time, but now I have a plan. Thank you for all the work you have put into this.
Thank you for taking the time to remind me of the things I already knew I should be doing and how to do them. I am hoping to regain some sense of peace and organization in my home and in so doing honor God. I must confess that I do not pray much about these things, but have been praying these prayers and hoping to continue to commit these things to the LORD.
My biggest hang-up with getting rid of items is that I think I will have a garage sale and I end up moving a bag of stuff from one place to another and then never have a garage sale. We don’t even have a garage so it would have to be a yard sale, not the kind of thing you do in the winter! Anyway, just wanted to mention that if you hang on to items of worth so you can sell them and end up with a cluttered mess of garage sale items, check out the deductions you can get on your taxes for donating all kinds of items to charity. My husband was working on our taxes last night (he uses TurboTax) and I couldn’t believe the credit you get for used clothes and household items, better than I was offered at the resale shop! Turbo Tax has pages of donation items listed and gives you credit based on the condition. Even socks get you a $1 credit!!
Wanted to share an idea from my family for something that ususally takes up room in a linen closet – beach/swim towels. We now keep the towels in a large, zippered tote bag that also has outside pockets where we keep the sunscreen, etc. When we head to the pool or on a beach trip, we just grab the tote bag, knowing it is ready to go. When we get back, the towels are washed and put back in the bag right away. the bag does “live” in the closet, but doesn’t take up shelf space, and actually takes up less room than the towels and sunscreen separately.
Great idea!!
My entryway is actually a room. I moved a small dresser into the room as a clutter solution. I have photos and my son’s trophies on top and use the drawers to store things, including my purse. It’s a perfect spot for my purse along with all of the “guy” stuff that was left everywhere. This has been working really well.