February 2016

This past week I took one day and did a total closet purge. It was semi “Konmari” (if you aren’t sure what I’m talking about, refer to this link The Illustrated Guide to the Kondo Mari Method for a quick tutorial), but I didn’t ask the all-important “Does this spark joy?” question. I mainly thought, “Do I actually like this piece of clothing?”. Well, if you know me at all, you know once I get something in my head, I’m gonna do it full-out, especially when it comes to organizing. So what started as simply cleaning out my closet (and a storage bin from the basement with some non-wearable-in-the-winter-summer clothes) turned into dresses, nice t-shirts, every day t-shirts, jeans, skirts, sweaters, belts, scarves, shoes, workout clothes, pajamas, sweats and jackets/coats/vests.

I’m a bit embarrassed to show the “Before” picture because it’s pretty bad. This is the smallest closet I’ve ever had and quite frankly I just don’t know what to do with it, especially since this isn’t my “forever” bedroom (for those of you who are ‘Eating an Elephant’ newbies I’m also a part-time live in nanny). I don’t want to invest in products that I (hopefully) won’t need once I move out. So, I’ve lived with this closet getting more and more stuffed as more and more clothes get bought and I just kept re-working where things went without addressing the real problem – I had too many clothes. I knew half of the stuff in there were clothes I had simply settled on or just didn’t wear any more, but there was a sense of security knowing I had more clothes if, for some reason, I needed them (and what that reason would be I have no idea).

Anyways, I was finally tired of it and so I dedicated one afternoon (which it took) to going through EVERYTHING in my room and decided to toss it, donate it, or keep it. In the end, I walked out of my room with 1.75 garbage bags full of random clothing items, coats/vests, shoes, belts and scarves and one smaller bag full of clothes to throw away (become some things just aren’t worth donating) and a couple of items in the “mementos” box because, while I don’t want to get rid of them, I also don’t want them taking up valuable closet space.

(Side note – I DID use the Konmari method for folding my pants, tank tops, t-shirts and sweaters and it really does save space! Check out the link in the first paragraph if you want to learn how to fold your items to save space)

So, my tip for this week is: do this. Go through a clothing purge. I highly recommend it. Even if it’s not this coming week, even if it’s not every article of clothing you own, even if it’s just one category of clothing, set a day and time in your head when you have a couple of hours to go through your closet and then do it. Whether you’re holding on to something that you might one day wear (but probably won’t), or you have a sentimental attachment to a particular piece of clothing, getting it out of your closet and actually trying it on will help open your eyes to what needs to stay and what needs to go. And remember, I added a “mementos” category (for a couple special scarves and a couple t-shirts related to my old dance studio) so a few pieces can go in there as well. You just want to be able to really see each article of clothing you own, which isn’t possible when they’re in your closet on a hanger.