The easiest way to Purge your Closet
There have been a million blogs, articles, posts and books written on the subject of ways to rid yourself of items in your near-to-bursting, uninspiring, if-I have-to-stare-at-my-clothes-one-more time-and find-nothing-to-wear closet.
There are so many helpful tips out there…10 Easy Steps, the Top Tips, Rules of Engagement and while they all have a ton to offer, I’m always looking for a simpler way. Just give me ONE tip, don’t give me a laundry list to navigate on how to do something I’ve already put off for 6 months. Give me EASY!! Well, here is easy…are you ready for this?
Pull out each article of clothing in your closet and ask a very simple question:
“Does this bring me joy?” or better put “do I feel great in this?”
If the answer is no, then it goes in the donation pile.
No kidding, it’s that simple and that’s all it takes…
It’s all about how you FEEL in your clothes and if you don’t feel good in them, I can promise you…you don’t look good in them either.
If you can’t say one way or the other then it goes in the “wait until later pile” that comes out of your closet and goes into a holding area until you are less attached to it. More on this in a sec.
HOT TIP: Do this in 15 minutes increments. Set an alarm and step in your closet knowing that you only need to do this for a small amount of time. If you the timer goes off and you’re having fun, keep going, but if you’re not, then stop. You can psyche yourself up to do anything for shorter periods of time. You won’t have the “UGH Factor” if you use this tip AND you WILL create a little more excitement around the project as a whole because you took the 1st step.
WAIT UNTIL LATER PILE: Like it or not, there are some things we can’t give a ‘yay’ or ‘ney’ to right away. We may logically know it’s a “no go”, but we can’t part with it for some reason or another. That’s ok. The “wait until later” pile (hopefully it’s not too big of a pile), comes out of your closet and goes in another closet or attic or basement. The point of this pile is that it’s not accessible to you each and every day, but you can still pull and wear items from here if you want. Set a 6-month alarm on your phone when you put these clothes in their new home. Go back in 6 months and ask the same questions as you take a look at each item. “Do I feel GREAT in this?” Or “does this bring me joy to wear?” If not, out they go! If you’re still attached to them, keep them in their new home or put them back in your closet.
I guarantee that if you will commit to this process at least twice per year, you won’t hear the UGH in your head every time you think about your wardrobe. You’ll be excited about what you’re wearing and the minute you’re not, you’ll know what to do. You won’t have any qualms about donating, because you’ll know that someone else will have the opportunity to feel good in what you don’t feel good in anymore.
What you may also find is that once you’ve cleaned out your closet, you have a new wardrobe so to speak. We get in “clothing ruts” (wearing that blouse with that pair of pants etc) and creating empty space may free up your creativity to pair pieces with other pieces you’ve never worn together before. It’s not always about buying new clothes, you can become your own stylist!
RESOURCE: One of my favorite places to donate while I earn money for my new finds is www.thredup.com. They will send you a Clean Out Kit and you pack it with the things you’re donating and send it back to them free of charge. They will send you some moolah for things they decide to sell and all of their clothes are 90% off + they have amazing sales all the time.
Happy Closet, Happier You!
