Ahhhh….Spring is in the air. The grass is growing, my plants are blooming and the temperature is perfect for early morning runs and afternoon trips to the park with my daughter. It’s also a perfect time to do some Spring cleaning. Yup…I said it. This is a perfect time of year to do a bit of housecleaning. Let’s get some projects out of the way so they won’t ruin your Summer plans.
So, since it’s National Clean Out Your Closet Week (yes…there are National holidays for organizing) why not tackle one of your closets. You don’t have to take on all of them….let’s just try one…ok? Great! Here are a few tips on how to tackle that closet:
1. DON’T BUY ANY STORAGE PRODUCTS until you’ve decluttered, sorted out and accessed what you have. No sense in wasting your time and money on products you don’t need or won’t work for what you have.
2. GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES:
- Water or other beverages. Trust me on this! You may not think you need to stay hydrated if you are indoors and not exercising. Often times when you get working on an organization project it’s easy to forget to drink. As a matter of fact…I’ve got a glass of water right next to me as I’m writing this post. Excuse me a second….(gulp)…ahhh, that’s refreshing!
- 4 baskets, boxes or trash bags labeled: KEEP, TOSS, DONATE, DON’T KNOW
- Clock to keep track of time. Don’t burn yourself out. Try to take a break every hour. If you are on a schedule, be sure to give yourself time to cleanup.
- Music or an MP3 player (optional). This is a perfect time to “rock out” and get pumped up while you organize. I also like to listen to podcasts when I’m working on projects (but some may find it distracting).
3. START SORTING:
- Begin by sorting item by item and putting each item into one of the 4 bins: KEEP, TOSS, DONATE, DON’T KNOW.
- Toss items that are torn, badly stained or are unwearable.
- Keep items that you know you wear or will wear in the future.
- Donate items that you’d feel comfortable giving to a friend or relative. There are several places to donate like the Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. There are also other avenues to get rid of stuff like Freecycle and Craigslist. I caution about trying to sell your items on online or during a garage sale. Unless you are really organized and know that if your items don’t sell you will donate them, otherwise, you’ll run the risk of not selling the items and collecting another stack of clutter. You’ll be right back to where you started and no closer to getting simplified and organized.
- Don’t know? Place them aside and return to these items after going through everything. Then think long and hard about what you really need. If you are still having trouble try this: hang all of your clothes on their hangers backwards. As you wear an item, hang it back the right way facing forwards. After about 3 months you’ll have a good idea of what you actually wear. Get rid of those items that are still hanging the wrong way. Another idea: take a picture of those items that are nostalgic to you like a marathon t-shirt, an old school jersey or letterman’s jacket. You can keep a digital memory of these items.
- Once you’ve sorted your items, remove the DONATE and TOSS bags from the area immediately!!!! Take them to the car, the garage, wherever. Just get them out of sight so you don’t have second thoughts.
4. START ORGANIZING:
- Hang items by type: tank tops, t-shirts, button ups, long-sleeves, sweaters, skirts, pants, dresses, suits. If you’re on a roll and want to take it a step further organize each section by color….whoa!!!! Wait I’m not finished…..use all the same type of hangar too. That’ll wow em!!!!
- Utilize top shelves for seasonal or rarely used items.
- Put items in clear plastic boxes or bags so that they are easily recognized and not forgotten.
- Utilize space under the bed to store extra or seasonal clothes.
- Assign drawers a category and label them (optional) for socks, underwear, t-shirts, athletic attire, shorts, pj’s, etc.
- Organized shoes in an over-the-door storage unit, a hanging shelf or a shoe stand under clothes that don’t go the full length near the floor.
- NOTE: there are a lot of organizing products out there. Here is the time to access what you’ve got, use storage systems you already have and then do some shopping.
5. STAY ORGANIZED:
- Have a laundry basket near where you get dressed/undressed and use it. Don’t get a case of the “dropsies” and drop your dirty clothes on the floor.
- Have a mirror close to your closet to try on clothes. Hang up/put away the clothes you’re not going to wear right away….don’t let it pile up.
- Put laundry away as soon as it’s folded and sorted.
- Purge your closet every 6 months to a year to keep it from getting cluttered.
- Live by the 1 in 1 out rule: If you want to buy a new dress to bring “in” to your closet….you should get one dress “out” of the closet first.
Happy closet organizing!!!!!
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