I know organizing a home is typically a big topic for springtime, but if you didn't quite get your house in order, there’s no better time than now! Getting organized will leave so much more time for fun and family when the weather is nice. When was the last time to decluttered dressers and closets?
To keep things simple and manageable, let’s tackle one thing at a time. I don’t know about you, but clothing clutter is killing our house right now. We still have winter clothing and outdoor gear all over, and now we’re starting to think about tank tops and shorts.
It’s time to tackle this clothing clutter in a manageable way. Take today and organize the winter gear. Do you need all the heavy coats, gloves, and snow boots within arm's reach? If you do, by all means, keep them out but if you don’t, gather them up and put them somewhere until next season. We keep ours in a basement closet where it’s still easy to grab them if we need them, but they are out of the way. It cuts down on the clutter so much!
Dressers
Don't let yourself get overwhelmed. Pick the one that is the most out of control if you have several.
You’ll need at least two strong trash bags and a notebook to start. The notebook is to write down items as you put them in the donation (or sell) pile. One of the trash bags is for donations, and the other is trash for items that aren’t suitable for donation.
When you’ve got your bags and paper ready, start in one drawer. Pull each item out and put it in a keep pile, the donate bag, or the trash bag. It’s important that you don’t just look through and pull out things to donate. You want to empty the entire drawer.
As you go, watch for items that are stained or damaged. Why do so many of us still have socks with holes in the toes!?! Add all these items to the trash bag.
Some items will probably be easy calls to the donate bag. For example, I found some items that are still in decent shape but are way too small at the moment. While I’d like to fit in them, I also know that when that day comes, I’m going to celebrate with new clothes in my current style and not be digging through drawers for old stuff. Reality is your best friend when purging.
Once you’ve reached the bottom of the drawer, give it a good wipe down and head to the keep pile.
Ask yourself these questions about each item before you put each “keeper” back in the drawer:
- Does it fit?
- If the weather was right, would you wear it today? Is it still your style?
- Is it in good condition?
- Can you put together an outfit you’d be excited to wear with it?
- Do you already have a reasonable number of similar items? A person only needs so many socks and pajamas. We tend to add to things like that year after year without getting rid of our least favorites.
- Have you worn the item in the last 6 months?
Unless you need to rearrange what’s stored in each drawer, I’d put all the keep items back in the drawer before starting the next. It can be overwhelming if you empty out an entire dresser at once, while one drawer at a time is manageable. Continue tackling the dresser drawer by drawer. It’s amazing how great it feels finishing a long-overdue project like this.
Closets
Brace yourself…I’ll tell you upfront, this will take time, so do this on a day when you have some extra time to finish. You’ll need a couple of hours more than likely. But, once you’re done, you’ll feel so much better. Also, you get a special feeling when you donate items that you don’t need anymore. I always think that I’m going to miss something, or that I spent good money on it and maybe I should hang onto it a little longer, *just in case*. But, that just-in-case moment never arrives (and if it does, clearly my mind is changed). So I’ve learned over the years to part ways with items that don’t serve me anymore, and I let them go to others who can use and enjoy them. It also reminds me not to purchase crap that I’ll just end up donating. I mean, how much richer would I be today if I just said no to all the things I end up donating? Ok, let’s not get into that. But you know where I’m going with this.
Step 1 – Clear Your Closet
The first thing we’re going to do is clear absolutely everything out of the closet. Make sure you have a clear bed and a somewhat cleanroom to be able to accommodate the contents of your closet.
So, start going section by section and taking all garments out of the closet and placing them on your bed. Of course, I say this for two reasons. First, it’s a big flat surface that will help you organize your clothing, and second, you won’t be able to go to bed until this job is done (haha).
Step 2 – Clean Your Closet
This is indeed the actual physical cleaning of your closet, also fairly easy to do. You have a totally empty space, and now you just need to give it your magic touch. Closets rarely (if ever) get cleaned. If you wonder why your closet smells stuffy, it’s likely because it houses stale air and has carpet which hardly gets cleaned. So, kick this off, mix 10-20 drops of your favorite essential oil (I love Citrus Fresh)with baking soda, sprinkle some on the carpet, and leave it for 15 minutes or so and that will help rid the carpet of odor.
While the baking soda is sitting, get your step ladder and climb up to the shelves you can’t reach by hand. Vacuum the shelves down and then spray and wipe with Thieves cleaner and a cloth. Feel free to clean hanger rods too. Then, finish off by vacuuming up the carpet and including the corners and baseboards. Much better!
Step 3 – Sort The Clothing
OK deep breath here. You should know that this is probably going to be the longest, most grueling part of this job – but this is where the rubber meets the road – this is your opportunity to rid yourself of all sorts of clothes that are doing nothing more than clogging up your closet. I’m just being honest.
Let’s just have a quick pep talk about this. Your clothes just hang out in your closet, on a hanger that could be used for a piece of clothing that you actually wear. Here are the same helpful guidelines we used with our drawer cleanout:
- Does it fit?
- If the weather was right, would you wear it today? Is it still your style?
- Is it in good condition?
- Can you put together an outfit you’d be excited to wear with it?
- Do you already have a reasonable number of similar items? A person only needs so many socks and pajamas. We tend to add to things like that year after year without getting rid of our least favorites.
- Have you worn the item in the last 6 months?
The way I put items back in the closet:
- Like items with like items, pair similar types of items together
- Color code items – range from one end of the color spectrum to the other, which can help you when trying to coordinate an outfit or look for a particular garment.
- Place items you don’t use as often out of the way, and items you wear frequently front and center (my dresses are harder to reach, my jeans I could grab with my eyes shut).
Trash Your House
How are you feeling now that you took care of some major clothing clutter? Next we’re going to trash your house! Lol!! Stick with me... it soon makes sense.
First step, start your diffusers and pick a blend that motivates you! I love to put in peppermint + orange!
Next, grab a garbage bag and set a timer for 15 minutes. Stop at every garbage can in your house and dump it in there. If you have a multilevel house start at the top level and work your way down.
Not only that, look around… Are there water bottles by your bed? Candy wrappers by the kids’ beds? Is there paper sitting around that you don't need?
Throw it away.
Make this quick and fast. You only have 15 minutes! Get a new bag if you need a new bag and do all the things!! Do you have boxes that you're saving?? Do you need all of them? It’s a lie that you need to save so many boxes. Lol!!
If you didn’t finish up in 15 minutes, take extra time or do another 15 minutes tomorrow. Isn’t it amazing what we can get done with a timer and some hustle?
Enjoy your clean house! (And load those donation bags into your car... now!)
