Something just happened to me recently, and I I had to pass it on—because I honestly think I should have known this a long time ago.
It’s how to declutter clothes.
I’m pretty minimalist. My drawers and closets were not packed. Then my niece gave me a bunch of her clothes—really nice things—and suddenly I went from very little to a full closet and full drawers, not overstuffed, but way more than I had before..I kept what I thought I would wear.
A few days after I had gotten these clothes I had a women’s tea at church. It was a very nice place. Not wedding fancy, but definitely fancy. So I grabbed something from the new clothes I got from my niece and put it on… and immediately said, “Nope. I’m not going out in this.”
And that’s when it hit me. That’s how we declutter clothes.
Actually put things on as if you’re going out in it. If you’re not going to wear it out—it goes. This works for anything every day, even pajamas, If you close not to wear it, ask yourself why? Will you ever wear it?
I know it sounds obvious. But it’s different when you actually do it.
We keep so many clothes we never wear. We tell ourselves we’ll wear them at home, or they’re comfortable, or they were expensive so we have to keep it.
Regarding “Throw on clothes.” what we put on affects how we feel—and how we feel affects how behave. So throw on clothes is an easy toss when you decide that you matter. The other things, use this ‘hack’ it really works.
If things don’t fit us they should go, like if you lost 100 lbs, let those those go! But there are exceptions. I have one box of clothes that don’t fit anymore. It doesn’t clutter my space, and it doesn’t make me feel bad. If that box ever becomes a problem, I’ll get rid of it.
What doesn’t work is keeping piles of “maybe someday” clothes in your everyday space. We don’t want to live that way. That kind of life style bleeds into every area of life.
Here’s another simple way to do this:
Every day, reach for something you never wear. If you put it on and immediately think, “I’m not wearing this,” that’s your answer.
If you don’t want to try things on, ask yourself honestly: Would I put this on to go out today?
Yes → keep it
Not sure but I like it → keep it, turn it inside out and put it away.
No → it goes
For the things you absolutely know you’ll never wear but can’t let go of, put them in a box labeled Not Sure Clothes. Put a reminder in your calendar for four weeks from now and visit that box on that date. Make sure you make a note of where you placed it. When you open that box, most of it will go— what you’re still not sure of keep in the box and get another 4 weeks in the calendar to check on again.
This whole realization came from actually putting clothes on and looking in the mirror to head out in—not from decluttering, and it really helped me see how we can just decide. I have some pajamas I’m going to let go of because of this. I never wear them. Every day I’ll choose one of those pjs I never put on, and if I won’t I know they’re gone.
If you wouldn’t go out in it, don’t keep it.
Let me know what you thought of this video!
WIth Love,
Kathy
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