Remember this is just my journey I am no expert, I’m just like you but you may get a tip or two along the way as you read my personal journal to declutter my life. I am not a writer there will no doubt be some spelling mistakes and incorrect grammar in my posts but I welcome you along for the ride.
Step 1 Clothes
Clothes – we all have too many, don’t we? those items we put on then take off because they don’t make us feel good, but then we hang them back in the wardrobe or place them back in the cupboard just in case. Just in case what? The next time you put it on it does make you feel good, chances are it won’t, it has probably been hanging there for several years not worn maybe you wore it once and it made you feel great so there its job is done you can now let it go, and so that is where I will start with the clothes. My aim is to reduce the items of clothing I have to those items I love to wear, that make me feel good. Items I can mix and match, and so the journey begins now.
• Let start with the easy stuff any clothes that don’t fit ,too small, too big, let’s get rid of them, sure we may one day be slim enough to wear that special item again but by then we probably won’t like it any more and can treat ourselves to something new.
• Now any clothing that is broken, stained has a tear or a hole in it, time to say goodbye.
• Any items you have multiples of three black T shirts but you always go for the same two then say goodbye to the other one. Bras only keep three or four max same with socks and stockings reduce the amount you have, you don’t need a whole drawer of socks, do you?.
• Now the hard bit the rest of your clothes take out an item of clothing put it on if it does not make you feel good, you would not buy it if you saw it today or you would not wear it if you were going out today then get rid of it its going in a bag for the Op Shop, remember if it does not fit its going, or if you don’t have anything to wear it with its going. Remember our aim.
Once you have gone through your clothing, bras socks and undies and have your OP shop bag ready we will move on to the next step.
You may be a person who does all the above in a day or you may do it slowly maybe a drawer each day its up to you how you do it, do it at your own speed.
Good Luck you can do it.
Clothing De Clutter – My journey – on the first day I went through my Wardrobe, and drawers and I bagged 27 Items for the OP shop, and this is just the beginning, now a rest until later in the week.
Note once you have bags ready for the Op Shop place them in your car but you must drop them off within the next seven days don’t drive around with them in your car for weeks or months, haven’t we all done that? or is that just me? You also don’t want to leave the bags in your house remember our aim is to be clutter free so we don’t want OP shop bags sitting around our home get rid of them ASAP.
I am already feeling inspired and empowered to rid myself and my home and family of all the unused stuff we have that we don’t use or need. I know I will feel lighter, brighter and happier. They say a home is easier to keep clean and tidy if you have less stuff and everything has a place. I can contest that this is true as I have experienced this on a small scale I can’t wait to experience it on a large scale.
Day 7 of my Clothing De Clutter – another ten items ready for the op shop I am loving watching my pile of empty clothes hangers increase and my wardrobe and drawers lighten with less items.
Imagine how easy your life will be with less stuff, packing for holiday or getting ready to go out will be a breeze because once we finish our declutter of clothes and other household items you will only be left with what you need, love and use, everything will be in a place that is easy to find, you will know exactly where that overseas power adaptor is. Happy days are coming.
Something to consider along the way, at the moment we are just doing clothes, next we will start on accessories but here is something to keep in mind, every day we come across something we no longer need want or use. Last night when setting the table I realised I have two sets of placemats but only ever use the one I really like, so today I put the set I never use in the Op shop bag, and what if something happens to the set I use every day, well I will just go buy a new set that I love because the second set that has been sitting in my drawer for years I don’t love it in fact I don’t really even like it and that is why it is not used.
I have just returned from dropping off 5 large bin bags of clothes to the Red Nose Foundation – amazing how many items of clothing I have got rid of without any regret. I gave a gorgeous Jag jacket that no longer fitted me to a friend so now she can get the pleasure out of wearing it rather than it hanging in my wardrobe when it no longer fits me. So if you have something special that you feel is too good to give to the Op shop consider passing it on to someone else.
In the process so far of cleaning out my wardrobe and drawers I came to the realisation that probably half of my wardrobe is work clothes, so I have divided my wardrobe in half with the work clothes at one end and the everyday casual wear at the other. Sure occasionally I may wear a work item out casually but for the most part I don’t, so I have decided to separate the wardrobe in this way. You may not work but you may like to consider also dividing your wardrobe in to sections, maybe summer and winter maybe by colour or you may prefer to leave as is.
Two weeks in – well it’s been two weeks since I started this declutter journey and I’m feeling excited about what the end holds. My husband cleaned his wardrobe out and drawers and we took three more large garbage bags to the Op Shop amazing, like me his work clothes have been moved to a separate space which will also make his live easier. His work clothes are now in one section, clothes for going out have their own place and everyday clothes have their own spot.
I once heard a friend say she was off to purchase more storage boxes and so on for all her things. The answer should be not to buy more storage for your things but to have less things so you don’t need more storage. Though while we are talking storage I do have something to say on that. When it comes to storage containers I am a big believer in buying specific storage to fit the space. A few years ago when rummaging around under my kitchen sink looking for carpet cleaner I got so fed up with the assortment of mix mash storage containers that I had under there housing my cleaning products snap lock bags and so on. So my solution was then and is to this date to measure the space and buy containers to fit perfectly and get the most storage into the space. So in this incident I measured the space and purchased two containers that fitted perfectly on top of each other and another that sat beside them. The two that sit on top of each other have lids the one beside them is open. I made sure the ones with lids were easy to open perfect for what I would be putting inside them. It took time to find the right containers that were the right size, but it was time well spent. Remember a place for everything and everything in its place. We will talk more about storage at a later date.
So for now I am going to leave you to start on your own journey, remember its different for everyone. See you next week when we will move on to accessories.
X if you want to share some of your journey with me I would love to hear how you are going.
tracey@ilovethat.com.au