I love my house. It was built for us, and I made sure that many extra storage spaces were added so I’d have room to tuck everything away. For the most part, I’d keep my house exactly the way it is, but there is one area that continues to plague me. I just haven’t been able to stay on top of the mess in there.
My house is generally pretty orderly and clean, so it’s not like I was headed toward being the next guest star on Hoarders. I recently organized all my earrings (click here for a fun way to do it too), but I knew there was still room for improvement in my closet. Although it’s organized by style, it’s amazing how quickly the piles can get jumbled together.
I give away clothes on a regular basis, but it still feels like I’m hanging on to a lot of things I really don’t wear. One tip I’ve heard again and again is to turn all the hangers around (see picture below). When you wear an item, turn the hanger the right way. Once 6 months have passed, you donate anything you didn’t use.
I decided to jump on board with the idea. Because I live in an area with such wild swings in weather, I’m giving myself some extra time before I make my donation. My plan is to donate any warm weather clothing not worn after six months, and cold weather clothing after a year. I’ll put up a post at those times and let you know how it’s going.
Before I turned anything around, however, I went out and bought matching hangers. At $1.17 for a 10-pack, it was worth it to be able to dump all those wire freebies from the dry cleaners. It already looks better in there with just that small change.
Do you have a system you use for getting rid of clutter in your life and/or your closet? Or are you hanging on to it all for dear life? I’d love to hear any tips you have!
I board fold all of my shirts on my shelves… and it gives me more room than when I “air fold”…and it looks soooo pretty!
Hmmm… where can I get one of those boards?!
I use the month of March to go through my house, room by room and cupboard by cupboard. I make 4 “piles” – keep, donate, set aside for garage sale, throw away. It keeps me busy while I’m waiting for those first warm days and I have the satisfaction of a clean and tidy house once spring hits. That equals more time outside! The hanger idea is a good one – I’ll have to try that!
oh dear. i spent an entire morning yesterday cleaning my closet, and it was a mess! With the rest of my house i am pretty good at giving away things I haven’t used or seen in three months, ( aside from seasonal items- those are stored away in our storage) but with our closets i find that so difficult to sort. This time I was determined to make sense of it all and actually pulled out an entire bag of nice clothes I never wear because they just dont fit right. Now I am glad that I did it because I have my husband convinced I need to invest more into my wardrobe!
I did the hanger thing last year and I realized that there was stuff in there I obviously didn’t like but it also made me look more closely at the ones that weren’t getting turned around and challenged me to find a way to wear it. In the end I got rid of 3 large bags of clothes.
Just did this yesterday. And, I am a fan of good hangers. I just changed out mine for the fuzzy non slip type…They are great for small straps and silky things!! I also repeat the matra ~ less is more!!
Good luck! ~Chris Ann
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