Thursday, January 12, 2023

Organizing the closet - in two parts...

As I continue to wait for sock yarn to arrive, I've been busying myself with some organizing projects.  Nothing major.  Just as the spirit strikes, I clean out a cabinet or drawer and set it to rights - eliminating some things that have just become clutter. 

I've been lately inspired by this video:



Part 1

At the moment, I have the idea that I want to finally try minimizing the stuff in my part of the closet to just stuff I actually wear.  

I don't know who "they" are, but "they" say we tend to only wear 20 percent of what is actually in our closets.  I'm pretty sure that percentage is made up, but it's certainly true for me that most of what's in my closet doesn't seem to get worn.  At least not very often.  Why does this happen?   

A few things don't get worn because they don't fit quite right, but most things that never get worn more than a few times, I'm thinking I just don't like for one reason or another.  But then again, I bought them - so I must have liked them once upon a time. 

Why I find myself once again tired of pushing an unknown number of unworn clothes out of the way as I return to the closet the same 5 or 6 t-shirts, 3 or 4 sweaters, 3 yoga pants, and 2 or 3 pairs of jeans from the laundry over the course of a week, I really don't understand.  But I'm ready for a change.  

And given the number of YouTube videos that exist on this topic, I'm not alone in feeling this way.

There are different challenges out there for tackling this problem of having more clothes than one evidently wears.  

One idea is to pull everything out of the closet, and after a week or so the only things that go back into the closet are the things that were worn. 

And there's the trick of putting things in the closet on a hanger hung backwards on the rod, turning the hanger around only after wearing and returning an item.  After a set amount of time, it becomes clear what never gets worn.  

These are clever ideas, but I think I can skip this step.  My closet is fairly organized so I already know what I not wearing.  I see the same unworn things in their same spots every day.

So it feels like the question for me is what do I want to keep, along with how much do I need or want to keep? 

In an attempt to answer this question, some people whittle their closet down to just 30 items (some people include shoes in this number) for an experiment like this.  That seems unnecessarily spartan to me, so I am going to be realistic...  Assuming I actually have a week's worth of different outfits that actually fit me, and I like enough to wear in public,  I think whittling it down to just whatever clothes make up those outfits would be completely workable.  It's all I'm wearing at the moment anyway!  

The strategy in the video above is to only take out of the closet what I like, what fits, what I can wear comfortably.   Easy enough.

Once those things are out, I'll take a hard look at everything else and make some hard decisions.  I will have two choices - 1) to donate or 2) to put items I'm not sure of in a "time will tell" box.  

Okay.   Here I go...


Part 2:

So...  the above was written on Sunday, I believe.  I'm happy to say I accomplished the job over the course of two days.  It really wasn't that hard, but life interrupted and I needed to break the whole thing down into a couple of sessions.

No before and after photos.  You're just going to have to believe me when I say the closet hasn't looked this good since we moved in about 14 months ago.  I even managed to clear out (and put away) stuff inside two boxes full of odds and ends.  Odds and ends that didn't even belong in the bedroom, let alone in the closet.  There were also some some extra blankets and throw pillows that were being stored on the floor under the clothing.  Ugh.  That said, I did follow the steps in the video, and I was so excited by the improvement, I decided to put brighter lightbulbs in the closet. I don't mind seeing everything now!

I got rid of some things, but I also stored some items in a few "time will tell" boxes (the video explains this).  What I decided I wanted to keep in the closet got sorted by season better than it had been.  Some things (some tops in particular) that weren't getting worn, I realized just don't go with long pants I wear in the winter, so of course I wasn't wearing them.  They got hung up in another section of the closet with the summer capris I wear them with, and I'm not bothered by them at all now.  

For what it's worth, we don't have a huge closet.  It's a walk-in closet, but by today's standards it probably looks a tad small for two people to share.  But even at that, I probably have a couple of weeks worth of outfits, mixing and matching pieces, and just looking at it I can say that is plenty of clothes for me.  And I can still store some out-of-season clothes in there.  Granted, those out-of-season things are kind of crammed together, but that's okay.  I don't have to be able to see or easily access them for a few months.  I imagine I'll have another reckoning come spring, though. 

My reason for talking about the size of our closet and the amount of clothes I think I can be truly happy with, is that even though it's not an impressively large closet, it's clearly large enough to hold everything I need to wear - if everything in there is something I actually do wear.  

That's the goal. To only own clothing I actually wear. It really is a pretty simple concept, isn't it?  It may take a few rounds/seasons of this kind of sorting and purging, but I have hopes to someday actually have a wardrobe that fits in my closet.   With some room to spare, ideally...
 


27 comments:

  1. Closets always seem to need organizing. I like the way you worked through the plan. It is wonderful you managed in just two days! God bless!

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    1. Thank you, Mrs. White. Yes, it does seem to be the nature of closets that they need regular purging and organizing. It always feels good after doing so.

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  2. Since I live where there are clear seasons, I need clothes for all of them. But not many, a few items I wear a lot is about it. During my Great Winnowing of January 2020, I reduced my clothes to this level and haven't missed anything I free cycled or thrifted. Sounds like what you're doing.

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    1. We have four distinct seasons here too, Liz - but with a lot of overlap with our strange and every changing weather patterns - which means keeping out of season clothes easily available. I agree that I rarely actually regret having let something go - you'd think that would make it easier the next time, but I seem to always have to repeatedly learn that lesson.

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  3. I agree with Mrs. White, closets are always an ongoing project. I have followed Dawn (Minimal Mom) and find many of her concepts helpful...the time will tell box for one. I am not a minimalist and never wish to be, but I do want my home to run well. All the best with your project!

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    1. I agree about closets too, Vee. Unfortunately, I can ignore closets for too long. The time will tell box is helpful, but I tend to need more time than Minimal Mom suggests. What that often means for me, though, is when I finally get my epiphanies about how pointless it is to hang onto the items in a particular time will tell box, it's pretty easy to let the whole thing go.

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  4. I've been thinking of hoeing out and paring down. The video was helpful-thanks! My closet is way too full, and I know I have emotional connections to clothes I haven't worn...that's a hard one to break!

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    1. I understand that, Deb. On so many levels...

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  5. Oddly enough I was just reading about this in a book I got from the library. I've been doing the 'backwards hanger' routine and it's working well for me. I don't have that many clothes in the first place so it's pretty easy to keep the choices to something reasonable. Resident Chef actually has more clothes than I do (more shoes too). We have a really dinky closet and a dresser each and everything HAS to fit because there's simply nowhere else to put it.

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    1. Mary Anne, your comment makes me think of the "container concept". Another youtuber: https://www.youtube.com/@DanaKWhite transformed my thinking with this concept.

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    2. I follow Dana White and have read her books - she's the best!

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  6. Becki, I am always ambivalent about organizing clothes. On the one hand, completely agree that I have way more than I need. On the other hand, if I pare down too much I always end up wearing the same things, and then wearing things out, and then having to get some different clothes. I have not quite found the right balance yet.

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    1. I understand, TB. Something my brain can't quite understand, regarding minimizing clothing... if we truly owned only what we actually need at any given point in time, it seems I will continually (or at least more often than I do) be on the lookout for new clothes - things get stained or ruined in ways that makes them unwearable for certain purposes. When that happens, if I had a super spartan closet, I will be thrust into feeling like I need to replace that ruined item. But often, that exact item isn't available later. The only solution I've come up with for this is to sometimes buy two of item I consider a staple that is likely to wear out or get stained. But somehow that is never quite enough for me. I still end up buying more than I need. I'd like to find that happy place where I have what I need with just enough surplus to feel smart, but not so much as to feel wasteful. I haven't gotten there - yet...

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  7. Great post, inspirational. Bravo for doing so well!

    Similat issues going on with my small closet. I try. So far I am down to wear and will wear again when I lose weight. Clothes are not going to get cheaper. My clothes are so basic, nothing I have will go out of style.

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    1. May, I do this too. The last time I pared down my closet, I only keep (in boxes) some clothing that I could wear again if I lost about 20 lbs. I figured if I ever manage to lose those 20 lbs I'll be glad to have some clothes at the ready, and if I keep going I'll be so excited about the weight loss, I'll be eager to go clothes shopping again. But yes... I tend to feel keeping some clothing that could accommodate a weight loss of 10-20 lbs is actually kind of smart.

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    2. I agree with this. As May said, clothes are not going to get cheaper. And they are not going to get any more well made, either.

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    3. That last part I hadn't thought of, Mrs. T., but I'm sure you're right!

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  8. As someone who got rid of 95 percent of my crap at one point, I love a good declutter. LOVE it. Here’s to having fun and kicking butt. Yarn sounds fun too!

    As for clothes, hubby and I really don’t keep things we don’t wear. It’s gotta be used, I don’t believe the 20% is true for our home.

    Really, sometimes it’s just a matter of being brave and letting go. Wonderful feelings.

    Congrats on the before and after. Picture or no, I believe you! Cheers, Ivy.

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    1. It does feel good once I let go of things, Ivy. I wonder why it sometimes feels so hard to actually make the decision to do it? One of life's mysteries I'm still trying to figure out. Oddly, I think it gets harder the older we get.

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    2. I got rid of 95 percent of my crap in 2016 and I found that once I started, it wasn't hard. It was a lot of fun. So much fun. Then I had to more recently get rid of anything with aluminum for baking and I found it went smooth. These are just things. Both times though, I had my why. I knew why I was doing it and that is a powerful place to be. Once we know or why, the rest falls in line.

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  9. Oh, I'm going to try the things that video suggests. I am a militant purger ( I have a monthly charity pickup scheduled so that I am forced to declutter at least a bag full when the truck is coming) but I have the same problem getting rid of clothes! And the thought of emptying my closet feels overwhelming, so I don't do it. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  10. There are some things I only wear on Christmas or Easter, fancier dresses...and my pearls!

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    1. Martha, I almost wrote that I have a few items of clothing that I only wear on certain occasions. For example, I have a pair of black slacks I haven't worn in over a year. At this point, they are for funerals and maybe dinner at a nice restaurant. With the right top and shoes, I could probably wear them to a wedding, even. While I don't have many reasons to wear dress pants, there's no way I'd not own a pair (as long as it's in my power to own them). I have a couple of tops kept for similar reasons.

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  11. Good for you Becki! De-cluttering in general can be challenging. I have so many clothes and I generally just wear the same ones over and over. I call them "wardrobe" now because I find I change my clothes more for my videos than for my every day life lol!

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  12. Impressive, Becki! I have so much more stuff than I need, and this inspires me to start culling.

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    1. Thanks, Bob! Hubs must have been inspired too. Today he came back from the library with Downsizing for Dummies. lol

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