Every six months I tend to have a major cleaning throughout
our home and remove unwanted or outgrown items. In past blog posts, I’ve taken
you on my Fall Cleaning 101 routine, my 30 Bags in 30 Days Challenge, and Crystal Paine's Organize and Declutter Challenge. Usually by
October of every year, my seasonal cleaning is complete or at least well
underway. Needless to say, I’m behind the curve and Thanksgiving is next week.
While we don’t plan on having a house full of guests, you just never know how
the week will progress.
Last night found me knee deep in
a clothes and closest clean-out. Why
the master bedroom closet first when no one besides my husband and I see it?
Well, it seems to be the place where items with no place go to first – there or
the garage (which is an entirely different job all on its own). By the way, we
aren’t messy people. In fact, I’m an organizer by heart and it offends my sensibilities
when I have things out of place in my home. Having things misplaced is one of
my main stress points and by acknowledging this, I strive to keep my home
orderly.
Back to the closet – first things
first, after the cool weather moved in, our Winter gear came out and got added
to our closet. Bulky jackets, ski bibs and cold weather boots take up quite a
bit of room when all sorts of other items have also made a home next to your
blue jeans and tennis shoes. I felt that starting in the closet would lead to
the next place in the floor plan being cleaned out and thus move through the
entire house in a matter of week at one to two hours every evening. I'm hoping to
evade holiday clutter by being proactive and removing items for donations beforehand.
Last night, I rearranged my
clothing to reflect the season, filled an entire garbage bag full of clothes to
donate and cleared out old papers, broken hangers and other items not in good
shape to donate. Why do we hang on to these things for so long? Three bags later
and my side of the closet appears to be neat and orderly once again.
Now, onto the bathroom and linen cabinets
where all sorts of unnecessary items lurk.
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Closet clean-out tips
·
If your garment is not a seasonal item and you
have not worn it in the past 3 months, get rid of it.
·
If you have a stack of clothes needing repairs
and they’ve been there long enough to collect dust, get rid of it.
·
If you love to wear scarves year round, purchase
an inexpensive scarf hanger at any major retail outlet (The Container Store,
Target, Wal-Mart) to keep them in one place.
·
Don’t keep old worn shoes. Well, keep one pair
for outdoor or messy work, but other than that if they are scuffed, faded, or
holey, it’s time to remove them from your closet. (I’m not the best at throwing
out old shoes!)
