Golden Rules for Cleaning Out Your Closet

A few weeks ago I was visiting a friend and she asked me for help with cleaning out her closet. She had recently moved to a smaller apartment and wanted to de-clutter but was having trouble doing it herself. As a self-proclaimed purger I was happy to help!

It was an interesting process helping a friend decide what to keep and what to toss because there were multiple times when we would pull out an old T-shirt that she never wore outside of her apartment that to me was an easy “toss,” but to her it held sentimental value so she sincerely struggled with letting it go.

What ended up helping the most with this exercise was repeating the same couple of questions for each “maybe” item.

LET IT GO IF…

• You haven’t worn this item in 8 months
• It doesn’t fit
  • EVEN if it was expensive or never worn
  • Never hold on to items that are too big or too small because you think your weight might fluctuate

• It’s beyond repair
  • Pilling fabric
  • Thin fabric
  • Holes

• You don’t feel great about yourself when you wear it
• You wouldn’t wear it around someone you would like to impress (this includes PJs!)

ALTERATIONS / REPAIRS / DRY CLEANING

• You have ONE WEEK or they go to Goodwill
• If you don’t care enough about the item to take care of the item then it deserves a better home

SENTIMENTAL ITEMS

• Can it be re-purposed into something useful? (I have seen people create pillow cases or tote bags out of sentimental t-shirts)
• If so then you have one week to re-purpose the item. If you don’t do it within a week, then that item is clearly not important enough to keep so let it go
• If it can’t be re-purposed, it’s time to let it go