Is your cupboard stuffed with outdated clothing, and clothes you hope will fit again? Are shoes stacked in heaps and papers starting to invade your clothing space? Not able to find what you want when you desperately need it?
Now is the perfect time to edit our clothing with the change of season. Statistics show that we wear 20% of our clothing most of the time, 10% on special occasions and 70% rarely or never. It is important to know what you want – Do you want to look and feel good in what you wear and have easy access to what you own? Learn to let go and think of how you will enrich someone else’s life while simplifying yours!
Getting started:
- Buy a pack of the best hangers in the same colour and material you can afford. Wire hangers destroy the shape of clothing.
- Get proper shoe storage, i.e. transparent shoe storage boxes, or racks.
- Small containers for socks, pantyhose, g-strings, bras, underwear.
- Racks for ties and belts.
- Moth guards or Cedar wood blocks.
- Get plastic bags in different colours for the items that you no longer need or want. Label them with a thick marker with the person’s or charity’s name on it. Cardboard boxes to pack shoes and bags.
Making space:
Take one item of clothing out of the cupboard making immediate decisions. Be ruthless. Place them on the following piles:
1. Give aways / Donations.
- To your favourite charity or to your domestic, give away items that you haven’t worn the past season, wrong size, outdated but still in good condition.
- To the Cinderella Project or Magic Moments, any special occasion garments shoes or bags you no longer need or want.
- To a friend, something that you know she / he always wanted.
2. To sell
- Designer clothing to 2nd Hand designer shops for resale
- Good items can be resold at Jumble or Garage sales.
3. To keep
Clothing that you love – it must fit and be in style. Start with a clean empty cupboard before repacking.
- Do minor repairs before putting these clothes back into the cupboard or into storage.
- Launder and store out of the season clothing in a different cupboard or in a labelled container / suitcase in another location.
- Create synergy among your seasonal clothing. Create categories, sort by length, like with like, colour with colour. Fold or hang clothing neatly and allow breathing space. Remember to hang only one garment per hanger, what you don’t see, you don’t wear!
- Store delicate articles in separate containers to avoid snagging and save time searching for lost items that slip under others.
- Hang belts and ties on racks
- Store hats and bags on one shelf
- Keep clothing for special occasion and funny weather changes accessible, towards the back of the cupboard.
- Create a space for your shoes. Keep those that you use often accessible. If you have a shoe fetish store your shoes in the original box with a photo of them on it, or invest in clear transparent storage boxes (may be ordered from me). These are easily stacked while protecting your beautiful shoes.
Keeping order:
- Follow the old sayings of “One in one out”, “Less is more” or “Quality not quantity”
- Place the bags and boxes for give aways and resale immediately into the boot of your car to take them away. Do not peek!
- Daily – put items in the laundry bin, hang or put them away.
- Do your mending before putting it in the washing
- Keep a give away container for items that you no longer need or want. When it is full, take it to the charity of your choice, preventing clutter.
Now stand back and enjoy the space that you have created. Feel good about the people that will benefit from your unwanted items! Reward yourself for a job well done by getting that special item you did not have space for before.
Heidi Meyer
Professional Organiser
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