Let it Go: Purging Clothes

How many of you have a closet full of clothes that are hardly ever worn? My own closet was packed with clothes that I had not worn in years. I guess the weight of those clothes became too much for my closet organization system. The closet collapsed last week. What a mess it was! A jumbled mess of clothing, shoes, hangers and wire shelving. This unfortunate event forced me to purge the closet.

Closet Collapse

First of all I had to psyche myself up for this project. In the back of my mind I always think “I might wear that shirt someday.” or “What if I change sizes again? I will need those pants.” That’s when I just have to think:

Let it go, let it go!

Once the purging began, it became easy to get rid of stuff. It was freeing. Here are my tips for purging clothing:

Try everything on. If it doesn’t fit, it must go. I was surprised to find that about half of my clothes were the wrong size.
Don’t keep clothing for sentimental reasons. I had several pieces that were given to me as gifts but I hated the color. I finally decided to let these items go. They were just taking up space.
If you have not worn an item in a years time, purge it. The only exceptions I made to this rule was for my formal dresses.
You don’t need 10 of the same color shirt or sweaters. I was amazed to find how many black sweaters I had. They were slightly different styles but basically the same. Limit yourself to a couple and purge the rest.

Closet After Purge

I ended up clearing out two large trash bags and a box full of clothes for Goodwill. We ended up with 45 empty hangers! Previously we couldn’t hang all of our clothes because we didn’t have enough hangers. I immediately took the items to Goodwill – don’t keep that clutter around! If you have several friends that are also purging clothes, organize a clothing swap! It’s a great way to get rid of your items and maybe pickup a few new items.

Even though our closet collapse was an unfortunate event, it forced us to do some major purging. In the end I am glad it happened.

Now it’s time for you to purge your closet and let it go! For more ideas on organizing your closet, checkout Litsa’s previous post on how she organized her master bedroom.

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Renae Chiovaro

Renae is a married working mom of two handsome boys. She works as a registered dental hygienist by day and blogs here at How to Have it All by night. She enjoys cooking from scratch, working in her vegetable garden and functional training.