I’m so so sorry I missed last Tinker Thursday! I don’t know if it was because I just could not get adjusted to being back at work, or if the first week of summer session #2 completely caught me off guard… but a post never happened… and I truly apologize.
That being said, I am back with a fun little post. I recently went online shopping and figured I should take a look at my closet to see what I can rid of. Curse you Fall Fashion! My favorite fashion season… hence the new clothing. ANYWAY. On to the meat of my post: How-To Sort Your Closet!
Disclaimer: I am not a closet-cleaning expert. I am sharing a few tips and tricks that work for me and my cleaning/purging style. Some of these may not work well for you.
- Make it a recurring theme - Sure, “Spring Cleaning” works for some people, but for me, spring is the busiest time of year (work and school-wise). I find it easier to handle when I look through my closet periodically. We usually do two balikbayan send-offs per year, and I find this the perfect opportunity to send some clothes to my family in the Philippines.
- On that note: Have a destination for your unwanted clothing - I think it’s easier to get rid of something when you know it will end up somewhere it is really appreciated. Sending my unwanted clothes to the Philippines not only gives my relatives “new” clothing to wear, but they are so incredibly thankful for anything I send. It warms my heart to know that I can give them things that make them happy; simple things like clothing. Whether it be handing down articles of clothing to relatives, donating to a local shelter, or selling them online to buy new clothing - having an endgame is a great motivator.
- Take everything out - Yes, you heard me! Take everything out of your closet and place it on the bed. It doesn’t matter if you do it all at once or by sections, physically removing clothing from your closet makes you more conscious of what you put back into it. I remove sections at a time and sort things out on my bed.
- Make different piles - Whenever I clean out my closet, I sort things into “Definitely Keep”, “Maybe/Maybe Not”, and “Definitely Not Keep”. There are times when I’m doing a random sort through that everything remains in the “Definitely Keep” pile, but hey, at least you had the intention of sorting things out, right?
- Be honest with yourself - Are you really going to wear that article of clothing again? If you’re like me, you hold on to a lot of things because they’re attached to some sort of memory. I’ve gotten better at letting go of pieces of clothing. If you can’t remember the memory without the clothing as a trigger, was it really that memorable?
- Rearrange your clothing the way you see fits best - I go through phases where I want everything arranged by color, then switch it up to type of clothing, then back to color. I usually place batches back into the closet and then inter-arrange (is that a term?) newer batches into the initial set.
- Here’s a little trick I learned from YouTube: Flip your hanger hooks so they’re hooked on from the inside of your closet. Whenever you take an article of clothing out, you can place it back into the closet with the hanger placed “normally”. When it comes time to do your periodic closet sort, pull out the articles of clothing whose hangers weren’t flipped over first. You obviously did not wear them for a reason. Don’t put any of these in your “Definitely Keep” pile. Sort them into your “Maybe” and “Do Not Keep Piles”.
As with any advice, there are exceptions to a rule. Of course you’re not going to wear your wedding gown within 6 months to a year. Of course that’s a memorable article of clothing. I am the queen of sass, so do not attempt to sass me on this. =P As previously mentioned, these are just a few tips that work for me and my lifestyle.
Let me know if you have any tips on cleaning out your closet! I know I probably missed some crucial steps, but I think this is generally how I go about sorting through mine. Hope this post was somewhat helpful! I’ll be back in two weeks with something new!
xo, rox
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