The Great Closet Clean-Out
Posted Friday August 28, 2009
Do you have a case of closet-phobia? You know, that disease that strikes so many of us where we’re afraid to approach our closets for fear of not being able to find clothes or worse, being sucked in to the chaos and never being able to escape.
There’s hope.
First of all, it’s not as bad as you think. As bad as you think you’ve got it, I’ve seen worse AND cleaned it out in less than a day. You can do this! But only if you really want to. So read these tips and try them out if you really want to take on the incredible, but extremely rewarding task of cleaning out the closet.
- Get the motivation. If you don’t have a vision of what you want for your closet, you’ll never cut through all the junk that stands in the way. Check out some pictures of awesomely organized closets to get fired up. Perhaps you can even pick up a roll of pretty shelf paper or some nice hangers to inspire you to clean out that sucker and make it a beautiful spot.
- Take baby steps. Don’t empty out the entire closet at once (unless you planning to be seriously medicated for the next month). Instead, take it one little step at a time. Get out that egg timer and set it for fifteen minutes. Now just do one shelf or just clear out the shoes.
- Sort through the stuff. It’s just like any other crisis in our lives. The first thing we need to do after the shock has settled in is to sort through the details. After you empty out the contents of that one spot, sort through it and divide it into three piles:
- 1—Put it away. These are items that are going to go back into your closet.
- 2—Give it away. These are items that are going to be passed along, either to a friend or your favorite charity.
- 3—Throw it away. You already know where these items go!
- Get it away from you. For those items you are giving away, remember to bag them up and immediately put them in the trunk of the car to drop off at your favorite charity or your friend’s house the next time you’re out. If you don’t get it away from you, you’ll be tempted to dig back into those bags and pull stuff out.
- Pretty it up. This is the best part. Once you empty off that shelf or get the shoes out, do something to make it prettier. Put some cute shelf paper on the shelves or vacuum the floor of the closet. This simple action will get you motivated to not only put it away in a organized fashion, but also to keep it that way.
- Put it in containers. Before you put the items back into your closet, make sure you keep them contained in something. For example, I have all my shoes stuck in a plastic laundry tub and all my scarves rolled up and stuck in a basket. But remember, there’s no need to take a trip to the store if you already have something you can use at home. Save money by using what you’ve got.
With these easy tips and little pockets of time here and there, you will pretty soon have a closet you can be proud of. No more closet-phobia!!!
