Chapter two: out with the old, in with the new!

As I said goodbye to the magic of holiday season and popped all the confetti and champagne for new year’s eve. I found myself starting January with a major urge to purge.

One of these urges being my closet! I typically go through and purge my closet twice a year. First round in January and second round in June, so every six months. Trust me on this, it makes a huge difference. It makes it easier to declutter every time you do it because you’ll only have a few things to get rid of instead of piles and piles of stuff.

The secret to decluttering your closet without it becoming such a huge overwhelming task is having a system and breaking the process into categories. The more you go through your closet and get rid of things the easier it gets every time. A lot of people confuse decluttering/editing your closet with organizing your closet. They’re two different things, organizing your closet means you’re literally taking out every single item in your closet organizing it, switching hangers and putting it back in ( I will be writing a piece about this in the upcoming weeks).

Decluttering/editing your closet is when you go through your clothes and just get rid of items you don’t wear anymore or have out lived their time, you know like maybe the dress you wore 10 years ago and is now 3 sizes too small and you think you’ll fit it again but the truth is, you will never fit in that dress again.

Believe me, you can ask my thighs.

Here is how I declutter my closet, remember I do this twice a year so I don’t always end up with a huge mess. If you’re doing this for the first time it will get messy and might be a bit overwhelming but you can do it! Follow the five steps I take to declutter my closet and I am sure it will help.

Don’t get discouraged, it will feel so good once it’s done.

First I start by picking out a play list or a TV show I like to have playing in the background. For me it’s always a 90’s playlist, my country music playlist or Friends. Always Friends. The key here is to set a vibe, an upbeat happy vibe.

Second, your drink of choice. I told you this process doesn’t have to be boring.

Mine is either a glass of wine or a mimosa.

Third, comes the closet. You don’t need to take everything out of the closet, you need to go through piece by piece as it’s hanging in there. Start by pulling out the pieces that you haven’t worn in a while or ones you just know you won’t wear again. This is key!! you have to really do this, if there is a piece that still has it’s tag and it’s been over a year.. you need to let it go. If it’s an item you haven’t worn in over a year, let. it. go.

I am all for keeping sentimental pieces, but actual real sentimental pieces. Also if anything has holes, armpit stains, yellowing or pilling.. it. needs. to. go.

Once you pull a piece out set it on the bed and start different categories: Dresses, Jackets, Tops, skirts and pants. ( dog not included in the process but highly recommended for extra cuteness)

The easiest way to do this without making a huge mess is by going through your closet one category at a time.

I also make a pile of clothes that I like and want to keep but haven’t been able to wear because they need to be hemmed or altered.

If these items are still in the bag by the time you do your next closet edit, they need to go. You will never wear them.

I also pile all the hangers together neatly. There is nothing more annoying and anxiety inducing than a pile of unorganized hangers.

Fourth, is going through pieces you forgot you had or pieces you didn’t think you fit anymore, and that’s when the trying on fun begins! like this dress for example. I forgot I had this dress and I didn’t even know if it fit me anymore, I tried it on and I actually like it. So I am keeping it for the summer, if I don’t wear it by August, it’s going.

By step five, your bed should look like this. A pile of organized clothes. In my case this was all I got ride of this time around. Like I said because I do this twice a year, the piles get smaller and smaller.

Once everything is set up on the bed, I go through it all and decide what pieces are worth selling, donating and throwing away. I then separate them in bags and I’m done!

I usually try to sell the pieces on posh mart or instagram so my clothes can get better homes.

This whole process took me two hours and by the end of it I wasn’t losing my mind. Only because I edited out the pieces I didn’t need as I went through each category , I did’t end up with an explosion of clothes in my room that required more cleaning and organizing.

It’s pretty easy if you follow these five steps, I promise it will make editing your closet much more enjoyable and the more you do it the more you’ll get the hang of it.

Happy Decluttering.