What To Do When You Have Too Many Clothes
“I don’t even know where to begin!” is a common refrain I hear when it comes to decluttering an overstuffed closet. And so, the decluttering never begins, the clothes pile up, and despite owning more stuff than ever, we feel like we have absolutely nothing to wear.
If you feel helpless, overwhelmed and can only bring yourself to fling a rogue tank top in the hamper, you’re not alone. Here are some tips to jumpstart that closet decluttering session, when you’ve been putting it off for too long:
1. Just START. Many closet decluttering procrastinators are perfectionists. Since they can never find the right window of time, or the right organizing solutions, they simply don’t start at all. If you’re busy as ever, just dive in and set a timer for 15 minutes. You can schedule a recurring time in your calendar for every Saturday/Sunday, or if you’re more ambitious, try a daily (15 minute) declutter for a week. Either way, you’ll make significant progress. Slow and steady wins the race!
2. Focus on one category at a time. Breaking down your closet into categories is the secret to avoiding overwhelm. Contrary to what other decluttering experts suggest, I’m not a fan of throwing your clothes into a massive Mount Everest on the floor. Overwhelm much?! Instead, gather your sneakers, socks, tights, belts, purses, pins—whatever you’re the *least*attached to, and start there first. And if your categories aren’t already neatly categorized, gather everything together first and then begin decluttering.
3. Don’t organize; declutter. I think many people get tripped up over the difference between organizing and decluttering. Decluttering always comes first, organizing second. We’re not even mentioning The Container Store until we’ve sufficiently edited down our belongings. In closet decluttering terms, we’re simply eliminating items from each category that we don’t love or use.
4. Create a “maybe pile.” Chances are, you’re feeling pretttyyy pretttty on the fence about some of those clothes in your closet. To avoid getting stuck on an item, I say yea to a maybe box. Conceal the box in another part of your home, then set a reminder to revisit it in three months’ time. I used to be quite militant about getting those “maybe” clothes out the door, but now my stance has softened. I’m happy to level here just so that you can experience a more edited, pared down closet.
5. Ask yourself the right questions. If you do find yourself getting too hung up on whether to keep or donate something, here are some helpful questions to ask yourself: 1. Would I buy this again today? 2. Does this fit or flatter me? and 3. Is this still my style? Asking yourself these questions gets us out of our heads, and back into our feelings about our stuff. And of course, don’t forget to try your clothes on along the way!