I know what you’re thinking – spring cleaning is SCARY. It’s messy, it takes a lot of effort, and it takes a lot of quick decision making in choosing what to keep, what to sell and what to donate. To be honest, I “spring clean” probably once per month because of my job, and all of the clothing I own, but I always do a BIG closet overhaul in the spring usually around the time that I pull out my clothing from the previous year that was in storage, and realize that a lot of the pieces are ones I would no longer wear. I also like to sell and donate a chunk of my winter clothes when the season ends, to have less possessions in storage, because I feel like having more things can weigh me down.
… so FEAR NOT. My hope is by the end of this blog post you’re inspired to tear apart your closet, pull everything out, MAKE A MESS, and then put it all back together in a more fresh and paired down way. It’s time to #LifeALittleMore and own a little less, because having less clothes makes it easier to grab what you really love, get dressed quicker and LIVE MORE FREELY!
1 – The “have you worn it in a 12 month span” rule – This is how I start ALL closet clean outs – I pull out everything, down to the socks and undies in my drawers, and I pick each item up and ask myself “Have I worn you within the past year?” So, let’s say last summer happened, and you never wore a swimsuit, not even once. Now it’s about to be this summer, and you’re wondering whether to keep the swimsuit or toss it. I’d say to say goodbye! If you didn’t wear it for a full 12 month span, odds are it’s old news and it’s time to say goodbye. Doing this may be time consuming (and hard to accept for some pieces!) but I’ve noticed that after the chaotic mess, my closet comes back to me in a much more paired down way!
2 – Deep Clean Everything, Even Places You Haven’t Reached Into For Months – Sometimes, even if you don’t have THAT much to donate, just the sheer fact of pulling everything out, and cleaning the closet and drawer spaces makes everything feel more fresh. Usually in the midst of step 1, I also clean. I’ll use the Swiffer WetJet Wood to grab all of those dust bunnies from the shoe storage on the bottom of my closet (you all know those dust bunnies/ shoe storage! I feel like I have them in every home I’ve ever lived in). I LOVE the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Sheets to scrub out the insides of my drawers – they always get gross from makeup and hair spray. I also spray the entire area with Febreze Air and Fabric Spray to give it that nice spring feeling! This makes everything feel so much nicer after all of your clothes go back inside.
3 – Ask yourself how each piece made you feel the last time you wore it – This one is a huge one for me. I have a lot of pieces that are still cute or in style, but that make me feel self conscious, or are just ill-fitting. These are the easiest pieces that I fall victim to keeping, just because MAYBE I’ll wear them again soon, BUT if a piece doesn’t make you feel great, why would you ever want to wear it again? It’s so not worth your time! These don’t pass step 1, but are pieces that should also probably go goodbye!
4 – Accept that you will sell pieces for much less than you paid – This is another BIG wake up call – if you’re holding on to something because you think it’s valuable, you are going to need to accept that when you resell clothes online, you usually don’t get back even 50% of what you paid. But, you’re getting something, and something is better than nothing. Everything that doesn’t sell for me, I eventually donate, just because it is easier.
5 – Consider the idea of ONLY ONE – As human beings, we collect things. We find our perfect pair of jeans, but then for some reason continue to buy new pairs, until we own 10 pairs of jeans, but only really wear the same one or two. So I challenge you to consider the idea of getting rid of all of your striped shirts that you don’t wear too often, and only keeping the one that you wear to death. This is how I seriously have chopped my wardrobe in 1/2. I sold and donated most of my jeans, because who needs 30 pairs??? not me!!
So I challenge you to get in those closets, and start your Spring Cleaning!!
*This post is sponsored by P&G Home Care, but as always all opinions are my own.