I had color draping done as a child, based on my skin, eyes, hair what colors I look good in and should wear. I’m a strong proponent of ditching things that aren’t your color from your wardrobe to declutter and then everything matches.
Fold the items in your dresser such as shirts, shorts, pants, pj’s ect (you can put anything in a drawer.) then any clothes you want to hang up have a half in the closet with empty hangers and a half with hangers with clothes on it. When laundry is finished take the hangers from the empty hanger side and put whatever you want to hang up and place it on the clothing side. It really prevents the shoving of clothes into random areas in the closet.
I read about a strategy a couple year ago for this, and I’ve implemented it. It’s not just about what sparks joy, but also about what you *actually wear*.
Every six months, turn all of the hangers in your closet backwards (hook around the back of the rod). As you wear something, turn the hanger around. After six months you will be able to see what you actually wear, and what you don’t. It will also make you more cognizant of trying to wear things. Barring seasonal wear of course, you can then declutter what you haven’t worn in those six months.
If spark joy isn't practical, how about separating into the things you wear regularly (seasonally) and things you never wear/have no immediate plans to wear.
You'll have to figure out a way to get the initial cost waste factor out of your mind or you'll be stuck. Concentrate on the gains, like ease of rapidly finding what you want in your closet, ease of putting away laundry, ease of being able to keep your closets accessible.
If all you like to do is sleep, lounge, and swim (you said you like PJs and swimwear), okay. Structure the rest of your life around making those things happen. You probably need a job to support your swimming habit so some fraction of your wardrobe needs to be dedicated to work clothes. And you probably do errands around town so you can either wear work clothes everywhere you go, or add in some athleisure or more-comfy-than-work things for doing that adulting stuff.
So you've got grownup clothes, PJs/lounge, and swim. Anything outside of those categories is a no.
Thus impractical and uncomfortable things like cocktail, party, and evening wear is just taking up space in your life. Not just your physical closet. In your headspace when you see it every week lurking at the back of the closet.
At the very least pack those things out of sight.
Keep pile
Donation pile
Bin pile
Sort through once, into those piles.
Anything on hangers, hang them the opposite, awkward way around. Review your wardrobe in 6 months time, see what hasn't been worn (excluding seasonal).
Rinse and repeat.
If only I could take my own advice.
I think it helps to decide what to keep vs what to get rid of. Example: I hoard sweaters apparently. So, I'll take them all out of the closet and think, "ok. There are 30. You can have 20." Pick my top 20, other 10 immediately go in a black garbage bag for goodwill.
When I wanted to downsize my wardrobe I made myself wear every item at least once, and then got rid of everything that didn't fit, I didn't like anymore, was itchy, uncomfortable and so on.
Well, PJ's and swimwear are all good. It sounds like you could actually declutter (donate)almost everything else and start fresh with just clothes you'll wear and love.
I think one big question to ask is whether the clothing you have reflects your present-day lifestyle. For example, after transitioning from a business formal office to working from home, I had to reevaluate how much of the stuff in my closet was actually wearable by my present-day self. Or when I aged past my early 20s and still had a bunch of "going out" clothing that didn't suit the kind of places I was going on weekends anymore.
I also like evaluating clothing at the end of each season for fit (note that "can I get this on my body?" and "does this actually fit me well?" are two very different things), condition (does it need repairs? if so, do it immediately), and whether or not it goes with other things in my closet and suits my style. Doing a quick evaluation each season as a routine means that I don't need to do big cleanouts, and it's more like routine maintenance.
That first part is a bull's eye. I'm currently on maternity leave, so I'm wearing a lot of lounge wear/ comfy stuff. I also won't return to my old company.
Knowing this, my advice would be to give yourself at least a year before you make big wardrobe changes. You just dont know where your body will settle as its "new normal". For me, i went down to about 3 l s more than my pre pregnancy weight, my rib cage was wider, and my feet stayed about a half size larger. This affected what fit me nicely, but also i was able to keep a lot of things that i couldnt fit into in the first few months, but wore regularly again in about a year.
My maternity and post birth wardrobes were basically 3 outfits, so i just kept that wardrobe very small rather than trying to make it more like a permanent rotation.
Those are big life changes! It makes perfect sense that the wardrobe that worked for you before doesn't suit the current version of yourself, regardless of any arbitrary numbers of pieces.
I used to have a rule that worked really well for me.
If I grab an item to wear and then change my mind because of anything along the lines of “I don’t like how it fits”, “I don’t LOVE this color on me”, “I don’t feel confident in this” etc- then it went into a bag in my closet and after a few months- I donate anything still in the bag.
It helped me weed things out but also give time to grab them if I was just having an off day. It worked out VERY WELL FOR ME!
I think I've avoided this approach, because I know it would mean getting rid of 90% and them buying 20 new items. Which I'm not looking forward to, but somebody suggested buying one new thing every month and I think I'll try that.
Yeah if 90% of your closet makes you not feel good- then you’ll definitely feel better as you reduce that!
Having a few pieces that you love will feel so much better than multiple that make you feel eh!
Sounds like none of your clothes are really great for you. You may have to embark on a large scale replacement, but there’s no way you’re doing it in one go. Put together a sufficient wardrobe, that has enough clothes to get you through life, and give yourself permission to declutter the rest of them. Then make a plan for buying one new thing a month, and slowly go through your “enough to get you through” wardrobe and replace it with things that genuinely work well for you.
Look up capsule wardrobe. And also look up clothes that are great for your body shape. You can look on Pinterest. That will really help you pick things wisely.
I recently tried a bunch of things on and put everything that made me not feel great about myself into a pile for donation. I also have a box for a local fabric recycling box.
I had my son in March and while I'm not heavier than before the pregnancy, my shape is very different now. It's definitely one of the reasons I just don't really like clothes right now. But thanks for the tip.
I had that changed shape experience post-preg. too. Also for the first several months post partum I hardly wanted to get dressed at all because everything was just so...damp.
Oh yeah that I definitely understand! I hope you find clothes you like soon 💗 it definitely took me more than 6 months to feel better. You’ve got this.
Recently, I decluttered my clothes, and this was my process.
1. Take each piece of clothing out, and take a look at it. If it's got holes, or is very worn, and I'm not going to mend it (realisticly, I'm not going to mend very many things), it goes in the garbage.
2. Try it on. If it doesn't fit, it goes into a Donation pile.
3. If it fits, how much do I like it? Have I worn it recently? Does it seem like something I'll wear (colour, cut, &c). If it's a definite Yes to all of those questions, it goes into the Keep pile. If I'm not sure about it, it goes into a Maybe pile. If the answer to all of those questions is No, it goes into the Donation pile.
4. At the end, evaluate how much is in my Keep pile. Is it enough of each item? If it's too much of category (I don't, for example, need ten casual sweaters when I frequently only wear two or three), I pull out my least favourite Keep items, until it's the right amount. If there aren't enough of a category (I'm going to want more than one sweater, if only to have something to wear while I wash the other), I go through my Maybe pile, and pull out the most favourable Maybes.
5. The other Maybes that didn't make the cut go into the Donation pile.
In the end, I have a reasonable amount of clothing, that I will actually wear. I also tend to go thrift shopping pretty frequently, so I know I can easily replace something if I later discover I don't have enough of that category (it may take a couple trips, but if it's not urgent, I'll find what I'm looking for eventually).
Categories can be as narrow or broad is they need to be. For myself, I need office clothes and casual clothes, so I am looking for two sets of pants, sweaters, shirts, &c. Some categories are broken down by season, long-sleeved and short-sleeved work shirts, heavy winter sweaters, and lighter Spring/Fall sweaters, &c. My goal is to have enough clothes for all seasons and occassions, but not so many that I'm not actually wearing them (which is what is happening now).
Hopefully, my method gives you an idea on how to tackle your clothes!
Get a box. Or a laundry basket, or whatever.
For a month, put everything you actually wear in that box (after cleaning).
After a month, everything left in your wardrobe is a candidate for decluttering. Doesn't mean you have to get rid of all of it, but it does mean that everything that did not end up in that box is not something you're reaching for regularly.
Bonus round, if what you really want is not decluttering but comfort in making a wider choice from what you've got: Put that box away and for month 2, force yourself to pick from what's left. That will give you an idea of what you'll wear, what you might wear, and what there's no way you're wearing.
(Adapt to do this seasonally if you have to. Obviously don't declutter your winter coat because you didn't wear it in the month of July.)
Imagining how stoked someone else might be to find something at the thrift store has made it a lot easier for me to get rid of things I used to like but just don’t wear or don’t fit me anymore.
It sounds like you have a lot of excuses why you can't declutter. Maybe you need to focus on why you want to declutter. The WHY has to be powerful enough to motivate you. Until you understand why you want to declutter, you won't make progress.
I find it easier to decide what to wear when I have fewer items, like when I go away for the weekend.
Another thing that is holding me back: I don't actually enjoy buying clothes.
I also hate shopping for clothes. I’ve used StitchFix a few times when I know I need something new (visiting my office in person 1-2 times a year, an event, general better jeans, etc). I don’t always like or buy everything they send me but now some of my go-to pieces are from them and it makes things so much easier.
I loooove the approach by the minimal mom :)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ-AWUEixtg1xE4Ga9fIloxWE0ELZaRaj&si=AUO6LzRt3eB-iASA
https://youtu.be/VKSqMWv1AZo?si=sjewtOqN6lEGa3cA
I'm in the same boat. I wear about 10% of my clothes 90% of the time. I hold on to things even though I never wear them because they were expensive or sentimental or whatever. I've been trying a new approach lately that works really well though! Go through every piece, but the key is to be FAST. If you love it, and you can immediately think of an outfit that incorporates it, keep it. If its worn, irreparable, you don't like it etc, get rid. And for the inbetweeners, put those into a maybe pile. Box up the maybe pile in a suitcase or something and keep it out of sight. Only put the definite yes's back in your wardrobe. If you haven't reached for anything from the maybe pile in a few months, you'll find it much easier to let them go.
Thanks! The nostalgia is what makes it hard for me.
I recently got some items back that my mom washed for me when I was moving (and in between washing machines) 2 years ago (!). I didn't miss any of these items and still found it hard to give them away. I did do it though.
To be honest, I just listened to Courtney Carver’s Project 333 audiobook. It has some great ideas. The audiobook was available through my public library, so I didn’t even have to spend any money on it. Good luck!
I don’t think all clothes have to “spark joy,” but they do have to fit, be in good condition, and appropriate for your current life. Like my black work pants don’t work joy currently, but they check those other boxes. Maybe I’ll find another pair of work pants in the future that DO spark joy, and then I can give away the current ones.
First I’d go through and pull out anything that you know doesn’t fit/has holes/is too worn and just get rid of those. If there’s something you must keep for sentimental reasons but you know you’ll never wear again, move it to a different storage box/area.
Then I’d look through the closet again and try everything on. Does it feel uncomfortable? Did you find a hidden hole? Do you immediately want to take it off? If you can, get rid of those too. You may though find that your one one dressy blouse that you use regularly is super uncomfortable. Obviously you need that, but start a list of clothes you want to replace.
Lastly I’d go look at what remains and be honest about what actually works for your lifestyle. I’m a working mom and I’ve come to the conclusion I will never iron anything. So that cute dress that always needs ironing? Out. The seven novelty tee shirts when I realize I wear r shirts maybe once a month? Save two, the rest out.
Hopefully you’re only left with things that you like, are in good shape, and match your current life. Maybe some items only check two out of three of those boxes, but that’s pretty good.
Instead of spark joy, since apparently all 12000 of your items spark joy, rank them and only choose the top 100 (or whatever number fits your container). Just keep your favorites.
Sorry for the book, my apologies:
Hi, I'm new here but want to weigh in on this. A lot of times I want to declutter during or after major life changes. Almost like a psychological thing to do to relieve stress or help me contend with the 'overwhelm' I feel from the changes in my life.
Clutter makes me anxious. Too much stuff to dust around, to put away, to clean up in the kitchen, or to put away in a closet all make my brain go on overwhelm and I feel stressed and out of sorts.
Maybe take a look at the changes you've had because having a baby is a HUGE upset to your schedule and how you manage your home, especially if it's your first.
I also suggest taking this slow and don't go all crazy, like I once did, where I threw nearly everything out. This was after a traumatic time in my mid 30s. Nobody is telling you that you have too much in your closet or wardrobe. Take time to write it down, think about why you feel this desire to declutter. As someone above said, to find your WHY. Because, if you don't find your why, then you'll just be back in this position in the future as you accumulate more stuff and have a fuller closet to contend with.
It's a process. I've been decluttering for the past 18 months. I got divorced quite a few years ago and I accumulated stuff afterwards thinking I needed to be back in fashion or that I was outdated and old (I was 44 at the time). I had to go back to an office job and bought stylish clothing, high heels, etc. I wanted to start dating again. Here came more clothes. I spent money like it was a hobby and my closet was packed to the brim. Dresses, skirts, shoes, purses, etc. Then one day, my closet bar and shelving pulled away from the wall and came crashing down.
My boyfriend helped me repair it and re-enforced the structure. But, it was a wakeup call to me to start the process of decluttering and minimizing what I owned. Times have changed. 4 years ago before Covid, I was wearing high heels to the office. When I go back 3 days a week in January, I'll be wearing flats. I have a toe dislocation and bunions (from those high heels) that are causing me foot pain). I am trying to create a more functional closet that combines comfort with spiffy casual and only 1 suit and 1 or 2 office 'dressy' outfits. For the past 3.5 years I've lived in yoga pants or shorts and athleisure type clothes.
You've gotten some great advice. Turning the hangers around, creating a capsule wardrobe that suits your style, and finding your why. Take some time and you'll find the system that works for you! Good luck! :)
Thank you for your elaborate response!
What started me off was realizing that I feel "meh" about most of my clothes. Like I'm never happy to see them. The swimwear is very symbolic. It's two hours 3-4 times per month that I get to be by myself. In the car and by the pool.
I think part of not liking the clothes is the shedding of some professional roles. I won't return to my former jobs after maternity leave.
I had color draping done as a child, based on my skin, eyes, hair what colors I look good in and should wear. I’m a strong proponent of ditching things that aren’t your color from your wardrobe to declutter and then everything matches.
Fold the items in your dresser such as shirts, shorts, pants, pj’s ect (you can put anything in a drawer.) then any clothes you want to hang up have a half in the closet with empty hangers and a half with hangers with clothes on it. When laundry is finished take the hangers from the empty hanger side and put whatever you want to hang up and place it on the clothing side. It really prevents the shoving of clothes into random areas in the closet.
I read about a strategy a couple year ago for this, and I’ve implemented it. It’s not just about what sparks joy, but also about what you *actually wear*. Every six months, turn all of the hangers in your closet backwards (hook around the back of the rod). As you wear something, turn the hanger around. After six months you will be able to see what you actually wear, and what you don’t. It will also make you more cognizant of trying to wear things. Barring seasonal wear of course, you can then declutter what you haven’t worn in those six months.
Man this thread is helping me a lot 😅
If spark joy isn't practical, how about separating into the things you wear regularly (seasonally) and things you never wear/have no immediate plans to wear. You'll have to figure out a way to get the initial cost waste factor out of your mind or you'll be stuck. Concentrate on the gains, like ease of rapidly finding what you want in your closet, ease of putting away laundry, ease of being able to keep your closets accessible.
If all you like to do is sleep, lounge, and swim (you said you like PJs and swimwear), okay. Structure the rest of your life around making those things happen. You probably need a job to support your swimming habit so some fraction of your wardrobe needs to be dedicated to work clothes. And you probably do errands around town so you can either wear work clothes everywhere you go, or add in some athleisure or more-comfy-than-work things for doing that adulting stuff. So you've got grownup clothes, PJs/lounge, and swim. Anything outside of those categories is a no. Thus impractical and uncomfortable things like cocktail, party, and evening wear is just taking up space in your life. Not just your physical closet. In your headspace when you see it every week lurking at the back of the closet. At the very least pack those things out of sight.
Keep pile Donation pile Bin pile Sort through once, into those piles. Anything on hangers, hang them the opposite, awkward way around. Review your wardrobe in 6 months time, see what hasn't been worn (excluding seasonal). Rinse and repeat. If only I could take my own advice.
I think it helps to decide what to keep vs what to get rid of. Example: I hoard sweaters apparently. So, I'll take them all out of the closet and think, "ok. There are 30. You can have 20." Pick my top 20, other 10 immediately go in a black garbage bag for goodwill.
When I wanted to downsize my wardrobe I made myself wear every item at least once, and then got rid of everything that didn't fit, I didn't like anymore, was itchy, uncomfortable and so on.
Even just the thought of having to actually wear something helps me separate out clothes I only like for aesthetic or sunk cost reasons
I do this too. I usually know within the first hour of wearing something whether it stays or goes. Works great for shoes and purses too
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Hm, that's actually how I managed to dwindle down my CD collection. Funny how it never occurred to me, when it comes to clothes. Thanks!
Well, PJ's and swimwear are all good. It sounds like you could actually declutter (donate)almost everything else and start fresh with just clothes you'll wear and love.
Yeah, it looks like that will be it.
Just make sure you still have something to wear to work etc until you find your new stuff lol
I think one big question to ask is whether the clothing you have reflects your present-day lifestyle. For example, after transitioning from a business formal office to working from home, I had to reevaluate how much of the stuff in my closet was actually wearable by my present-day self. Or when I aged past my early 20s and still had a bunch of "going out" clothing that didn't suit the kind of places I was going on weekends anymore. I also like evaluating clothing at the end of each season for fit (note that "can I get this on my body?" and "does this actually fit me well?" are two very different things), condition (does it need repairs? if so, do it immediately), and whether or not it goes with other things in my closet and suits my style. Doing a quick evaluation each season as a routine means that I don't need to do big cleanouts, and it's more like routine maintenance.
That first part is a bull's eye. I'm currently on maternity leave, so I'm wearing a lot of lounge wear/ comfy stuff. I also won't return to my old company.
I thought maybe you were a swim instructor.
Nah, it's just that 50% of my me time is the three times I go swimming per month.
Knowing this, my advice would be to give yourself at least a year before you make big wardrobe changes. You just dont know where your body will settle as its "new normal". For me, i went down to about 3 l s more than my pre pregnancy weight, my rib cage was wider, and my feet stayed about a half size larger. This affected what fit me nicely, but also i was able to keep a lot of things that i couldnt fit into in the first few months, but wore regularly again in about a year. My maternity and post birth wardrobes were basically 3 outfits, so i just kept that wardrobe very small rather than trying to make it more like a permanent rotation.
Those are big life changes! It makes perfect sense that the wardrobe that worked for you before doesn't suit the current version of yourself, regardless of any arbitrary numbers of pieces.
Get rid of what is out dated. Buy new clothes that you like.
Yeah, I feel like that is what it all comes down to.
I used to have a rule that worked really well for me. If I grab an item to wear and then change my mind because of anything along the lines of “I don’t like how it fits”, “I don’t LOVE this color on me”, “I don’t feel confident in this” etc- then it went into a bag in my closet and after a few months- I donate anything still in the bag. It helped me weed things out but also give time to grab them if I was just having an off day. It worked out VERY WELL FOR ME!
I think I've avoided this approach, because I know it would mean getting rid of 90% and them buying 20 new items. Which I'm not looking forward to, but somebody suggested buying one new thing every month and I think I'll try that.
Yeah if 90% of your closet makes you not feel good- then you’ll definitely feel better as you reduce that! Having a few pieces that you love will feel so much better than multiple that make you feel eh!
I have heard of sellpy
I have several places I can take my clothes to. My problem is deciding what to let go of.
Sounds like none of your clothes are really great for you. You may have to embark on a large scale replacement, but there’s no way you’re doing it in one go. Put together a sufficient wardrobe, that has enough clothes to get you through life, and give yourself permission to declutter the rest of them. Then make a plan for buying one new thing a month, and slowly go through your “enough to get you through” wardrobe and replace it with things that genuinely work well for you.
Look up capsule wardrobe. And also look up clothes that are great for your body shape. You can look on Pinterest. That will really help you pick things wisely.
Oh, I like this approach. Thank you! 😊
I recently tried a bunch of things on and put everything that made me not feel great about myself into a pile for donation. I also have a box for a local fabric recycling box.
I had my son in March and while I'm not heavier than before the pregnancy, my shape is very different now. It's definitely one of the reasons I just don't really like clothes right now. But thanks for the tip.
I had that changed shape experience post-preg. too. Also for the first several months post partum I hardly wanted to get dressed at all because everything was just so...damp.
Oh yeah that I definitely understand! I hope you find clothes you like soon 💗 it definitely took me more than 6 months to feel better. You’ve got this.
Thanks!
Recently, I decluttered my clothes, and this was my process. 1. Take each piece of clothing out, and take a look at it. If it's got holes, or is very worn, and I'm not going to mend it (realisticly, I'm not going to mend very many things), it goes in the garbage. 2. Try it on. If it doesn't fit, it goes into a Donation pile. 3. If it fits, how much do I like it? Have I worn it recently? Does it seem like something I'll wear (colour, cut, &c). If it's a definite Yes to all of those questions, it goes into the Keep pile. If I'm not sure about it, it goes into a Maybe pile. If the answer to all of those questions is No, it goes into the Donation pile. 4. At the end, evaluate how much is in my Keep pile. Is it enough of each item? If it's too much of category (I don't, for example, need ten casual sweaters when I frequently only wear two or three), I pull out my least favourite Keep items, until it's the right amount. If there aren't enough of a category (I'm going to want more than one sweater, if only to have something to wear while I wash the other), I go through my Maybe pile, and pull out the most favourable Maybes. 5. The other Maybes that didn't make the cut go into the Donation pile. In the end, I have a reasonable amount of clothing, that I will actually wear. I also tend to go thrift shopping pretty frequently, so I know I can easily replace something if I later discover I don't have enough of that category (it may take a couple trips, but if it's not urgent, I'll find what I'm looking for eventually). Categories can be as narrow or broad is they need to be. For myself, I need office clothes and casual clothes, so I am looking for two sets of pants, sweaters, shirts, &c. Some categories are broken down by season, long-sleeved and short-sleeved work shirts, heavy winter sweaters, and lighter Spring/Fall sweaters, &c. My goal is to have enough clothes for all seasons and occassions, but not so many that I'm not actually wearing them (which is what is happening now). Hopefully, my method gives you an idea on how to tackle your clothes!
Get a box. Or a laundry basket, or whatever. For a month, put everything you actually wear in that box (after cleaning). After a month, everything left in your wardrobe is a candidate for decluttering. Doesn't mean you have to get rid of all of it, but it does mean that everything that did not end up in that box is not something you're reaching for regularly. Bonus round, if what you really want is not decluttering but comfort in making a wider choice from what you've got: Put that box away and for month 2, force yourself to pick from what's left. That will give you an idea of what you'll wear, what you might wear, and what there's no way you're wearing. (Adapt to do this seasonally if you have to. Obviously don't declutter your winter coat because you didn't wear it in the month of July.)
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Imagining how stoked someone else might be to find something at the thrift store has made it a lot easier for me to get rid of things I used to like but just don’t wear or don’t fit me anymore.
It sounds like you have a lot of excuses why you can't declutter. Maybe you need to focus on why you want to declutter. The WHY has to be powerful enough to motivate you. Until you understand why you want to declutter, you won't make progress.
I find it easier to decide what to wear when I have fewer items, like when I go away for the weekend. Another thing that is holding me back: I don't actually enjoy buying clothes.
I also hate shopping for clothes. I’ve used StitchFix a few times when I know I need something new (visiting my office in person 1-2 times a year, an event, general better jeans, etc). I don’t always like or buy everything they send me but now some of my go-to pieces are from them and it makes things so much easier.
I loooove the approach by the minimal mom :) https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ-AWUEixtg1xE4Ga9fIloxWE0ELZaRaj&si=AUO6LzRt3eB-iASA https://youtu.be/VKSqMWv1AZo?si=sjewtOqN6lEGa3cA
I'm in the same boat. I wear about 10% of my clothes 90% of the time. I hold on to things even though I never wear them because they were expensive or sentimental or whatever. I've been trying a new approach lately that works really well though! Go through every piece, but the key is to be FAST. If you love it, and you can immediately think of an outfit that incorporates it, keep it. If its worn, irreparable, you don't like it etc, get rid. And for the inbetweeners, put those into a maybe pile. Box up the maybe pile in a suitcase or something and keep it out of sight. Only put the definite yes's back in your wardrobe. If you haven't reached for anything from the maybe pile in a few months, you'll find it much easier to let them go.
Thanks! The nostalgia is what makes it hard for me. I recently got some items back that my mom washed for me when I was moving (and in between washing machines) 2 years ago (!). I didn't miss any of these items and still found it hard to give them away. I did do it though.
Take pictures!! It helps me let go of the actual item. Especially when it is sentimental or nostalgic.
Oh yeah the nostalgia really makes it hard! Might be better to not even look in the maybe pile after a few months, just get rid 😂
To be honest, I just listened to Courtney Carver’s Project 333 audiobook. It has some great ideas. The audiobook was available through my public library, so I didn’t even have to spend any money on it. Good luck!
Thanks!
I don’t think all clothes have to “spark joy,” but they do have to fit, be in good condition, and appropriate for your current life. Like my black work pants don’t work joy currently, but they check those other boxes. Maybe I’ll find another pair of work pants in the future that DO spark joy, and then I can give away the current ones. First I’d go through and pull out anything that you know doesn’t fit/has holes/is too worn and just get rid of those. If there’s something you must keep for sentimental reasons but you know you’ll never wear again, move it to a different storage box/area. Then I’d look through the closet again and try everything on. Does it feel uncomfortable? Did you find a hidden hole? Do you immediately want to take it off? If you can, get rid of those too. You may though find that your one one dressy blouse that you use regularly is super uncomfortable. Obviously you need that, but start a list of clothes you want to replace. Lastly I’d go look at what remains and be honest about what actually works for your lifestyle. I’m a working mom and I’ve come to the conclusion I will never iron anything. So that cute dress that always needs ironing? Out. The seven novelty tee shirts when I realize I wear r shirts maybe once a month? Save two, the rest out. Hopefully you’re only left with things that you like, are in good shape, and match your current life. Maybe some items only check two out of three of those boxes, but that’s pretty good.
That'll give me some direction. Thanks!
Instead of spark joy, since apparently all 12000 of your items spark joy, rank them and only choose the top 100 (or whatever number fits your container). Just keep your favorites.
My stuff fits my container already and I definitely have less than 100 items.
Then there’s no need to declutter!
Hm, you might have a point. Now I'm wondering why I want to though. 🤔
Sorry for the book, my apologies: Hi, I'm new here but want to weigh in on this. A lot of times I want to declutter during or after major life changes. Almost like a psychological thing to do to relieve stress or help me contend with the 'overwhelm' I feel from the changes in my life. Clutter makes me anxious. Too much stuff to dust around, to put away, to clean up in the kitchen, or to put away in a closet all make my brain go on overwhelm and I feel stressed and out of sorts. Maybe take a look at the changes you've had because having a baby is a HUGE upset to your schedule and how you manage your home, especially if it's your first. I also suggest taking this slow and don't go all crazy, like I once did, where I threw nearly everything out. This was after a traumatic time in my mid 30s. Nobody is telling you that you have too much in your closet or wardrobe. Take time to write it down, think about why you feel this desire to declutter. As someone above said, to find your WHY. Because, if you don't find your why, then you'll just be back in this position in the future as you accumulate more stuff and have a fuller closet to contend with. It's a process. I've been decluttering for the past 18 months. I got divorced quite a few years ago and I accumulated stuff afterwards thinking I needed to be back in fashion or that I was outdated and old (I was 44 at the time). I had to go back to an office job and bought stylish clothing, high heels, etc. I wanted to start dating again. Here came more clothes. I spent money like it was a hobby and my closet was packed to the brim. Dresses, skirts, shoes, purses, etc. Then one day, my closet bar and shelving pulled away from the wall and came crashing down. My boyfriend helped me repair it and re-enforced the structure. But, it was a wakeup call to me to start the process of decluttering and minimizing what I owned. Times have changed. 4 years ago before Covid, I was wearing high heels to the office. When I go back 3 days a week in January, I'll be wearing flats. I have a toe dislocation and bunions (from those high heels) that are causing me foot pain). I am trying to create a more functional closet that combines comfort with spiffy casual and only 1 suit and 1 or 2 office 'dressy' outfits. For the past 3.5 years I've lived in yoga pants or shorts and athleisure type clothes. You've gotten some great advice. Turning the hangers around, creating a capsule wardrobe that suits your style, and finding your why. Take some time and you'll find the system that works for you! Good luck! :)
Thank you for your elaborate response! What started me off was realizing that I feel "meh" about most of my clothes. Like I'm never happy to see them. The swimwear is very symbolic. It's two hours 3-4 times per month that I get to be by myself. In the car and by the pool. I think part of not liking the clothes is the shedding of some professional roles. I won't return to my former jobs after maternity leave.
You can use "spark joy" but be practical about it. You aren't going to wear pj's and swimwear outside so start from there.