Winning the War on Closet Clutter
My mom is a master organizer. For most of my life I thought I had missed that gene. However, over the past couple of months I've been interested in ways of uncluttering my life. This is particularly true at work. I surprised my colleagues one Monday after I had spent the weekend severely uncluttering my desk and workspace.
Around the same time I decided to do a number on my clothes closet at home. In one ambitious night I ruthlessly went through my closet and ended up filling 3 garbage bags for donation to Value Village. However there were still a ton of clothes in that closet and I did not feel the job was done.
That is when I happened upon Peter Walsh's clever hanger trick on 43 Folders.
The article suggests that you start with a big purge. I was happy to have already done so - and the rest was easy.
1) When re-hanging everything in the closet after the big clean-out simply put all the hangers backwards (open end facing-out).
2) Set an appointment in your calendar for X number of months in the future. I believe I chose 3.
3) When re-hanging washed items place the hanger with the open end facing the back of the closet. This is an easy way of tracking what you have worn.
4) When you reach the date of the appointment in your calendar - simply eliminate all the backward hangers. If you haven't worn them in months, the items are likely not worth keeping.
Today was D-Day for the out-facing hangers. My closet now feels empty - and I feel great!
A word on exceptions
I did have to make exceptions for a few items. If you are particularly weak-willed when eliminating items you may want to decide on some decision making for exceptions before you start the process. I ran my exceptions by my live-in partner when she got home from work.
Common sense told me not to eliminate my tuxedo as I rarely attend events that formal - but owning is still better then renting. I also made exceptions for a few sentimental items: an old University sweater I typically wear to Homecoming and my dad's high school sweater. I almost let my ratty raincoat back into the closet as a seasonal item - but after evaluating its condition - I ended up eliminating it also.
I promise this process will make you feel great.
