Cleaning Chronicles: Cleaning Out Your Closet

Hi, y’all! I have a confession that probably isn’t too surprising, especially if you know me — I love shopping and I love clothes. That being said, my apartment is very small and I have no room whatsoever for all of the clothes that I have. Also, I don’t wear hardly any of the clothes I own. Let’s just say that I’ve had a couple questionable fashion stages… I’ve decided that it is FINALLY time to do some decluttering.

I have a fairly large closet, but it’s certainly not big enough for all my clothes. I have a shelf in there, multiple baskets, tons of those big tubs that people use to store Christmas decorations, and then I have all my dirty clothes in hampers. Maybe my boyfriend was right when he said I had too many clothes…

The first thing that should be done is to wash all of your clothes. That makes it easier to know what all you have, so that you have a simpler time getting rid of things. Note to self: this is helpful so you don’t end up having fifteen of the same plain black t-shirts.  I am one of those people who isn’t the best at doing laundry when I need to, so this is usually half the struggle.

The next hurdle is to get rid of the clothes that are too small or too big for you. Don’t beat yourself up about not being able to fit into the clothes that you wore when you were fourteen. I’m only now starting to be a little better at this. It can be kind of rough getting rid of them, but I find that it’s even rougher to look at them in your closet every day. There’s no reason to keep clothes that only serve as a reminder of what your body used to be like. Nor should your closet represent how you want your body to look. I think both of those things are so detrimental to one’s self-image. As usual, it’s easier said than done, but it’s a good first step.

After you’ve gotten rid of the clothes that don’t fit, move on to clothes that you don’t find yourself wearing. This is where I have the most trouble. I never wear the t-shirts of bands I listened to in middle school, but I still have them all. There’s no situation other than homecoming that I would need uber-fancy dresses for, but it took me years and years to get rid of all my homecoming dresses. It’s important to get rid of clothes that you don’t wear because they’re adding clutter to your house and to your life. I find that when I have a messy house, I also have a messy mind.

Now the question remains: What to do with these clothes once you’ve decided to get rid of them?

1. Donate them! There are so many people in the world that could benefit from your clothes! Especially schools. You can get in touch with a teacher that you know and ask if they could use any clothes to give to students. Odds are, they will say yes!
2. Have a yard sale! A great way to get rid of clutter AND make money.
3. Have a clothing swap with friends! This is probably one of my favorites. It’s a great way to add new pieces to your wardrobe without spending a dime. It’s especially great if you and your friends have different styles, because you can experiment with your look without spending any money. Your friends will love it too!
4. Sell it on social media or a shopping app!Another cool thing that you can do is to sell your cloths on your Facebook or your Instagram. It’s great because it’s far less work than a garage sale, especially if the person who wants to buy it lives in the area and you can just drop it off at their home. I’m just now starting to sell clothes on Poshmark! I haven’t sold anything yet, but to be fair, I only have one item listed. My username is @midwestmattie if you want to check it out! This one seems pretty simple so far, all you really have to do is take pictures and add the descriptions of your items then you just need to wait!
5. Last but not least, re-purpose your clothes!  You can take old dresses and turn them into shirts, rip old t-shirts into rags, turn jean jackets into jean vests… the possibilities are endless! It’s always fun to revamp your clothes so that they feel like new, or use them for a whole new purpose!

I’m hoping that writing this post will help me get my butt in gear and finish cleaning my closet! I need to be held accountable! I would post a picture of what my closet looked like before, but I don’t want to scare y’all.

Have a great day!!

XOXO,

Mattie Mae