By the end of the year it seems to feel like my house is overrun with stuff. Between the new Christmas gifts and months of just shoving stuff places because I didn’t want to make time to deal with it, my house is in need of some purging. I always find the time between Christmas and New Years the best to do this as there isn’t a lot on the calendar and I like to start the year fresh with everything in it’s place. Over the years I’ve found a system for purging that has made it easier to make a quick decision on whether or not to keep something.
Here are some of my tried and true tips and tricks! Do you do any major house or closet purging before the New Year? I’d love to hear some of your tips as well!
First, go thru the closet or drawer and pull out anything you question keeping. Don’t think to hard on it at this stage if it’s a possible get rid of pull it. Once you have a pile, evaluate each piece with the following criteria:
- Have you worn it in the last couple of months (disregard for seasonal items).
- Does it fit well - if it’s too big or small you probably aren’t likely to take the time to get it fixed (and if you’re keeping it because someday it may fit again, don’t! You can buy new stuff if your weight changes down the road)
- Is it worn looking or does it have rips/tears.
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Does it still match your style - styles evolve over time and pieces that fit in our style 5 years ago may not now (as an example I used to work in a corporate office and now I work from home, I dress much differently now and don’t need my heels or nice dresses anymore).
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Do you like it.. seems to go without saying but if you don’t truly like something just get rid of it. We tend to hold onto things that we know we don’t love or won’t really wear for a number of reasons (someone special gave it to us, we feel guilty for getting rid of it), etc, but if you’re never going to wear it free up your space and get rid of it!
After you’ve identified your pile of giveaway items, go back thru and separate into three piles: giveaway, throwaway and sell. Some items may just be too worn to giveaway (trust me nobody wants a shirt with a big tear in it or overly worn undergarments). I tend to donate a lot of items either to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, but I do try to sell some of my nicer giveaway items. There are several options that can be utilized when trying to sell pieces, you can post on your individual Facebook or Instagram page or utilize selling walls on Facebook. An app I frequently use to sell items is Poshmark, you simply take a picture and post with a description and you can sell and then ship to other users on the app. There are some other apps out there similar to that but Poshmark is the only one I have experience with and have had success utilizing.
Once you’ve identified what to do with each item box or bag the giveaway items up and throw away the trash pile. I then like to go back thru my closet and dressers and reorganize the items I’m keeping. I organize my shirts by sleeve length and make sure everything is properly on the hanger. In my drawers I refold items that may have gotten bunched up.
