The Great Closet Clean Out, Part 2

Last week, I decided I would follow in Sarah's footsteps and begin cleaning out my closet, dresser, and under the bed storage. I have to say it is going well. I have determined that I have many things that I just don't need or that don't fit the way I'd like them to.

The biggest hurtle I've come across is finding a consignment shop for some of the nicer items. It appears as though most places here have a waiting list to even look at your stuff. I found one nice place for mom and kid clothes but, it is quite a hike from here. The other thing is that they don't ever give you money for your clothes, they simply give you a store credit. Therefore, you have to spend it there. The one exciting part is that all of the baby clothes are BRAND NEW, tickets on!

Every consignment shop I have come across only takes clothes that are "in season". Unfortunately, they consider most of my skirts to be clothes. I know that St. Vincent de Paul will take anything. But, being that we are trying to save/make money anywhere we can, I thought it would be prudent to be a bit persistent with the consignment shops.

In my cleaning/organizing, I decided that I needed a few things to help keep shoes, the hubby's ties, and sweater/blankets/sweatshirts organized. It is amazing how much room is available when things are organized. After reading a bunch of articles about organizing your closet, I discovered that many people have the same trouble spots. I love that I can see the floor in my closet because the shoes are on the back of the door. The sweaters/sweatshirts/blankets are contained in the sweater bags and neatly stacked in the top of the closet rather than having them fall off of the shelf every time I grab one. You shouldn't need a crash helmet to pick out your clothes for the day, ya know?

My purchases:

Tie Hanger

Shoe Rack

Sweater Bags

The Great Closet Cleanout

via

My friend, Sarah @ And Twins Make Four, has started a closet purge using these five rules:

1. Only keep what fits and flatters. (Exceptions: maternity clothes, nice dresses that may fit once the babies are weaned)

2. Only keep what is worn regularly. (Exceptions: special occasion clothes, maternity clothes, seasonal clothes)

3. Only keep what fits with my current role and lifestyle. On a regular basis, I wear simple cotton t-shirts, button-down shirts, jeans, sweaters, and simple skirts or dresses for church...

4. Only keep what is reasonably modest. I am still figuring out what my exact standards are for modesty... Eventually, I know I need to come up with something specific, but for now, I'm going to try things on and see how I feel in them.

5. Only keep things that go with at least one other item. If I need to purchase something to make it wearable, that new item must go with at least one other item. This one is a bit complicated, but I know I need to have a rule like this to combat unnecessary expansion.

I feel inclined to join her in her closet purge because since having Charlie not only has my sense style but, it has changed by my body as well. Things that used to fit well now fit strangely in ways that I don't think will change any time soon, especially since I have reached my pre-pregnancy weight. In addition, I am no longer working full time so, I don't need ALL of my 9 gazillion work clothes. I could probably do with fewer exclusively work outfits and keep things are more versatile. Namely, I will keep items if they can be paired with casual items to be worn on a day to day basis OR if they can be paired with items that I can wear to church. 

One of the places where I am struggling with the purge is with my bathing suit collection. (I say collection because I have close to 10 bathing suits.) I have put a lot of effort into selecting bathing suits that are modest and flattering. Despite living 2 miles from the beach, I don't think I will need 10 bathing suits. How do I decide which ones to get rid of? How many do I get rid of? 

I have decreased my skirt collection despite the fact that I wear one to church just about every weekend because there are some that require slips and things that I don't have time to deal with anymore. Anything that requires multiple steps to put on is on the chopping block. 

As a result of this purge, I have noticed that I have quite a few shirts that have holes in them mostly tiny little ones from being old. My favorite shirts that fit perfectly are MANY years old (pre-college days) and realistically it is just time to replace them. The scary thing is I never even noticed the holes until I started to look at things closely. I can't believe I was wearing clothes with holes in them! 

I will be donating most of the clothes I am getting rid of to St. Vincent de Paul. I am hoping to sell some of them however, the local consignment shop doesn't have an appointment until January. I don't really think that it makes sense to keep a whole mess of clothes around just to maybe sell them. Any other suggestions are always welcome! 

I still have to go through my sweaters, shoes, and purses BUT I've made a nice pile to get rid of/sell so far!