hit refresh: closet cleanse
I believe that when the wardrobe doldrums hit, the answer often isn’t more, but less. At least as a starting point. 😉
I’ve been itching to do a thorough closet cleanse for some months, and was finally able to set aside a few hours over the weekend. Here are a couple of “Before” shots. My closet is pretty well-organized (by item type and color) and not terribly messy, just overfull. Too. Much. Stuff.
Most of those pants hangers on the bottom right were carrying two pairs each. I’ve been loath over the years to get rid of ANY pants that fit, regardless of whether I wear them or not.
I began by pulling EVERYTHING out and dumping in a big pile on the bed. (We’re talking clothes only…shoes and accessories will be Round 2, date TBD.)
No, it wasn’t a Full KonMari, but as close as I’ll probably get. Usually when I sort through my clothes, I go by category (pants, jackets, tees, etc.) but this time I just piled it all up together and went item by item. I did keep in mind some of Marie Kondo’s admonitions about not holding onto items out of sentimentality or because something was a gift or expensive. And I did mentally acknowledge what each piece of clothing had given me, though didn’t thank them out loud. 🙂 But I do need to keep a few workwear-type items even though they don’t exactly “spark joy” and layering pieces that aren’t much on their own, but essential components to an overall look. Small compromises.
The empty hangers tell the tale. By the time I was done, more than half of what had been in my closet was now in the “toss” piles. How did I decide what to keep or toss? I picked up and examined every piece individually and went through this checklist:
- Is it faded, worn out, permanently stained, threadbare? If yes to any of those, out it went.
- Am I currently wearing it often? If yes, went in the Keeper pile, if No, on to question 3…
- Have I worn it in the last year? This isn’t an automatic “toss,” but then on to the next question…
- Do I look forward to wearing it again? Do I feel fabulous in it? If the answer to either of those was no, out it went.
- Finally, is it a duplicate? If so, do I wear it often enough to need multiples? (Duplication of styles or even particular pieces is one of my bad shopping habits, and accounts for much of what was purged. More on this in a later post.)
Once everything that I wasn’t keeping was organized and bagged up for its next destination (Eileen Fisher pieces will be recycled via the “Green Eileen” program; everything else will be donated), I then sorted through my Keepers and organized by item type (jackets, sweaters, tops, jeans, pants, everything else) and hung back up. I made a point to remove all random hangers, so now my hangers match which not only makes my closet look neater and gives me a lift every time I walk in there, but helps keep pieces visible.
Because our closet arrangement doesn’t have a lot of drawer space, I hang almost everything, including tee shirts…
I did turn my scarves up vertically though. (That’s actually a hanging shoe cubby, but I find it an excellent solution for neat and visible scarf storage.)
The entire process took about 5 hours working straight through. A few more recommendations:
- Schedule this when you can do the whole process, start to finish, uninterrupted.
- Eat beforehand.
- Stay hydrated. Stop for a water break every hour or so.
- Have bags on hand so you can get the “toss” items packed up and out of sight quickly before you have second thoughts.
- Invest in matching hangers. They’re not expensive and it makes such a difference!
- And once you have all of your “keepers” hung up, remove any extra hangers from your closet. This helps if you’re adopting a one-in-one-out policy.
How often do you clear out your wardrobe? Do you have specific guidelines for what to keep or toss?
A FEW KEEPERS…
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Do you find the Container Store hangers sturdy? I have tried several brands (including what I thought was a great deal at a big bulk store) and was disappointed when then hooks came out with what I thought was normal use. Your cleanout is trying to inspire me to do what I’ve been postponing for months. 🙂
Hi jacoker, I’ve never had any problems with these falling apart. As I mentioned, some were holding two pairs of jeans and were up to the task. The hooks are fixed and don’t rotate, maybe that helps?
Bonjour ! – Hmm, I do clear outs from time to time and so, far, have not clocked up 5 hours straight. Living in Paris means there is limited close space so I have a few rules :-
1) Empty hangers go onto a shelf and I have no unused hangers in the hanging space
2) Out of season clothes go into a designated zipped, soft clothes tidy and put either under the bed or onto an awkwardly placed cupboard not often looked into.
3) Jeans and trousers are piled neatly onto a shelf like they do in the shops. That way I can see the coulours and they don’t take up hanging space. If placed tidily they will not crease, I only fold once, somewhere around the thigh area.
4) I hang up all tops, of the current season, in colour category.
5) Clothes for dirty chores are stored in another clothes bag and out of sight.
6) Finally, any clothes that I no longer like or have been around too long go to the “swap shop”.
I hope this helps. I enjoy your blog very much and admire your energy.
Thank you et bonne semaine
Anne
I have donated clothes out of my closet with the TAGS still on them…………………….
I feel your pain there. I try to look away when I’ve done this.
Love your scarf solution and plan to use that in my closet right away! Currently, I use one of those hangers with holes in it. But my silk scarves tend to work their way through the openings (and onto my closet floor…). Your method is a good one.
I, too, use matching hangers (the non-slip, velvety type which you’ve pictured). Love them!! (Plastic/wire hangers always drive me nuts! Fortunately, our dry cleaner recycles wire hangers when we return them.)
Re no drawers in one’s clothes closet: I put a white metal-mesh ELFA unit (standard width; ca. 30″ high) in the middle of my closet. I hang my white cotton shirts which I have “done” at the laundry, directly above it.
On either side of the unit there is plenty of room for longer garments to hang down. The drawers (ca. 8″ deep) are perfect for storing handbags, soft hats, gloves, mittens, etc.
I read Marie Kondo’s book and found it interesting, although her strict rules do not, perhaps, work for everyone. She is inspiring, tho.
Your blog is the best… Thanks for your dedication and creativity…
Judith
For my silk scarves I use tie / belt hangers.
Perhaps could it be a solution for you too ?
I think you could also discuss where to give clothing donations. The Eileen green thing? Nice- but you could give clothes to the junior league to help working women, or a teen shelter or other places with more impact. Yes, you get $5 back for Eileen and it is a nice program but there are more critical ways to give back I think.
Hi Nj, I’m also donating quite a bit of clothing to our local Jewish Women’s Council Thrift store>. JWC is a local volunteer social services provider. Many years ago when I was clearing out my work suits, I donated those to Dress For Success, which helps women looking for work to put together interview outfits and work wardrobes.
As a Dress for Success volunteer, I’ll remind you that we are happy to receive non-suit donations; business casual outfits are provided to clients once they have gotten jobs, so they’ll be able to start building a work wardrobe. Bags and shoes are always welcome, as well. At our location (I assume it works the same elsewhere), very high-end donations…I’m thinking of your bags…are either sent to resale shops or held for our twice-annual fundraiser sale. The funds raised this way are used to buy suits and shoes in sizes we’re short on, usually plus sizes.
Hi Jill Ann, when I donated before to DfS, they required that all clothing be freshly cleaned, on hangers and in dry cleaners bags. Do they have different requirements for casual clothing?
Ours requires dry cleaning for anything donated but really makes sense when you think about it; who wants to spread moths… or worse. When your cleaning bill is above $50 they will give a charitable donation receipt, at least here. It is worth asking.
Duchesse, I get that for items like suits, sweaters and dresses, but when donating a few dozen items like jeans, tees and shirts, not many people are going to want to pony up that kind of money for the cleaners.
My local DFS asks for all donations to be clean and on hangers…no dry cleaning bags required. I suspect not all donations have been dry cleaned, though! And hangers can be dry cleaners’ wire hangers, they don’t need to be proper hangers.
And for shirts and tees, laundering rather than dry cleaning would certainly be sufficient!
I believe that Green Eileen sells/repurposes the clothing. I think that the sold clothing supports some of their philanthropic efforts. I wish I lived near one–would love to shop there as EF is sadly out of my budget. Thrift stores (like the JWC) sell items to raise money for their targeted programs as well. The purpose of thrift stores is not entirely–or even primarily–to get items into the hands of the needy. That is a potential by-product. Gotta say that most thrift store shoppers I see are re-sellers! I donate to/buy from a food bank thrift store. The needy get vouchers for free clothing/household goods. Paying customers support the salaries for the employees and the overhead for the store. (I do have doubts about the mission/practices etc of Goodwill–see recent news stories. I no longer donate there)
There is a documentary about the fashion industry called The True Cost. The film is mostly about the effects of “fast fashion” on the global environment. One of the issues discussed is what happens to all those donations we make which aren’t sold or recycled. Many of them end up in markets in the developing world, often undercutting/destroying local clothing production and/or ending up in trash heaps in already ecologically fragile countries. Eileen Fisher (among a couple of dozen others) was one of the brands listed as working in different ways for a more sustainable and transparent fashion industry. Green Eileen’s time has come.
I’m in the “one in – two out” mode right now, because I don’t know that I can face a full-on “dumping it all out” approach. I applaud your hard work, and your discipline, to tackle this project with such brilliant results.
FWIW, I bought wooden hangers for EVERYTHING about… 15? 18? years ago, and have never looked back. At the time it seemed like a mad investment, but given that I can’t begin to remember what I spent, and that I’ll have these hangers for, literally, the rest of my life, it now looks like a brilliant move!
hugs,
Janice
I use wooden hangers too! The IKEA ones are reasonable, but mostly I find them in thrifts, My favourites are the 4-6 mens’ suit hangers I found with the wonderful wide shoulders, perfect for jackets. No more hanger bumps.
Can you kindly describe your sweater hanging method? I would like to find one consistent way to hang (and find) all different weights of sweaters. Tks!!
Hi Sharon, I’ll post a quick pictorial tomorrow.
Two years ago I bit the bullet and bought 18 wooden hangers and 12 pants hangers. I have imposed a rule on myself that when that is not enough hangers, something has to leave the closet. Its not that there is not room for more, but that like traveling with a small suitcase, it forces me to really think about what I need to purchase. In full disicloure, that does not include t shirts and sweaters as these are always stored by folding flat, and this areas of my life needs work right now. And I’ve got to agree with Ng: I much prefer to donate used clothing to an organization who will give it to local people for free. Dress for Success perhaps, or a similar organization?
I have a habit of purging a couple times a year! Love all your ideas and can’t wait to see what’s next!
An impressive purge. Your closet seems more relaxed in the after picture.
Well done. I recently did a closet clean out with a new standard in place for what to keep – “Would I buy it today?” We are fortunate to have such first world problems, aren’t we?
I’m curious, how do you store handbags – out in the open so you can see them or in the flannel bags?
You are inspirational! I plan to carve out some time in the near future to clean out my closet.
I’m finally starting to grasp the idea of buying basic colors that can be mixed and matched. Hopefully, this will help to maintain fewer items and will keep the closet clutter at a minimum. My space is limited in this old house!
Do you try to maintain a specific number of each type of clothing & color (t-shirts, blouses, sweaters, pants etc.) in your wardrobe?
I have been working on my closet for a few weeks, (sorry KonMari, liked your book but I am not that mercenary) and I am winning the battle. It’s those terrific January sales that really present a temptation.
As well, I just spent a Sunday afternoon re-purposing my son’s former bedroom, (he has flown the nest for good), into a walk in closet of sorts. Half of the room is now dedicated to bulky sweaters, travel accessories, ironing equipment and my rolling clothing rack that compensates for lack of closet space in my old house. I have actually gained a dressing room with a lovely view.
Caring for my clothing properly and keeping it organized does two things: It helps me to feel a little more together and peaceful during the busy morning rush when I don’t have to dig for things. And perhaps more importantly, it is a simple way to remember to be grateful for my “stuff” and thankful for the ability to purchase nice clothes.
P.S. How do you fold your sweaters?? I couldn’t quite make it out in the photo.
I have just returned to London and the KonMari book was waiting for me. My new years resolution. Now I just need to find the time to implement it. Handbags are my weakness it just can’t seem to get rid of the good ones. I will try eBay!
Wow. You are definitely my hero! I want to pare my closet down to look like yours!!! I will try to keep your guidelines in mind. I can’t use KonMari’s guidelines entirely either although I liked her book a lot.
Thanks for the inspiration!! And great photos, BTW–the photos give me the visuals that I need.
I go through the purge process 1-2 times a year. In my youth, it seems like I held on to everything and had lots of room to do so. Now I have an old historic home (big closets were not a priority 100 years ago,,,) and am so much happier with the purposeful simplicity of my smaller closets and the ease of putting together outfits. I use the same kinds of hangers you’ve shown because they make a huge difference in space usage. Presently, since there is no lighting in my reach-in closets and I was having trouble easily distinguishing black & navy items, I color-code my black items by putting them on black hangers. All other clothing on beige hangers. Love your scarf solution! I use a vertical over the door cloth-pocketed organizer (sold as a shoe organizer) for my scarves which I roll instead of fold. If I had a bunch of Hermes scarves, I’d find a more elegant solution…
Thanks for the pointers. I am relocating and am in the middle of this process. Especially love the “stay hydrated ” tip! It’s really true – this process takes a good part of the day, if done properly. Merci pour les bons conseils!
THANK YOU for the inspiration! I have reached a season of life where I find myself drawn to more of a capsule wardrobe concept and only wanting pieces I truly enjoy which make me feel great. The first step of this is a much needed purge of my dresser and closet – which I have been procrastinating doing for about 2 weeks now. This post was just the spark I needed.
I use that reverse-hanger technique where when you wear an item you reverse the hanger and then look at the end of the season to see what’s still “the original way”- a visual on what doesn’t get worn. I also find a glass of wine makes me purge more ruthlessly, LOL!
I, too, do the reverse hanger method every New Year. It is such a good idea and helps me keep it real about what I actually wear.
I’m really thinking about getting new hangers, too. They won’t make my closet bigger, but I think they will make me happy.
I like your list of things to do before going in for the closet clean out. A trip to the kitchen is too easy a distraction for me. I’m more prone to embark on this task during the cooler months when I’m less likely to suffer dehydration. The temperature during summer in my small walk in closet becomes unbearable.
Its going to take me a while before I can gaze fondly at my uncluttered, organized closet with clothes on hangers that are not squashed tightly or double hung, handbags and shoes displayed like much loved items instead of my current storage system.
I so agree with Duchesse about a glass of wine. It helps with the separation anxiety I might feel when the “get rid of pile” starts to become more than just a few things.
The absolute best thing I ever did for my closet was having my colors done. Not the off the shelf packets that are divided into 4 seasons and are hit and miss. Rather, by someone doing the Suzanne Caygill method. She is the person who first started personal coloring. It’s amazing, she deals with harmony and everything matches. I can buy a pair of pants in another country that will match with a top at home. Caygill went to the big blue sky years ago, but her students are now practicing. If you want a treat, get a personal palette painted for you by Rochelle HcHirsch. She’s in California, but travels all over the country. Her Facebook is Suzanne Caygill color legacy. You will never say you have nothing to wear again.
Would love to hear your thoughts on wardrobes of multiple size for the various sizes I can be. I’m 5’0 and 5 pounds up or down is a full pant size. Also – I can keep a well organized, relatively culled closet of “out the door and off to work or out to dinner” clothes – aka “nice stuff”. But I have a whole other category of at home clothes – due largely to shedding dog and cat fur. Which I’m ashamed to admit morphs into “quick trips to the grocery” and similar. Where does that go? Not mixed in with the nice….
Not so much into this purging. I do go through my wardrobes from time to time and identify clothes that I can give to the local Op Shop where I volunteer. All the clothes stored in our wardrobes are clean and ironed so I don’t need to do anything special before giving away.
We have two spare bedrooms with large built-in wardrobes so we can store winter clothes there (it’s summer here in Oz) – each in zip-up clear plastic clothing bags to protect against moths. Sweaters and cashmere or woolen scarves and pashminas are also stored in clear ziplock bags in bins with lids at the bottom of these wardrobes. I keep some older clothes with the odd small stain or pilling for use when working in the garden or doing housework. The others I discard.
Good handbags and silk scarves I no longer use that might be suitable for our grand-daughters I store carefully in plastic lidded bins. They already love many of my things but are not quite old enough yet. I now regret giving away so many fabulous clothes I had when younger – zingy dresses and pants and jackets by Mary Quant – and others that were more formal classics (I was a diplomat before retiring). So have learned my lesson – and now keep some things I no longer wear. If eventually the girls don’t want them, will pass on to Op shops in the future.
I also colour code my clothes – though I’m not so much into neutrals as you are. There are sections with grey, black and whites of course, but also pinks, reds, oranges, aqua, blues including navy, green, purple and beige and brown. There are scarves, shoes, bags etc to work with all these. Have just accumulated over the years (many bought in France and Italy) – and love having the ability to choose depending on mood, season and weather. Not so into black – reminds me of funerals. People are always surprised and a bit disapproving on the rare occasions I wear black because I’m known for colour. Best wishes and Happy New Year. Pamela
You are a brave woman, and I admire you greatly!
I read the Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up right after Thanksgiving. I totally embraced on the KonMari approach. I have about a third of the clothes I had before. Most of the clothes I got rid of were things I had bought because they were either on sale or because I wanted to buy something.
Over the next few months I will be focusing on buying clothes that spark joy !