Do you have too many clothes? Try this! It worked for me! I got rid of 4.5 garbage bags of clothes in less than 2 hours.

By on January 31, 2019

I have been on a mission to purge my wardrobe and belongings.  I have this vision of what my version of “minimalism” is.  I feel like I am on my way.  I’ve been a pack rat since I was a kid.  My mother was the same way.   My dad on the other hand was the most simplest man.  He only had a few shirts and pants and would wear his t-shirts until he had holes in them or sweaters that had ridiculous snags in them.  Everytime I would tell him to get rid of them he said it was too comfortable and he continued to wear them until they were see through lol!  Mom, she would buy clothes and never wear them.  Many still had tags on them for YEARS and eventually donated.

I talked about this book on the air a few times.  It’s by Marie Kondo, THE LIFE CHANGING MAGIC OF TIDYING UP. I decided to look her up because the media was talking about her and there were also many social media posts about her as well.  I wondered how her method of tidying up differed from all the other things I’ve tried.  She doesn’t believe in doing a little at a time or cleaning one room at a time.  You just have to go for it all at once by category.  It takes a lot of commitment but once you get going you can’t stop because you actually see progress very fast.  While there is an order to this I was glad that clothing was the first thing on her list.  Once I started, in an hour and half I was done sorting through ALL OF MY CLOTHES and neatly packed up 4.5 garbage bags of clothes.  Each bag was a 30 gallon plastic bag.

I piled all of my clothes on the bed.  Every piece of clothing I owned was on my bed!  I removed everything from my closet and my drawers.  EVERYTHING!  I was a bit overwhelmed but I just had to trust in the process.  Marie says in her book that you have to hold each item in your hands and ask yourself if it “sparks joy”.  That is exactly what I did to each piece of clothing I had.  I was very surprised to have gotten rid of so many items so fast.  What I realized in the process was that if something didn’t spar joy I knew it didn’t make me happy which is why I never wore the items in the first place.  They sat in my closet and drawers forever with the “I’ll wear it someday” mental label.  I thanked the item , folded it nicely and placed it nicely in a bag.  You have to send off the item with well wishes on it’s next journey.  That was crucial for me, as weird as it sounds, because for a pack rat you will find reasons that tug on your emotions to keep something.  I was was able to say goodbye and let it go.

I even fold my clothes differently!  She has a method for that too.  I’m rather proud of the result.  I included pictures of what my drawers look like now.  I was so excited to start that I forgot to take photos of the drawers before I removed the items. These are all of the t-shirts I own now and pants and hoodies and sweaters.  I did include my socks and tank tops.  I have a lot of white tanks! LOL.  Remember I got rid of 4.5 30 gallon garbage bags of clothes.  I didn’t take a photo of my closet but I got rid of 1/3 of it!   Whew!  Declutter project number one done!  Next my books!!