Welcome to Day 3 of the 7 Day Closet Cleanout Challenge! If you missed the post that explains what the challenge is and how to
get entered into the giveaway that's taking place at the end of the
week, go back and read it
HERE. Today's task is one of the biggest ones we'll have this week. We'll be sorting through all of our tops today. This includes our tank tops, tees, long sleeved tops, sweaters ... everything. Remember, each task is meant to
take around 30 minutes, so if you're getting overwhelmed or have a large
number of items to go through, you can always break this step into
multiple days.
WHAT TO KEEP VS. WHAT GET RID OF
The
whole point of this challenge is to declutter our closets (and thus,
our lives) so that we can spend less time digging for items, as well as
have a beautiful space filled with items we truly love. The first step
is to move all of your tops into one central area of your closet where you
can see them all. We're
going to go through them one by one and categorize each of them into three
categories: KEEP, SELL, OR DONATE. Take a
hard look at each item and ask yourself these questions:
- Would I buy this if I saw it in the store today?
- Have I worn it in the past year?
- Is it still in good shape?
If
you answered "yes" to all three questions, put it in the KEEP pile.
If not, it's time to get rid of it. For the ones you're getting rid of,
if they're
in really good shape (especially like-new items), put them in the SELL pile. If not, they go in the
DONATE pile.
For the SELL pile, you can either sell
these in a garage sale, on Craigslist, to a local consignment store, or
to my personal favorite,
ThredUp. I choose ThredUp because it's so easy. You just request a free clean out bag from their website, fill it with
your name brand clothing that's in good condition, and mail it back
(free of charge). They will pay you for the clothes they keep and
decide to resell.
For your DONATE pile, bag it up and take it to the charity
or shelter of your choice. If donating to a charity, make sure to ask
for a receipt so you can deduct it on your taxes. You can find some
guidelines for how to value your used clothing
here.
HOW TO STORE TOPS
I like to hang all of my tops, excluding sweaters, which I fold and store on shelves. I hang everything in
my closet on
these hangers because in addition to being very slim and space saving, having all of
your hangers match makes everything look so much more organized and
uniform!
I personally like to separate my tops into 4 different "sections" in my closet: tank tops, short sleeves, long sleeves, and sweaters. I've recently added a new category - cardigans - and decided to hang them because my sweater section is getting too full, and, let's be real, cardigans can be hard to fold! Once I have my tops hung in their respective categories, I color coordinate them. I know color coordinating definitely isn't for everyone, but in addition to looking oh-so-organized, it's easier to find things and put outfits together! I even color coordinate my husband's shirts (so they don't ruin the general aesthetic of our shared closet, of course) but he may not appreciate it quite as much as I do.
Just remember, how you organize your closet is a personal decision that should make the most sense to YOU. There's no "right" or "wrong" way to do it!
I fold my sweaters (and all of my folded clothing) per the Kon Mari Method. You can watch a video demonstrating
here. SIDE NOTE - Marie Kondo, the creator of this method, is a little crazy, which you know if you've read
her book. The book does have some good tips on folding and storing items, and it's also quite entertaining to hear her talk about how our clothes have feelings (yep, I'm serious). Once I have all of my sweaters folded, I stack them on shelves so that they can all be seen at a glance. I don't like putting things in drawers if I can help it because you can't see everything in the drawer at a glance, and inevitably, things get "lost" at the bottom. And that's it! Are you feeling more organized just reading this?!
I can't wait to see all of your photos - before, during, or after the clean out process! Just be sure to use the hashtag #7DayClosetCleanoutChallenge to be entered into the drawing for the $25 Target gift card that I'll be doing at the end of the week!
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