I actually didn’t plan to join the February Declutter Challenge hosted by My Half Dozen Daily, but ever since I saw how great Carla’s closet looks, I’ve been giving my own closet the side eye. I have one of those unfortunate wardrobes with tons of items, yet only a few that I actually wear. Most are clothes I wore in college (and even some things from high school!), and I have to face reality - that stuff is NEVER going to fit again.
Forget Mount Cardboard - this weekend’s battle was climbing Mount Clothing! And it was definitely a worthy opponent.
Overall, I got rid of 27 pairs of pants and 79 shirts. That’s 106 empty hangers. And it’s also ridiculous - that’s more clothing than most people probably own in a lifetime. I filled a storage tub with the items I want to keep in case I lose weight (the ones that are just barely too tight), but the vast majority got bagged up to donate.
The (Embarrassing) Photographic Evidence
Believe it or not, there’s a dresser under this mountain of clothing:
See the after picture:
These are the left and right sides of my closet before:
And here they are after the purge (yes, I DO hang my clothes according to the rainbow. Don’t judge me):
Here’s all the stuff I got rid of, bagged up and ready to donate. That’s FIVE lawn & leaf bags full of clothes:
Post-Declutter Thoughts
I can’t tell you what an immense relief it is to get rid of all those clothes. Sure, I have a mild anxiety attack when I see my empty closet now, but I also realize how little of my wardrobe I was actually using. Why have all that stuff if it’s just going to take up space? (There was actually a huge mountain of clothes on my bedroom floor, too, but I opted not to take a picture of it. It’s gone now, I promise.)
I do have to confess that there’s still even more clothing to go through. I have two overflowing hampers of clothes to be washed, much of which I hope are my son’s. There are also four baskets of clean clothes in the laundry room. In my defense, though, I’ve been avoiding bringing that stuff upstairs because I didn’t know where I’d put it. Now there’s no excuse.
Way back last spring, I swore I was going to get rid of some of my junk. I think I updated on that project once, but I basically failed at most of the goals I set. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone because you know how much I hate cleaning.
But I have to admit, cleaning out my closet gave me a sense of accomplishment that can only come with getting rid of unneeded crap. I feel pretty good about crossing it off my to-do list, and I’m hoping it inspires even more decluttering.
How’s your closet looking these days? Have you ever done a massive clothing purge like this before? Any advice for resisting the urge to refill it with more clothes?