Excavating the Walk-in Closet

In our previous houses, I never really had a walk-in closet, so never quite realized just how many years worth of clutter can fit before you really have to deal with it. Mostly it is clothes that I have outgrown (both by size and style), shoes, costumes, and miscellaneous keepsakes.

I usually get overwhelmed by the idea of pulling everything out at once, so I try and declutter it in place. However, I have been watching Hot Mess House, and I have to admit that there is some truth to having to face the giant pile of what we need to deal with.

DAY 1:

I pulled out what was on the floor and started with the far end (these are either new purchases or stuff that had gotten shoved to the far side where I could no longer see it (so therefore it didn’t exist).

DAY 2:

I moved on to the next 2 sections (the left wall (tutus and corsets) and the right wall (mostly t-shirts). I tried to be realistic with which clothes actually fit me, and make me feel good wearing them. I feel like I was able to be more aggressive than I have been before.

So far, I have 3 extra large trash bags to donate, including a large number of geeky t-shirts… I “may” have a problem.

These were kind of hard to let go of, even though they no longer fit (I kept telling myself that I could make a quilt out of them, or throw pillows, or something)

The closet is looking better already (as long as you don’t look up, as I haven’t started on the upper shelf yet). I love seeing all the empty hangers, since I never seemed to have enough, and this is just part of the 200+ hangers that are empty now. This side is now my skirts, pants, and a of my “maybes” (things that I just wasn’t ready to let go of yet). Babysteps right?

I love that I have reduced my actual wardrobe to the things that actually like and wear. This side is my shirts and dresses, and they are even color-coded.

DAY 3:

I emptied out the dresser, and now I need to decide if this is the right piece of furniture for me. We bought it for my youngest’s nursery nearly 12 years ago, and it migrated to my room at some point. I love the hidden jewelry drawer, but the rest of it doesn’t work real well for me.

I dumped it all out on my bed and quickly realized that I wear very little of this anymore. I find it interesting how easy it is to put things in a drawer and then just forget about it. I also started to dig into the costume section in the closet too. Progress feels really good.