Grab a Pretty Bag
Interior Designer Jeanette Knudsen has invited me to create blog posts around her beautiful graphics, which will feature a series of organizing tips over the next few months. Visit her website at DesignForALifeSpan.com for more tips and great design ideas from this amazing designer. Her company, Design For A Life Span specializes in redesigning and remodeling projects to help the senior population “age in place.” Call 480-695-1360 for more information.
Clothes are a big problem for a lot of people, particularly women. It is not unusual to work with clients whose clothes have outgrown their own closets, and are now being stored in the extra bedroom closets, the office, and sometimes even into the garage. If this hits home for you, there is a plan for you.
According to the National Association of Professional Organizer (NAPO) website, statistics show that we only wear 20% of the clothes in our closet. For those whose clothes have infiltrated every other closet and room in the house, that the percentage is even lower.
If you doubt the validity of the study, I challenge you to turn all your hangers facing forward. As you wear an item of clothing, turn the hanger so it faces the back of the closet. At the end of a season, you will have a clear visual of which clothes you have worn and which ones have not been worn. With this knowledge, it is time to get down to the business of purging clothes that 1) we do not love, 2) do not fit us, or 3) can serve someone else better.
Remove each forward facing hanger and make a decision. If you are unsure why you have not worn an item, try it on. Invariably, you will find that there is something about it that you do not like. Perhaps a tag that rubs you in just the wrong place or it just does not hang right on your body, or the front buttons gap open, or the sleeves are too long or too short. Once you identify why you do not wear it, it is so easy to place the item in the donate or give-away pile. This same methodology applies to shoes.
If you are keeping clothes that are sizes that no longer fit you, let them go. Separate the money spent from the item of clothing and gift them to someone else who will love them and wear them. If one day you lose those extra 20-lbs you will want to celebrate with new clothes anyway, right?
If you need help setting up organizational systems that support you, your family, or your business, contact Andrea Brundage, Professional Organizer & Bringer of Calm. Visit www.ProfessionalOrganizerAZ.com for a free gift. Simple Organized Solutions offers virtual and group coaching as well as in-person hands-on organizing. For more information, call (480) 382-1085.