Closet Cleaning
Warming temperatures and sweet floral scented air beckons the opening of windows to chase the stagnant winter staleness out of the house. Naturally following the airing of the house is the need to dust, clean, and make everything in our living environments as fresh as the blooming daffodils outside. What better place to start with your spring cleaning than with your closet to make more room for all your new spring and summer apparel purchases?
Closet cleaning is always a daunting task, one we all like to procrastinate with, as it requires parting with our beloved hard-earned and hard-loved (and not so loved) garments.
Quit dragging your feet, girl, and follow these steps to help you conquer this chore:
1. Go through your closet and pull out anything you haven’t worn in the past calendar year or doesn’t currently fit. It doesn’t matter if it still has the tags on it or it’s too small and you hope to fit in it one day – by the time that happens, it will probably be out of style – so pitch it!
2. With your discards, create two piles. One for good condition/re-sellable stuff, and one for wearable, but un-sellable stuff.
3. Take the pile of good condition/re-sellable stuff and list it on eBay (don’t forget to post your auctions in the stylethread forum for maximum exposure!) This will help you make back a couple of bucks that you can reinvest in that Bulga bag you’ve had your eye on…
4. You have choices with the wearable/un-sellable stuff… You can either simply donate this pile or you can invite your girlfriends over for a closet cleaning clothing swap and donate the leftovers afterward. There are many great places to donate clothes that make sure they are given an appreciated second life. Some of these places even help women get a second chance in life such as http://www.dressforsuccess.org. An added bonus to donating is being able to write the value of the donated clothes off your taxes for this year – just make sure you save your receipt!
After you have made your “piles,” take a look at each piece of clothing that remains in your closet. Ask yourself if you really see yourself wearing the item again. Perhaps you are not dressing as casually as you used to, and when you do dress casually, the given item is not one you would reach for first. So, be honest and ask yourself, would I want my fellow stylethread members to see me in this? Seriously, it’s a good litmus test to decide if you should wear something in public or not and whether it needs to join a pile!
Hmmm… Now for those items that are not even worthy of a pile – they might just be perfect for dusting those baseboards...
~~~ Kris Bauer
