Day two of the Spring Fling. This may be your hardest yet. Taming the closet!
Asking women to get rid of clothes is like asking men to get rid of tools.
If you’ve ever struggled to get ready in the morning with dozens of items of clothes in your closet, but have “nothing to wear,” then it’s time to fling a lot of your closet.
People who look pulled together don’t spend 30 minutes wondering, “What am I going to wear?” Because they often have the smallest wardrobes.
Take a hard look at your closet. What is it filled with?
“I might need it someday!”
“But I spent so much money on it!”
“I might be that size again someday.”
Those clothes choke out your real life. If you MUST keep them, store them in another part of the house, where they won’t interfere with your real life.
It Gets Better: Taming the Closet
I have experienced so much freedom in my closet. It has taken me many seasons, but now everything in there is something I would wear today. (Okay, maybe not the heavy sweaters, because it IS May, but I will be swapping out my winter for spring here pretty soon.)
When you switch seasons in your closet (I have a tiny closet, so for me this is a MUST), it is a great time to look at your clothes and see what you actually look forward to wearing. You don’t need to keep “just in case” clothes. Make sure you love to wear everything in your closet.
If you have stuff (and don’t we all) that needs to get hemmed, taken in, let out, or repaired, go get it done so you can have a wardrobe that works for you instead of working so hard to get dressed in the morning.
Instructions:
– Set up your three boxes/totes and two bags.
– Start with one pole or one shelf.
– Do NOT pull everything in your closet out and sort through it. That will get overwhelming. You will quit and go eat Rocky Road ice cream. (Or at least that’s what I would do.) At the most, pull out three items at a time.
One of the things I like to do is pull out three similar items. Are there two I wear all the time, but one I avoid? Maybe it doesn’t fit, it has a scratchy tag, or I don’t like how it looks on me.
If it’s the scratchy tag, go get a pair of scissors or a seam ripper and take care of that puppy. Otherwise? Get rid of it and let someone else feel fab in it.
Bonus:
You know those days when you feel extra motivated? Yes, they may only come around once a year, but today could be that day!
If so, here are some bonus flings you could do that will bring more peace in your closet:
– Take three things to the cleaners
– Take one thing to get altered
– Get rid of any extra hangers you hate using. (No one should be using wire hangers from the dry cleaners. You’re better than that.)
The next time (maybe tomorrow morning) you get dressed, you will be so glad you did your fling!
Share Your Fling
After you fling, either tell us about it or share a picture in the comments. Remember, each day (at the end of the Fling) there will be one winner, randomly drawn from the comments, who will receive a copy of The Cure for the Perfect Life from Kathi Lipp and Cheri Gregory. So share below and tell us about your fling.
A friend was looking for clothes just my size for a woman (and also needing for the rest of the family) whose home burned down. This fling took the sting out of making those choices!
My closet is one of those spots that I still have stuff in it that needs my attention eventually. A couple boxes here & a laundry basket over there. My wardrobe is in much better shape from the constant decluttering I’ve done, so I only had 1 shirt to purge towards my 20. But getting to my 20 was no problem as crossed a laundry basket of random off.
Did my closet in lent so I went through jewelry and have a bag that a friend is eagerly waiting to inherit!
I did my fling Tuesday night. 20+ shirts, 4 pairs of shoes(one gifted to my daughter, she was so excited to have mom’s shoes), 4-5 scarves and 2-3 pairs of pants. The best part is I found an outfit the next morning in under 30 seconds. I had been spending 4-5 minutes each morning deciding what to wear. I’m not a morning person and usually don’t have 4-5 minutes to spare.
Working on the closet today, I was able to get rid of several crafting supplies that were taking up the entire shelf above my clothes. We are preparing for a garage sale this weekend, so I have been at this for a while, but am still enjoying the encouragement to fling more! I even went to bed thinking about more things I can get rid of. 🙂
This was a great one! I had time so I went through the whole closet (except for winter clothes I packed away a couple weeks ago). Was able to donate a ton of stuff, 5 bags of clothes/bags. Then moved on to my husband’s dresser. Looks so much nicer and can find things better.
I love this challenge! I actually cleaned out my closet a couple weeks ago but did a “walk in and look around” again this morning just to be sure I was still staying organized because of this challenge. Closed flinged…..CHECK!
I’m loving the idea to pull out a small section or 3 items at a time, I always feel so overwhelmed when I start so this is golden advice!
Yesterday did not go so well; lyme related joint swelling had me down after work. Still managed to fling a few pair of shoes and shirts that have not been worn in ages. Only 10 items there but did manage to clear out all the old newspapers in the family room so not a total fail. Hoping for a better day today.
Until recently I have been sharing a closet with my 6 year old son for the past few years. This was the last few things (30 clothing items, 2 pairs of shoes, a pair of underwear, etc.) that had not been moved to his room. I chose to work on this section of my closet today. In total I flung approx 60 items, tossed out 2 pairs of shoes, several hangers, and found 2 pairs of Christmas slippers I meant to return! I chose to save my tambourine. And then transfered my zip up hoodies from the back of my bedroom door to my new found closet space. 1 suit jacket set aside to go to the cleaners.
So I’m taking this fling pretty seriously and got rid of over 50 items. It may have been too much, but I put them in the garage sale pile so I can grab something if I did go crazy. I doubt I’ll miss any of it though.
I found 20+ items in my closet to fling! I had to laugh when I found 2 sweaters exactly the same (brand, color, size) and I never wore either of them. lol And I have a winter coat ready to take to the cleaners next time I go to town! Feels good to purge and simplify! 🙂
This was hard 2 months ago I got rid of over half my wardrobe. I included the dresser so that helped barely make it to my 20.
I had gotten rid of a lot already but I managed to get rid of 10 items of clothing and lots of metal cheap hangers and some other misc things?
I flung my closet when we remodeled in March, but I didn’t touch my little dresser or vanity at the time. I didn’t think I had much to fling, but I added 10 things to our garage sale and through at least 20 away.
I am a clothes hoarder…..no other word for it. I bagged up 25 items to give away today, but didn’t even make a dent. Definition of a hoarder……someone who buys clothes and never wears them! I found a dress in the back of my closet that I bought years ago; the store is no longer in business and probably hasn’t been for at least 8-10 years. Bye-bye dress that still has the tags on it!
I can’t believe how many pieces of clothing I have/had that still have tags on them or I’ve never worn. I must have gotten rid of over 100 pieces of clothes. Probably way more. I feel better getting rid of stuff and having a little bit of my closet back ?
20 less items in my closet was easier than I thought it would be!
I share a small closet with my husband, so I already keep it to a minimum. I got out the summer clothes and skimmed a few drawers to get 21 things!
Full garbage bag full and it’s going to the thrift shop today!
purge purge purge!!!
Moved into the other half of our bedroom closet. Only flung 27 items, since I started this project last week. It helped to have a plastic bin to store off season clothes and only have outfits I need this season at my fingertips.
I am so seizing this one. I have a lots of “but I spent money” silliness in mine. Bonus: Think I’ll tackle the vast number of sheets that we don’t use or even have that size bed anymore in the hall closet.
How did you know I had be eyeing the back corner where all the unwearables go to die? I guess it’s time to pull off the bandaid. Onward?
I cannot get to the closet to declutter it!!!! (yes, it really is that bad), so I am going to continue to work on the pile in front of the door, and in the meantime I am going to declutter the dresser drawers.
Keep up the good work, Alison!!! You’ll get there! 🙂
Allison, i think you are my soul mate.
I cleaned out my closet a few weeks ago and I’m pretty much down to bare bones. My husband never gets rid of anything and has a LOT more clothes than I do. One day I pulled everything off of one of his shelves (the clothes were dusty) and put them on the bed, and asked him to go through them and pick out what he wanted to keep. A few days later I did the same with his short sleeved shirts, and so on. He didn’t have to spend hours going the closet with me and we eventually got rid of two bags of stuff.
That’s a great idea for hubby’s clothes, I’ll have to try that.
A tough one. Cleaned closet about a month ago. I know the second time you purge always hurts more.
I love this one today! I’m making room for hubs clothes in the closet so that he doesn’t have to dress in the basement anymore after we have guests move in. 37 items down and still going.
Hi Heather! Way to go!!! 🙂
I think I keep my closet pretty flinged, but I’ll give it a go! 🙂