Spring has Sprung so let’s clear the clutter

I love every new season and what it brings! The change in weather is always exciting; watching those buds start on the trees and in the ground give me immense pleasure!

Another thing I love is putting away the winter gear and clothing and bringing out the spring stuff! SO, this is your perfect opportunity to clear away/donate and organize this stuff!

I like to keep under bed bins for my seasonal clothing, others have a large enough closet to keep everything, and still others have more than one closet where they can store out of season wear.

Starting with your winter clothes, pull them all out and put them on your bed. Now I mean EVERYTHING!

Now, take each piece of clothing and fold it up (or keep it on the hanger if you’re just moving it) and recall the last time you wore it. If you can’t remember put it in a pile for “Questionables”. If you didn’t wear it at all, put it in a “Donate” pile, and if you wore it and love it, put it in a “Keep” pile. Do this one at a time until the pile is gone. After going through all your clothes go back to the “Questionables” and rethink these as a “Keep” or “Donate”. Once this is done, grab a bag, toss in all the “Donate” items and put them in front of your door to go out! This way, the next time you leave the house you will take it with you and actually donate it. Don’t just put it away or store is as this will just lead to clutter somewhere else!

Ok, next I want you to go to your front hallway where all the coats, boots, hats, scarves, mittens etc. are kept. If you don’t already have them, invest in 3 bins to store outdoor winter items: 1 for accessories, 1 for coats, 1 for boots. I want you to do a similar thing here with these items. We accumulate A LOT of winter gear it seems! Not sure why, but we just do (or maybe it’s just my family lol!!) Do we seriously NEED 8 pairs of gloves/mittens, 5 scarves, 15 hats, 4 coats, and 3 pairs of boots??? Maybe a few extras for style and comfort, but we, as a society just like to accumulate “Stuff” so now is a good time to consider doing this differently! Now go through each item separately and put it in the “Donate”, “Keep”, or “Questionables” pile, and then go through the “Questionables” pile as you did above, and put in a bag the donate items, and put this by the front door.

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That’s it! It’s really not as bad as you think it is! Mostly what gets people is the actual ACT of DOING it! Right now, take out your calendar and schedule in a 1 hour time slot (That is all it should take) and DO IT!! Often times when we actual schedule something in we are more likely to ACTUALLY do it!

That was pretty painless if I do say so myself!

Spring has sprung so go for a walk on the next bright day and enjoy the change of season!!!

Your Simply Susan tip of the day 😉🌼🌳

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Seasonal Clothing Swap-out

 

With the change of season upon us, this is the best time to go through your clothing you are taking out of your drawers (summer items), and putting into your drawers (fall/winter items).  Now is the time to get rid of unwanted, unworn, worn-out, or dated clothing items.

As you take clothes out, critically go through them asking yourself:

A) Did I wear this more than once this season? and will I honestly ever wear it again?

B) Is it still in fashion, or is it now out-dated?

C) Is it worn out, “pilly”, or thread-bare?

D)  Do I have at least one more like it already?

E) Is it comfortable, and do I feel good about myself when I wear it?

Any items that you are done with just donate them now! Donating clothing is so easy these days as there are at least 3 companies that will regularly call you and come to your door to pick up your stuff!!  But, if you want to do it before you lose your nerve, drive to  your local charity or second hand shop and make your donation there!

If you love something, but it doesn’t fit, put it in a designated box (labelled) for now and every year go through this box to check if the items fit.  If you do this for a few years and the items still don’t fit, donate!

After you have critically gone through your clothes, you need to store the clothing coming out.  If you have room for them, under bed storage bins or large, sealed bags are your best option.  If not, at least use large, well-labelled plastic bins and store them where you have room.

Another idea is to have a clothing swap with a friend of similar size (what you are tired of or doesn’t fit you, she may LOVE). Better yet, start up an annual clothing-swap party where everyone gets to go through each others things!  This will save money and be better for the environment!!

Thanks for reading your Simply Susan tip of the day!😛