I had a closet full of old clothes—some that were over 10 years old!—just laying around in my closet collecting dust.
The great thing about cleaning up your closet is that it allows you more room to add new things to your life. It also makes it easier to go into your closet and find something that you would actually want to wear.
Put it in the Bag
The important thing to remember when clearing out the old clothes in your closet is that you have to be in the right state of mind before breaking out that large black plastic bag. You have to be hardcore! Look at each piece of clothing with a serious eye—will you actually ever wear this? Generally, if you haven’t worn an item of clothing in over six months, you should put it in bag! If the clothing is ripped or torn, put it in the bag! If you don’t see yourself wearing the item in the next year, put it in the bag!
It may actually be more helpful to have two bags—one for clothing that you will donate to charity, and one for clothing that is going to the trash. If the clothing is excessively funky or dirty, put it through the wash before putting it in the clothing bin in your town.
Get it Out of the House
Once you have all those clothes in bags, get that bag out of the house. Don’t let the bag sit next to the door, or in the basement as you anticipate going to the clothing drop. Either go to the box that day, or load the bags in the front seat your car so that you won’t forget to drop them the next time you leave your house. If you allow the bags to sit in your house, you haven’t really gotten rid of the clutter.
Room for New Things
Now that you have gotten rid of the unnecessary items, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. You have removed a significant amount of clutter from your life. Be thankful that you had it to give—some people are not so fortunate. You are not only blessing someone else with these items, but also blessing yourself by making room for new things. Now that you see what you need, maybe it’s time for a small shopping trip!
