How to Declutter Your Home with Ease - Clothes

I trust you all had a restful Christmas and New Year and are ready to get the new year going! As you live a more simple life you notice all the 'stuff' you have around the house. I find in December that I notice all that I have accumulated during the year and what better month to reduce clutter, than January. Start the year off by reducing your clutter and then you have the whole year to build it up again! ;-)

In this world we can accumulate so much stuff that we actually don't use. I always find the less I have the better I feel and the easier it is to keep my house clean.

Grab yourself some matcha tea and lets get going!

I always start with clothes.

Decluttering clothes for some people can be the hardest because we can have many memories attached to our clothes. We may also keep clothes that we 'use' to wear when we were bigger or smaller in size or younger.

It is said that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. This means that the rest is just gathering dust and clogging up space.

I like to start with the clothing rail.

Go through each hanger and ask yourself.

Does this fit me?

If the answer is no then say goodbye. If the answer is yes then ask...

Do I love wearing this?

If the answer is no then say goodbye. If yes then ask...

When was the last time I wore it?

If more than 18months then say goodbye.

Unless you actually wear something and it makes you feel good why would you keep wearing it.

If you find some clothes that need fixing before they can be worn then give yourself the month to fix and if it isn't fixed by then say goodbye and pass it onto someone else who is happy to sew on a button etc.

Put one garment of clothes on each hanger. This makes all your clothes much easier to see and stops you forgetting about certain items. Stop buying more hangers. When you buy a new piece of clothing, give one piece away. One in, one out.

Fill up a box with clothes for the charity shop or fill a box with clothes that you think friends may like. You'd be amazed at how quickly you can fill boxes!

If you are unsure about something, put it in a maybe pile. Keep it for a few months and if you haven't gone near it by then, say goodbye. Be strict. Set your alarm for a few months later and follow through.

It feels so good to get rid of stuff. Passing it on and letting it go so that someone else can enjoy it!

Next go through your folded clothes. I always seem to accumulate too many long sleeved tops. We only need a few to live very happily :-) You can reuse old clean t-shirts as cleaning cloths or make into cleansing wipes or produce bags.

Jeans are another one. We don't need 5 pairs of blue jeans. You have to be ruthless. The mind will tell you that you need to keep everything because you may need it someday. It's a trick. Don't fall for it. Move the clothes on to someone who will enjoy them and open up space for new things to come in.

Jumpers take up a huge amount of drawer space. Buy good quality jumpers that actually keep you warm. Use natural fabrics like ethically sourced wool and cotton.

Next is socks and undergarments etc.

It's amazing how we can wear the same undergarments over and over and forget about the rest. If you don't wear it say goodbye. Socks can be used to dust countertops. www.loveyourclothes.org.uk is a great website that has loads of ideas on how to look after fabrics from upcycling, recycling and fabric care to many uses for odd socks etc.

Clean underwear can be used to fill cushions and bras can be given to charities that help women in countries where bras are difficult to obtain. You will have to check with your local recycling centre and research your local charities for what you have in your city.

Next is coats..

There are only so many coats we need and they also take up a huge amount of space in our wardrobe. We obviously need a coat for winter that can be stored for the year. Some coats are special occasion coats. The occasion coats will be used less but as long as you feel good wearing them and you actually wear them every year then keep.

Shoes and Bags:

We all have those shoes we paid a fortune for and yet never wear because they hurt our feet. Say good bye. Unless you love wearing them and do wear them, give them away. You can reuse the shoe boxes for storage.

There are only so many bags we can use. Keep a few and then gift or get rid of the rest.

Any clothes that are a 'maybe', turn the hanger the opposite way to the rest of the wardrobe and in a few months if you haven't worn it, then move it on. This is a great way of noticing what we actually wear on a weekly basis.

No matter what you get rid of you will feel fantastic having more space in your wardrobe.

You will also have a new refreshed look at your clothes and realise how much you actually have and how little you need to buy.

Thanks for reading....

Check the video out below for more inspiration..