Closet Confessions

About a month ago, I wrote about practicing what I preach by giving my closet the old backwards hanger test. One month later, it's time to do the initial review to see which clothes I actually wore in the last month.

So here are the results. Out of 78 total hanging items, I wore 25 of them, which leaves 53 backwards hangers remaining. Not too surprising. We all have our favorites and tend to wear the same things over and over.

I said I would do an initial review and weed out what really needed to go, still leaving a "maybe" group on backwards hangers until the end of the year for a final judgment. I took out 6 items for donation and 2 that should have been put away with the summer clothes. I was proud of myself - a few of those 6 items were things that I'd let hang around for waaaay too long because they were good quality or a seemingly classic/useful item, but the reality was, I was not wearing them, and I knew it. So I took the plunge and evicted them from my closet. Even better, I took them to a donation place immediately, along with a few other items I'd already accumulated. It felt great to create some space and finally say good-bye to items I knew I shouldn't be keeping. So instead of a bag of clothing I don't wear, I now have a donation receipt for tax time.

If you're keeping up with the math, that leaves 45 backwards hangers or clothing items on probation to either wear or evict at the end of the month. To be fair, that number includes the majority of my sweaters, even favorite ones, because the weather has been so unseasonably warm around here. So I will definitely give them a chance.

One bonus of this process is that it tends to open your eyes to what you own and make you work a little harder to expand beyond your favorites by making an effort to wear things you like but don't tend to reach for. That will be part of my challenge this month. But at the end of the month, the hangers won't lie. Of course I'll be sure to stay accountable and report back on my progress.

While I'm confessing, I also have 3 bags of better quality clothes I'd like to consign that are currently cluttering my car. The consignment place I've used before closed, so I'm giving myself one week to make some calls and set up an appointment. If I can't get my act together or find a taker, I will go ahead and donate them too. They've already been out of my closet for at least a month and I'm not missing them, so it would be silly to move them back in.

Bottom Line: Setting deadlines and holding yourself accountable to someone (even yourself) is a great way to actually make progress when it comes to clearing clutter and finishing unfinished projects. Stay tuned for more updates!