We’re off to a great start in the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge. In the first four weeks, we decluttered our kitchen drawers, counters, and cupboards. We even cleared out the junk under the kitchen sink. Starting this week, we’re moving on to a big problem area for many—closets and clothing. The week of February 8 to 14 is Secondhand Wardrobe Week. What better way to mark the occasion than making a start on our closet decluttering!
Closet decluttering is a big job so we’ll spend the next few weeks decluttering our clothing. This week, we’ll make a good start by focusing on the “bottoms”—pants, skirts, dresses and shorts.
This post was originally published in February 2021 and republished in February 2023.
What is the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge?
In this year-long journey, we’re tackling one task at a time with the goal of cleaning up and organizing our homes. If you’ve just joined us, no worries. You can jump right in with this week’s challenge. Just check out the first two posts in the series to download your free checklists.
You can get easy access to all previous weekly posts on the main Decluttering page.
Are you ready for week 5? Let’s get decluttering!
Closets the size of small homes?
In his book The Minimalist Home, Joshua Becker reveals that some of us have closets the size of homes in poor countries. Reading that reminded me of a funny story that happened to me a few years ago.
When my in-laws’ long-time neighbours moved away, the people who bought their house built a large addition onto the old stone farmhouse. When the addition and renovation project were complete, they invited us over for a tour.
The main part of the project was the addition of a large kitchen and master suite on the back of the house. When I was in the master suite, I was a bit puzzled to see what I thought was another room just off the master bedroom. This couple was beyond the age where they would need a nursery, and it was a very odd place for another bedroom. Then, it dawned on me that this “room” was their walk-in closet. I’m not exaggerating when I say that closet was larger than the two smaller bedrooms in our house.
Luckily I didn’t say out loud what I was thinking, or I would have felt really stupid. But it did kind of make me wonder why anyone needs a closet that size. Does anyone need that many clothes? The fast fashion industry wants you to believe that!
A 2018 study by Movinga found we don’t wear over half of the clothes we own so it’s no surprise you are keen to get started on decluttering your closets.
So, let’s roll up our sleeves and make a start on our closet decluttering.
Week 5 – Pants, skirts, dresses and shorts
I’m not much of a fashionista, and I regularly get rid of clothes I no longer wear, so my closet decluttering was probably easier than it is for some people. But like most people, I tend to wear my favourite clothes often and have others that I rarely or never wear.
We have a small closet in our master bedroom. For years, I kept my off-season clothes in a closet in the basement and did the switch-over twice a year. Last year, when I did the 31-Day Declutter Challenge, I followed Dana K. White’s advice and set a goal of limiting my clothing to the size of my container. That container was my bedroom closet and dressers.
I achieved that goal and I’ll share some of my tips with you today.
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This week’s decluttering and organizing tips
To get started, take all your pants, shorts, skirts, and dresses out of your closet and lay them on your bed. If you have a lot of clothes, you might need to do pants first, then skirts, then dresses and shorts.
Then, look at each item one-by-one and decide what you’re going to keep. Don’t forget to use my Easy Decluttering Checklist to help you out.
Before we get to what I got rid of, here are my tips and learnings from the first round of closet decluttering last year, and my second round this week.
- If there’s an item you haven’t worn in a while, try it on. If it doesn’t fit, get rid of it. We all like to think we’ll lose weight and fit into those clothes again. But will you? And even if you do, will you want to wear your old clothes? Be honest with yourself. Unless you’re committed and actively working on losing weight, you probably need to say good-bye to those clothes.
- Consider if your lifestyle has changed. If you have a closet full of business attire and you’ve retired or your office has switched to a casual dress code, getting rid of those work clothes is an easy win. Look for a charity like Clothing Works or Dress for Success that will give your career clothing to people who need clothes for job interviews.
- Eliminate duplicates. When going through your clothes, group similar items by colour. Consider what you can purge. For example, do you really need several black dresses, or multiple pairs of pants in the same colour? At one time I had three cobalt blue dresses. Cobalt blue is my favourite colour but I don’t need three dresses the same colour. I ended up keeping two—one that’s suitable for business functions, and another for special occasions.
Remember, you’re limiting what you keep to the size of your container. Here’s what my container looks like right now.
What I got rid of
In my first round of closet decluttering in October, I got rid of nine items:
- one pair of capris
- two pairs of dress pants
- three skirts
- one skort
- two dresses
I must have done a decent job the first time around. When I went through the exercise again, I only found two pairs of pants that could go.
Please repurpose your clothes
Fast fashion and clothing waste are a huge environmental issue so please look for ways to give the clothes you no longer want new life. It’s hard right now because of the pandemic. I have a bag of clothes tucked away in a corner of my bedroom waiting for the day when I can drop them off at the thrift store.
2024 Update
It has been three years so I’m rebooting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge to see how much I can get rid of in 2024.
I’ve done a great job resisting buying new clothes over the last few years. Yet, I still decluttered five items this week: one dress, two pairs of pants, one skirt and a pair of shorts.
As I went through this first week of closet decluttering, I made a couple of mental notes.
- First, don’t buy a piece of clothing unless you absolutely love it. One of the items was a dress that I bought for a specific occasion. I bought it online and wore it once. I never really liked it and definitely don’t love it. From now on, I’ll ask two questions before buying a new piece of clothing. Do I love this? Will I want to wear it all the time?
- Second, clothing sizes are inconsistent. I bought the dress I got rid of online. I should have returned it because I didn’t love how it fit right from the start, but returning online purchases is a pain. When you shop online, there’s a good chance you’ll buy something you don’t absolutely love and end up never wearing it. Avoid online shopping for clothes!
So that’s week 5 done. Next week we’ll continue our closet declutter with shirts and blouses.
If you have friends or family members who could benefit from a little less clutter in their lives, please share this post and spread the word! It’s not too late to join the challenge.
What did you declutter from your closet this week? Tell us below.
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Another ongoing re-organize area Michelle. My bedroom closet is for clothing, linens, seasonal storage, shoes, luggage…you get the idea 😉 It gets cleaned and reorganized multiple times per year! Anything that I consider a bottom however is stored in drawers, as are folded sweaters, underthings/socks, exercise and hiking stuff.
Good for you, Deb. It’s good that you do this on a regular basis. Definitely something I need to do more often.
Oh….”bottoms” are my nemesis. I feel like I can swing a whole size in a matter of a week if I get off my game w/eating and skip a workout or two. Thanks for the nudge, Michelle. Umm….how many pairs of blank pants do I REALLY need? LOL! 😜
I did my closet a few weeks ago. I got rid of three tank dresses that were showing their age and a pair of sneakers that had no sneakers left and two gross tee shirts. i go through my wardrobe quarterly so it’s a matter of what clothes are showing their age.
That’s a great approach. I tend to do a quick scan every time I go in my closet for something. I think that’s why I’m not finding much to get rid of this time around.
👍👍
I’m currently in a “need to get healthy and lose x number of pounds” stage hehe, so I’m holding onto more clothes than I probably need to right now. I did decide to let go of all my movie extra clothes recently though (it was handy to have a variety of clothes that I wouldn’t normally wear to take to set as costumes). It was a side job I did for fun that I no longer have time for, so I don’t need the extra items. Cleared out a whole suitcase!
Good for you for giving up the movie extra clothes. I can see why it would be tempting to keep them.
Well I’m happy to say that on Saturday I cleaned out the bedroom closet and drawers. I have three bags of donations; like you, I’m waiting until the pandemic to take them to a charity shop. I was stunned at how many clothes *huge gulp here* still have the price tags on them. I’m embarrassed about that, Michelle. That tells me a lot about my previous spending, and I’m going to try and be much more cognizant in the future.
Something I learned (maybe you told me this!) about organizing clothes. If you wear something, turn the hanger around on the rack. In a year (or whatever time you wish), see how many clothes still have the hangers facing forward. It will definitely let you know that you haven’t worn it in a while.
I know what you mean about previous spending habits. I used to buy stuff “just because”. Now, I always ask myself if I really need it and the answer is usually no.
Yes, I’ve heard of the hanger trick too. Another idea is to put them away in a box and if you don’t get them out, you know you don’t need them.
I have to start doing that too, Michelle! That’s a really good idea to put clothes away; if I don’t get them out I guess that’s pretty tell-tale that I don’t need it! LOL Thanks for the tip! Cher xoxoxo
Great tips, Michelle! I’ve been downsizing my clothes for the past year as we knew we would be moving and also because I simply don’t wear everything anymore. I always go for my favorite pieces and think “maybe one day” about other clothes so those “one day” clothes got donated. I like what you say too about giving away duplicates. I had some jeans that were almost the same! I don’t need both lol.
Thanks Christy. It’s amazing when you take a serious look at your clothes how many items you actually rarely wear. Life is so much simpler with less.
I used to fill up 2 closets with all the clothes I had. After sorting through and only keeping the things I wore, all of my clothes fit in my bedroom closet and I have plenty of room to spare! It makes getting ready in the morning so much easier.
I agree, Suzanne. Now that I have all my clothes in one closet, life is much simpler andI still have lots of clothes to wear.
I threw out (well recycled) a whole load of little glass ramekins and tidied other bits away.
That’s great!
I cleared out 2 shelves of a crockery cupboard today. How many weeks behind am I? 😄
Kitchen cupboards was week 3 so that’s only 2 weeks ago. 😀 No rush. Everyone can go at their own pace. The challenge was for me as much as anyone else. I figured if I committed to blogging about it every week, I would have to do it! LOL
I’m frustrated that I’ve got clothes that I’ve no reason to wear because of this pandemic! I’ve never been an enthusiastic clothes shopper so clearing out my closet doesn’t take long. 😀
I know what you mean. When the pandemic started, I bought a couple of new spring blouses to cheer me up. They’re still hanging in my closet with the tags on. It doesn’t look like I’ll wear them this year either. Maybe 2022. LOL
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I love that you regularly get rid of items you don’t wear. That way, at least the things you give away will always be in tip tip shape!
True, but these days my focus is on not buying new clothes, wearing the clothes I have that I love, and getting rid of the rest.