This Wednesday: Tips...to clear clutter II.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.
This Wednesday: Tips…for clearing closets.

April 12’s post has advice for clearing clutter, but I’m so entranced with this topic that I can’t resist including some more suggestions:

 Remove all extra hangers and keep just a few spares. You don’t need fifty extra hangers, and they take up an astonishing amount of room.

 If you save those little packets of thread and buttons that sometimes come with clothes, throw them away unless you have actually made use of this stuff in the past.

 Get rid of unused shoe boxes, shoe bags, and shopping bags, or at the very least, save only a few, away from your closet.

 If you possibly can manage it, clear a shelf or drawer and keep it empty. What a luxury!

 Don’t assume you need to hang on to a certain item merely to fill a category; if you never wear something, you don’t need it. One friend was reluctant to get rid of her belts. “If I get rid of these, I won’t have any belts,” she protested. But, I asked, did she ever wear belts? “No…not for years.” So why keep them? Similarly, if you dislike certain categories of items—like patterned socks or turtlenecks—get rid of them. Your taste isn't going to change.

 To clear out a drawer, don’t paw around looking for items to eliminate. Empty the drawer and only put back what you actually wear.

 Remember that oftentimes things have a natural home, so you should try to store things in the places to which they naturally gravitate. If you’re always leaving your robe in the bathroom instead of putting it back in your closet, find a place for it in the bathroom.

Comments

[Ruth Baguskas]

Gretchen,

I love your blog. I have just moved from NYC, my hometown, to a rural idyll in the West of Ireland. I isolated/moved here five months ago, gave birth to my second child 3 months ago, sixteen months after my first was born in NY, and am petrified of driving. I am not able to walk anywhere because of the crazy drivers whizzing around corners on even the smallest of boreens. I am learning standard shift and enjoy fearfully practicing the winding roads here, the shoulders of which are STONE.

I am so HAPPY to have discovered your blog and am HAPPY to see that ORDER is high on your list for inducing happiness. It certainly does it for me. At the moment things here are in upside down, me wee doteen and dote being a handful and my disciplined life out the window for a moment it is a great pleasure to READ about creating order instead. I know that it need not be mentioned, but I'm using CAPS in place of italics (which are also annoying) because I am too LAZY to italicize. I am going to bed content and will create order tomorrow, if I don't waste too much time enjoying your blog.

[catherine howley]

Gretchen, I am so happy to have come across your blog. It is inspiring. I am too excited about getting back to reading to say too much yet. Just to share my excitement with you. More later. x Cath