Wardrobe Cleaning – Start Fresh for the New Year!

The thought of a good closet cleaning to start the year right always sounds exciting, especially in 2022!

But as we all know, emptying your closet is a huge job. It always starts well. Everything goes out of the closet and onto the bed. Then he decides piece by piece what to keep and what to throw away. Halfway through, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and haunted by thoughts like “Why did I spend so much money on this” or “I can’t believe this doesn’t fit me anymore” or “What the hell was I thinking when I thought about this”. bought this? “

With negative thoughts swirling in your head and a pile of clothes in front of you, it’s easy to stuff it all back in your closet and save your cleaning for another day, maybe…

But please don’t do this! Cleaning Your Closet can change your life! How?

1. Good cabinet cleaning makes you feel good: Cleaning your closet gives you a sense of accomplishment and mastery in your wardrobe. A step towards shaping trust.

2nd. Opens wardrobes to new possibilities -Just like everything in life, you can’t let anything new come in until you get rid of the old one. It’s the same with clothes.

3. You will save time getting dressed – 44% of women can’t find a piece in their closet once a month, which slows them down. Having a clear view of what you have and knowing that it is suitable and in working order makes getting dressed quicker and easier.

4. You will wear your clothes more – The average woman wears about 20-30% of her wardrobe. Too many clothes overwhelm people and we get the same old, same old. When you see what you have, it’s easier to change it.

5. Less Stress, More Joy – Having a tidy wardrobe frees you up and allows you to focus on other things besides thinking about what to wear every day.

6. You will earn money for Reinvestment. When you resell clothes you don’t wear, you can use your earnings to buy new clothes you love and wear.

The Key to Successful Wardrobe Cleaning

You MUST FOCUS and have a PLAN to keep track of closet cleaning and make it successful. Before you begin, you need to think long and hard about the types of clothes you need for your 40+ lifestyle and the image you want to project at this time in your life. From this, you can identify your clothing needs, which makes things much easier when looking at clothes in your closet and deciding what to keep and what to leave with. Focus is especially important for women our age, because in middle age there are many changes that affect how we dress. E.g:

• Maybe you left 9-5, now work from home and think you need more casual business attire?
• Maybe your kids left kindergarten and you want to travel more when things get better, so you need travel clothes?
• Gained a few pounds with menopause? Is your current wardrobe in line with your new curves or do you need a few new pieces?
• Or are you stuck with the boring outfits you’ve worn for decades, stuck in a style rut and now determined to dress more creatively and find a new, stylish look?

Identifying all of this before you start digging deeper into your closet gives you a clear plan for what you need. Once you have a goal, it’s much easier to organize a closet.

Now, here’s how to clean and organize your closet to create 40+ wardrobes renovated to suit your taste and lifestyle.

While starting

Time – It always takes longer than you think. Be sure to set aside at least half a day (4 hours or more on weekends) or a few hours a day to do one episode at a time. For example, tops on Mondays and pants on Tuesdays.

Space- Make sure you have plenty of room to work. You will encounter several large piles of clothing, and if you overdo it, it will be a confusing mess. If you think your bed won’t be big enough, you may need to move a few things around your bedroom or bring in a folding table to put things on.

Vehicles – Having all your tools with you keeps you on the road and does not waste time. you will need

• Thin, non-slip velvet hangers – These are better than the wire or thick white plastic ones most of us have. Wood is fine, but thick, heavy and takes up space. wheeled rack– I’ll explain in a minute.
• Pier glass – A must. Don’t waste time running to the bathroom to check an outfit in the mirror and then have to stand over the toilet to get a full-length look!
• Masking tape and marker – to mark items that need fixing.
• tailor’s needles, fashion headband – when you fine-tune garments to see how much they need to be wrapped or changed.
• Camera– to take pictures of clothes. Sometimes it can be hard to see what an outfit looks like, but usually when you photograph it and look at it, you’ll know right away. Also, clothes are saved for later use.
• plastic drums for things you want to keep for sentimental reasons but want to get out of the closet – these will depend on how you store things like under your bed or on closet shelves.

Cleaning Process

Now comes the tedious but important step of cleaning your closet. Everyone has their own way. Some like to lug everything in their closet onto their bed. While this feels great at first, I find that after an hour or so, it causes a lot of stress when you realize how slowly you’re getting through the mess.

I recommend pinching it. Pull one piece of clothing at a time onto a wheeled rack. For example, start with your sweaters. Pull them out, put them on the shelf and start examining them one by one.

Next, make your blouses and then your pants. If you have several rolling racks, all the better. When it comes to shoes, jewelry and accessories, leave those for last.

Questions to Ask Yourself

During this step, it’s important to review each clothing item and ask yourself the following six questions:

• Is this damaged? (and is it worth the fix?)
• Does this suit me? Don’t hold on to things that don’t fit. It’s very depressing and you’ll want new things if you plan to lose weight anyway)
• is it good quality – young women can pull off the $8.99 blouses made in China. Our bodies need softer, rounder and more structured clothes in middle age. Cheap clothes look flimsy, sheer, and cheap to us.
• Is this age appropriate? – Most clothes don’t get old. This is all up to your style, but common sense dictates that things like high skirts and daisy dukes, cute tops, or something trendy for teenagers won’t serve you well.
• do i wear this? – It’s always difficult. If you’re not wearing it, why? If you like it and it fits, but you have nothing to wear, this is not an automatic shot. If the opposite is true or if it doesn’t fit your lifestyle or needs, discard it.
• do i have copies – I wrote a whole article about it! If there are too many, yes, definitely get rid of the one you like least.
• Does this fit my current lifestyle? – Your closet is full of evening dresses but you never go out anymore? You still have suits looking at you but are you retired? If they were part of your old life, they need to make room for things in your new life.
• do i love this Does it bring me joy? – Of course, that’s the key. If you don’t like it, if you love it, if you love it, you’ll probably never wear it, or you’ll feel miserable if you do. Give it to someone else who will give him the love he needs. Will I get it back? – Stuck on how much you love it? Then ask yourself this question and you will know for sure.

You can answer these questions right away, or you may have to experiment a little. But if the answer to any of these questions is “no,” the item is probably taking up valuable space in your wardrobe and needs to be out the door.

stakes

When sorting your clothes you will need to create 5 different piles: Keep, Donate, Sell, Repair and Trash. This will make everything much easier to take care of once you’re done.

I like to go through all my clothes one by one, slowly empty my closet and build up my KEEP pile on my bed. When the closet is empty, I clean and vacuum, and then I’m ready to put everything back in place. Here is what I finished.

Next steps

1. Arrange by Item and Color

Everyone has a way of organizing that feels right to them, and you can be quite obsessive-compulsive about it. I like to divide it into 5 sections: tops, bottoms, dresses, jackets and special occasions. In these categories, I start with white on one side and work my way up from colors to black. I’m a color person, so when I wake up in the morning, I choose what color I want to wear that day and then I look for clothes, so having all the colors together helps. I also find that this method helps you mix and match clothes better. You have green pants and you can automatically go to colors that you know will look good with green and choose a top. Everything in one place.

2. Get tailored or fixed clothing as soon as possible.

Now is the time to have your clothes sewn or repaired that you find during cleaning, that don’t fit well or that are damaged. Whether it’s something that needs depilation of a sweater, wrapping a skirt, or being sewn from head to toe, don’t delay or it will end up in your closet.

3. Sell or donate used clothing

Drop unwanted clothing at a donation center, or if the item is in good enough condition, you can try to sell it or send it elsewhere. Online marketplaces like Poshmark or eBay are a great way to get rid of unwanted clothing and save some money along the way. You can also try a consignment shop or website like TheRealReal to get the best possible deal for high-end or luxury pieces.

4. Make a Shopping List to Fill in the Blanks

If your closet cleaner has noticed that you’re missing a few key items, create a shopping list to fill in the gaps. Remember to ask yourself the same basic questions you use when cleaning your wardrobe to avoid bringing in items that don’t meet your needs. If you’re not sure what to get, start by creating outfits first and see what you might be missing.

5. Photo Clothing

Once you’ve organized your wardrobe, planning the outfits can make the dressing process much simpler. Try arranging a few outfits and mixing and matching pieces to create different looks for different occasions. The layout looks for travel, date night, dinner with friends, casual occasions or other activities that fit your lifestyle. Then when you don’t know what to wear, you can go through the photos and come up with an idea.

I hope this guide has given you a few handy tips on how to have a successful closet cleaning. A wardrobe remodel is a great way to define and refine your 40+ styles and make dressing up a breeze. No more standing in front of a closet full of clothes and feeling like you have nothing to wear. You will be in charge of your wardrobe, you will love all your clothes and have confidence in your style.