So, if you guys don't know--I have a closet problem. It might come as a shock to some of you, but I have
too many clothes! I found this article on
pinterest about
The 40 Hanger Closet. Basically, Ruth describes me: I have so many clothes but absolutely nothing to wear. She was the same! Then she challenged herself to cut down to
only 40 hangers. Now she can see everything in her closet and mix and match without shifting though a sea of never-worn items!
Guys, I think I'm going to try it. But I'm really nervous. I'll have to get rid of over half of my closet. Like Ruth, I've shopped a little to much at thrift stores, with the its-cheep-why-not mentality, and my closet is overflowing with only-worn-once items, or worse
never worn items.
I'm starting with this shirt. Every week I am going to put up 6 items from my closet in my
Shop my Closet store, until I have only 40 items left. I'll also be refashioning some things and selling them in my
handmade shop too. I won't be buying
anything new until I've cut down my closet, and once there I will be keeping it at only 40 hangers. This means once I meet my goal, if I shop, an item from my closet will have to be exchanged for the new blouse/skirt/whatever.
If I really make this happen, I'll own less clothes then my husband. Could you ever do a 40 hanger closet?
I have a lot of clothes, for sure, but not more than I actually wear. The only clothes I have and never wear are 1)Work clothes/paint clothes and 2)Professional/interview type clothes. But I've convinced myself I should keep them around "just in case"....I've already decided that I'll never buy clothes just because they are cheap or because they are practical ever again. I'll only buy if I love them! But decluttering can be fun--just don't give away anything you're truly in love with!
ReplyDeletei have a couple girlfriends that are close to my size. about every six months i go through my closet and pull out anything that hasn't been worn during those six months. they get free reign of that stuff. but i still have more than 40 items, and i definitely have more than i need. so maybe i should try this too.
ReplyDeleteI have seen that before. Once I reach my goal weight that is what I'm going to do and then sign up to a monthly rental clothing site where I can get three new pieces each month and then ship it back so I can also have new things without them in my closet.
ReplyDeleteThe first year we were married, our bedroom had one small-ish closet that the mister and I managed to both fit our clothes in (with a dresser each out in the bedroom, of course). Then we moved cross-country, and the new place had *no* bedroom closet. Though we only moved out of there a year ago, I don't really remember how we managed, because I have a lot of dresses to hang and the mister finally started wearing adult clothes for work every day (his grad school "uniform" had been t-shirts and a fleece). I think his work shirts were hung in a wire cube tower, next to his nightstand? It was a quite-cluttered and visually stressful bedroom. (Oh, and I had acquired another dresser, for, um, lingerie.) After two years there, we moved into an apartment that, wonder of wonder, had a fantastically spacious bedroom closet! In each bedroom (there are two)! So, yes, I started going a little overboard with the thrifting. I've cut myself back a *lot* lately -- studying for boards = not having the time to mosey around a thrift shop every couple of weeks -- and while I have no particular interest in being completely minimalist, I don't want to feel like I have too much stuff for my space. I'm at steady state right now, and will likely re-implement the One-In-One-Out rule once I have a good sense of what my professional wardrobe needs will be when I'm in the clinics and hospitals.
ReplyDeleteI honestly have no idea how many hangers I have in my closet...it's probably somewhere around 40. I used to have a problem with getting rid of clothes but ever since moving to a town with tons of donation sites/stores, I've becoming a donating fiend! Anything I see that I know I'll never wear or haven't worn in a long, long time goes to charity.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about selling them online. I'm probably too lazy to do that. lol But I definitely don't mind shopping your closet! You have a lot of cute stuff.