As you know, we are in the throws of a move. I am watching Marie Kondo as we speak (or as I type) and mentally preparing to declutter. We have been decluttering for a while now. We knew the move was coming and I began to purge. I have been slowly purging as we unbox, and then stashing piles of “need to purge” too.

I can literally relate to the crazy people on this show who cry when they are asked to get rid of a gross old t-shirt. All of my items spark joy! HELP…but I am determined to make this house a calm & organized place. I am going to live by the 80% rule. Your house should never be more than 80% full. Our condo was 120% full.

Living with my parents made me realize I need a fraction of my clothes. I brought a very small amount of clothes to my parents. We lived there for almost 2 months. I NEVER ONCE missed an item of clothing that was packed in storage.

I am actually the opposite of Marie Kondo. Tidying does not bring me joy. But every once in a while, I get in major nesting, cleaning, decluttering mode and go crazy. Luckily, I am in that mode right now and prepared to declutter and organize this house from top to bottom.

So here are 7 tips that help me declutter my closet

1

start with an empty closet.

I agree with Marie Kondo here. Whenever I clean out my closet, I take every single item out of my closet and drawers before I purge and organize.

2

keep things that are easy to wear.

you know what I am talking about, the shirts you can wear with anything, the sweaters you wear over and over again, the skirt you can pair with everything. And the opposite is true. Purge the items that are hard to wear. I have items in my closet I absolutely love, and hang on to them purge after purge, but they are too hard to wear. I try to style them, I try to put them into an outfit, but they just do not work with my wardrobe and lifestyle.

3

purge items you hang on to “just in case”

I have an entire wardrobe of suits and business attire from when I was practicing law. I am talking nice suits, ones I invested a lot of money into. I have not been able to part with them. Not because I like them, not because I have any use for them, but because I keep saying “what if I go back to working in an office?!” I do not plan to do this anytime soon, and when I do, I will want to buy new suits. I need to get rid of them. You can expect these on a poshmark account soon!

4

ask yourself, would you wear something else first

you only attend so many baby showers a year. I have dresses that I say “I could wear this to a baby shower.” But I never actually wear them to a baby shower. There are countless other outfits in my closet I would wear first. I have countless sequins outfits, I keep them because I tell myself they are great new years eve outfits. Guess what, I have rang in the new year on the comfort of my own couch the past 3 years in a row, and there is no end in sight. The old sequins skirts and tops need to go.

5

did you wear it last season?

when it comes time to bring back out your summer or winter wardrobe, ask yourself if you wore that item the year before. If your answer is no, you are probably not going to wear it this year. Let it go.

6

keep your color palette.

you know your color palette. Do you wear a lot of red, beige, black, pink, blue? Whatever your palette is, keep those items. I wear a lot of black. 3/4 of my closet, which is color coordinated, is black. Day after day, I reach for the black items and neglect the rest. Most of my outfits looks like some version of the above, head to toe black. Having a closet full of my color lets me get dressed almost mindlessly when I don’t have time to put together a true outfit. If you know you are not going to wear the brightly colored sweaters and tops, let them go.

7

less is more.

I do not need 15 sports bras. Bottom line. I do not need 4 pairs of black booties. I do not need 20 swimsuits. Even if I like all of those items, I do not NEED all of them. I am never going to be a minimalist. I do not want to be a minimalist. I like my stuff, it brings me joy. But there is a happy medium between minimalism and just plain excessive. So, instead of going item by item and deciding if I want to keep it/if it brings me joy (Marie Kondo style), I am going category by category. For example, I will put my sports bras and workout clothes in a pile. Then BEFORE I go item by item, I am deciding how many pieces I want to keep. If I decide I need 7 sports bras, then I am picking my 7 favorite and purging the rest. If I went sports bra by sports bra, they would all stay because I love them all. Deciding first how many I need/want helps me eliminate.