Cleaning Out Closet Clutter

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Started 1 year ago by TooMuchStuff
Latest reply from needtocleanhouse
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TooMuchStuff
Member

Not really sure what the purpose of this post is. I just have to get this out, to kind of straighten my brain out.

So my closet is a very cluttered, unorganized, can't find anything, or step into it kind of mess. It's been this way for years. I've tried to straighten it, but it always gets back into it's mess. I think the problem is not only being unorganized, but it is filled with junk. Now usually when i'd get the urge to clean it. I'd tell myself, "No wait till time for a yard sale." And when the yard sale would come around. I wouldn't ever get around to cleaning it. Or I would do it a few months prior, and then get overwhelmed when the piles would begin to collide with one another.

So I decided to donate things I don't want. That way when I get a box or bag full I can get it out of here. I decided to start on it today and at first got overwhelmed. A few months ago I bought 2 totes at Dollar General, and just threw everything that would fit so I could get stuff off the floor. I already sorted the totes, and was able to combine the two into one of stuff I am going to keep. So my idea is to as I gather things that at the moment i'm wanting to keep putting them in totes. Then when I finally have everything to keep in totes and the non-keep stuff gone, go through the totes and stuff that finally has a place put it up, and get rid of stuff I later decide I don't want.

I'm not sure how many totes I will end up with in the end. I'm just hoping that once I get rid of the majority of the mess I can look at things with a more critical eye. Because now it's just, "Got to get back ability to step foot into the closet." And another thing is I know i'm not going to get this all done in one day. But part of me gets discouraged over that fact. Especially since I have to pull the stuff out into my room, and I hate the mess. But if I can put up with it for a while it'll all be worth it in the end, right?

I'm actually thinking of getting a friend to help. I could pay her or maybe take her out to eat. Has anyone had any luck when it came to having a friend help? Did it work out?

Posted 1 year ago #
djk
Member

welcome! you are at the right place here.

re: overwhelm--oh yes. I have a very low overwhelm threshold so I have to keep things uncluttered and organized or I am totally overwhelmed. Starting with one area and conquering it is a great idea! I tend to do big waves of tidying and organizing and decluttering things usually seasonally, followed by a couple of months of maintenance (A Thing a Day: ATAD)

re: asking a friend to help. Yes, I have very often done that reciprocally with my friends/sisters. Has to be a trusted friend, one who says, "uh, nope, I think that piece has to go, you have better/more flattering/up-to-date items" and one who can be constructive with her criticism.

sometimes I just find the job a bit too much and too boring. Often all I needed the other person for is to drink tea (or wine!) with me and slouch on my bed flipping through magazines and yakking while I periodically hold up an item for review and discussion. My bff and I started that in our teens and we still do that when we see each other, 25 years later. Now that we live on different continents we occasionally take pics of ourselves modelling the item in question and email them to each other for assessment.

another thought--whomever you choose to help you should be someone who is actually organized herself, and, if you are needing to sort through which clothes to keep and which to toss, she should also have personal taste you like.

Keep us posted on your progress! good luck!

Posted 1 year ago #
Mimi
Member

hi there, for me, it´s sound very complicated. it sounds as if you are a bit overwhelmed, maybe it would be easier to begin with mini-steps. what about the "ATAD" challenge? you could pick one thing a day and put it in a donation bag. every day. so you will get used to unclutter and not feel overwhelmed because it´s just ONE thing that you have to find. i think, you live with this stuff for a long while and maybe you need your time to get rid of it.

Posted 1 year ago #
PandP
Member

I've had friends help over the years, but now I do it on my own. I'm older (as are my friends!) and people are simply too busy to take an afternoon to help clean, at least in my circle of friends. Family obligations, work and physical distance are all barriers.

I also think that doing it on your own can be gratifying and helpful in the long run. I'm also working on my closet and there's no one to distract me with a discussion of the latest news item on TMZ, nobody who will talk me into keeping something that's unflattering just because "you paid good money for it" or to say "gee this is boring, let's go shopping!."

Not that I don't love my friends dearly, but some things are best done on one's own.

Posted 1 year ago #
susanintexas
Member

You say it is a closet but I'm not really clear -- is it mostly clothes you are talking about or is is also filled with miscellaneous stuff?

If it is mostly clothes, the main problem I would have with your system is that your "good" clothing would be stored in totes, which would make it hard to find stuff to wear and it is more likely to wrinkle. You might want to clear out a chunk of hanging space that is reserved for the stuff you know you will want to keep.

If a thing a day seems like not enough, you might want to divide it up into segments of 15 very focused minutes. This has worked well for me.

Let us know how it is going!

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

If you just throw the things you're keeping into totes, all jumbled up, you're postponing the hard work of organization. You have to sort, put like things with like. This may mean having a line of boxes on the floor next to the closet for a while. A box for clothing, one for shoes ... or whatever rough categories of stuff you have. So, you gradually sort stuff out into boxes of stuff you want to keep, while the donations and the trash keep going away. In the end, you'll have a line of boxes and a completely empty closet.

Clean out the closet. Figure out how to arrange it so that you can SEE and USE what you have. This may mean buying some organizing items -- clear plastic boxes or drawers and a labeling machine (like a Brother P-Touch), extra shelves, good wooden hangers, a shoe rack. an organizer that hangs over the door, whatever. Look at web sites, magazines, and TV shows for inspiration.

Take one box and sort it. If it's a box of clothing, sort it out into skirts, pants, etc. Look at what you've got and ask yourself if you really like everything there. Weed some more. Ask yourself if it will all fit in the closet space allotted to it. If necessary, weed some more. Put things away. Go on to the next box -- perhaps the next day. It will all get done.

I used to like to watch the show Clean Sweep, when I had cable. The organizers would pull out everything and sort it. Usually on tarps laid out on the lawn, so that it was easy to see everything. Then they'd tell the hoarder, "You can keep only 30% of this." With everything spread out, it was easy to compare the items and pull out the favorites. You need to do something like that. Since you don't have help and may not have a lawn, perhaps the box method would work.

Posted 1 year ago #
JuliaJayne
Member

I think one of the major stumbling blocks is to view the project as a whole, or that the job is completed, so when you start working on it, you become overwhelmed. At least that is what I did when I started working on my big closet.

Another trap to fall into is trying to organize the clutter. I think that might be why you are having trouble. Trying to organize it now is futile.

I would start by just looking into the closet and removing things you know you don't want -- whatever you can easily grab. Bag or box those things up and immediately put the stuff in the trunk of your car. If you still have time, energy and room in the trunk, go look for some more. Even if it is just one thing, that's perfect. Take the stuff to the donation place as soon as possible. That simple act of doing something, making decisions, and getting rid of the stuff for good is very motivating. It's hard to describe how motivating it really is, so you need to experience that with your closet stuff soon.

A lot of decluttering happens mentally, so take a minute or two every day to just look at the stuff in the closet. Have an empty bag handy. If you see something that you don't want, put it in the bag. If you are too tired, busy or whatever, don't worry about it because you will start mentally decluttering. You might find yourself thinking about objects to get rid of before falling asleep at night, in the shower, driving in the car, etc. If you find a lot of things, again, get it out of the house as soon as possible. Just get it out of your home.

Posted 1 year ago #
Ella
Member

Here's a closet-sorting tip I learned from reading Brooks Palmer. To evaluate each item, hold it up away from the rest of the stuff and ask yourself: "If I were shopping today, would I buy this?" To make your decision even clearer, imagine you are shopping with cash. Would you spend your hard-earned cash to bring that item into your life today? If the answer is No, you can let it go.

Posted 1 year ago #
Rosa
Member

it's awesome you got started!

I share the same worries about the tub idea - you're going to have to do all of this twice, with that method. But if you're going to consistently get rid of half of everything (and actually, the deeper you get the more of the stuff should be donate-able - it's been unused for longer) you will probably be able to start putting things back in the closet in not too long - you don't have to get it completely clear and then refill it, once you have a clear shelf/bar in reach you can put keep stuff in there.

Posted 1 year ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

Congratulations on starting.

A thought came to mind as I read about your dilemma (which idea I will test out myself):

If you have enough space in your room you could get bankers boxes or xerox boxes with covers and start sorting like this, taping a label on each box (or writing on them) as described below:

1. "Throw away" (line this with a large trash bag so that you can just grab it out of the box and throw away)

2. "Give Away" (for things you want to give to friends/family)

3. "Donate" (for things you want to donate to charity of your choice and you can just give them the whole box)

4. "Keep in the closet/your room" (for things you want to put back in your closet or keep in your room)

5. "Move to another room" (for things you want to keep but belong in another room)

6. "Undecided" (for things you are undecided about)

You could also combine boxes if you want fewer boxes to work with or can change the labels to suit your situation (i.e. "all the violin recital stuff," "crafts," "presents," "photos," etc etc.)

Good luck. It does feel overwhelming but I promise you that feeling will eventually pass. Perhaps you could start with just one thing a day. It all got there one thing at a time, so it can also leave one thing at a time. If you start with one thing, you may find you increase the number of daily things automatically and easily as you go along.

For myself I would love to have a friend help. Just the moral support would be much appreciated. Thing is it would have to be a supportive, positive, non-controlling (not bossy, dictatorial, overbearing), nonjudgmental person - otherwise it would have a deleterious affect and would turn out to be a nightmare (for me anyway - others prefer to have someone tell them what to do or be bossed around - sometimes it's easier to just do what someone else says to do - whatever works for you). Also, for myself, I would love to help someone else declutter by just being there for them.

I also love bandicoot's idea immediately below!

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

the only way i could manage such a project is by scheduling a whole day to do it.
i reckon if you get up early, clear the whole day for this, and get stuck into it, you could have the whole thing done in a day, maybe less.
once you get going, it is amazing what you can accomplish!

first, i'd clear off my bed and decide that was where i was going to keep the clothing that was KEEP.
i'd set up a few baskets/boxes/totes/whatever in another area and i'd label those TOSS.
i'd have some cleaning stuff ready standing by, and a pen and piece of paper for notes.

i'd remove every single item from the closet and i'd dump it all somewhere handy.
i'd deep clean the closet.
then i'd stand back and look at the space and have a think about what i've got and what i'd like to keep and what i'd like to see happening in that closet.
this would be a good time for a cup of tea.

NOW i'd sort the stuff.
i'd pick up each item and either throw it on the bed (KEEP) or not (TOSS).
don't panic, we aren't throwing anything out yet....there will be a further sorting later.
initially, the idea is to just pare it down to get an idea of what is worth KEEPING.

now there will be a pile of KEEP on the bed.
remove the TOSS stuff from the room.
you don't want it distracting you. you can worry about it later.
the next thing i'd do is start breaking things down into categories. skirts. pants. winter coats. underwear. shoes. we will all have different categories depending on our climates and interests, so these have to make sense to you and only you.

now i'd scrutinise each category and decide where it is going to live in the closet.
is there enough room for that category there?
perhaps you'll need to get rid of some items within the category OR move the category to another spot, if you cannot possibly trim the category down.
the bottom line is that if you cannot walk into your closet, then obviously, quite a lot of stuff has to go.
so, just keep your best/favourite items and let the rest go. anything torn, stained, pilling, badly fitting, faded.....let it go.
do you need to buy any storage stuff? make a note about it for later. perhaps you can repurpose something instead.

next, i'd attack the TOSS pile.
this can now be further broken down into RECYCLE and DONATE and TRASH piles.
get that stuff into bags/boxes/baskets; label them, and make immediate plans to have them out of your home today or tomorrow. or at least by the weekend :)

now, closets are an ongoing thing.
your first pass probably won't clear everything out ( i know mine sure didn't).
so don't feel as though it all has to be perfect in one day.
however if you attack it as described, it will definitely be an amazing improvement in one day!

Posted 1 year ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

Here are some Peter Walsh tips.

http://realitytv.about.com/od/featuresinterviews/a/CleanSweepTips.htm

I've listened to a couple of his audio books and liked them and him a lot.

Posted 1 year ago #
Irulan
Member

Starting a big project from scratch can definitely be overwhelming, but I promise that there really is an end in sight! I agree with bandicoot and others above about pulling everything out and giving the closet a cleaning before replacing anything.

If you anticipate being easily overwhelmed, maybe you can try this first: pull out everything that's completely necessary first, and put it on the bed to replace back in the closet as soon as you've finished cleaning it out - maybe 10-20% of what's in the closet. This should be the stuff that you access all of the time, like frequently worn clothes and shoes, important documents, etc.

Then pull out the rest of the stuff in your closet, clean the space, and deal with everything else you've pulled out. This way you can sort through the other stuff according to the all excellent suggestions above without worrying that you've forgotten something important.

Posted 1 year ago #
vjb
Member

What Bandicoot said! Do one big clean-out, and then you can weed more later on, as needed.

Posted 1 year ago #
lottielot
Member

I have to beg to differ with the 'tackle it all in a day' people. You've done that before and it hasn't worked long term for you. I think maybe if you start small, you will gain momentum as you go along, especially if you're feeling like it's all too much to get started. You could go in there with a bin liner or big box and say 'I'm just going to fill this and then I'll finish for today'. It really depends how your brain works! It sounds like a big job, but if you chunk it so it's not so scary then perhaps you may find it easier to tackle. It takes a lot of energy and effort to do the whole job in a day, start with just a few little steps and you'll probably find that you keep on going. You want to get rid of those piles, if you make a mammoth effort to do it all in a day you'll end up too tired to get rid of the piles, so make it easier on yourself. Fill a bag or a box for donation or for the bin (you may want one for each) and then make sure you deal with that quickly, take it to the charity shop or whatever. Then go back the next day or week and do it again. Soon you'll find that there will be enough room to see what you have, what you want to keep and how to organise it. I know what I'm talking about here because the uncluttering binges I used to do ended up with piles of stuff everywhere I was too exhausted to deal with too! You need to change your mentality to 'little and often' and you'll be able to maintain it better. I still have the odd binge but I'm getting better at maintenance and dealing with the stuff immediately now.
If you are going to do it in a big stint, then getting a friend in to help will definitely help, it'll keep you focussed and energised enough to finish it off. I had a friend over recently who helped me sort out my son's room, we actually enjoyed it because we had a good chat while we did so and she likes to keep busy, sometimes she'll come over and do my ironing for me when she visits :)

Posted 1 year ago #
maxinemarshall
Member

1. empty out your closet, place contents in the garage or another room
2. everytime you want something from your closet, retrieve it from garage
3. when you have finished with closet item, put it back in your closet
4. after 3 weeks, donate your garage items

Posted 1 year ago #
Sesberry
Member

I've recently cleared out my wardrobe. I'm pretty much done now and it feels great.

I did it in waves...

First wave - ripped/stained/worn out went to textile recycling.

Second Wave - didn't fit - went to the charity shop

Third wave - I thought about colour. I picked a base colour (black) and got rid of all the brown things. I rarely wore them, so they went.

Fourth and subsequent waves - about once a fortnight I went through my wardrobe and just picked out a couple of things I haven't worn in a long time and took them to the charity shop.

The wonderhanger idea is good too - even if you don't have the hangers, you can still divide your clothes in categories and try and stick to 5 of each. (Mine were; evening dresses, day dresses, trousers, skirts, jumpers, light knits, cardigans, short sleeves blouses, long sleeved shirts, jackets, t shirts and smart tops. That's 60 items, which isn't minimalist, but pretty good I think! Especially as half of it is work stuff. (Compared to the hundreds of items I had before!!)

However, doesn't include any of my summer clothes (in the loft) - I'll sort through them using this method in the spring and put quite a few of the wintery items (knit dresses, wool jackets etc) into the loft.

Posted 1 year ago #
needtocleanhouse
Member

Erin talks about one way of uncluttering a room/area and call it "tabula rasa uncluttering." It's at: http://unclutterer.com/

Posted 1 year ago #
STLMom
Member

I love cleaning out my clothes closet and dresser. For me, it's the easiest part of my house to unclutter, so it gets done fairly often.
Paper clutter is an entirely different story! When I clean my desk, I'm like you are in the closet. I get overwhelmed, I make piles of things to file and then never file them. I have boxes of papers stashed all over the house that need to be sorted and filed.
My closet is a place that I can tackle in a few hours, in one day. My paper mess is so overwhelming to me, that I need to do a few minutes a day for a long time.

Posted 1 year ago #
STLMom
Member

Posted 1 year ago #

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