In my twelve years of organizing, I have worked with so many clients struggling with their clothing. It is piled on the floor of the closet, bedroom or laundry room. It was washed, forgotten and had to be rewashed. Half clean and half dirty clothes that have intermingled on the living room couch. Clothing stored in bins and boxes in the attic or basement or storage unit.
If you are like many, you hesitate to get rid of clothing, even if you don’t wear it. We think about what we spent to acquire it. We live with emotional stress of constant disarray in our drawers and closets. We have remorse and frustration when we see clothes that no longer fit, never fit, or were never worn. We feel extra guilty about a garment that still has the tags on it.
We simply have too much. You have heard the statistic that we tend to use 20% of what we have. Why are we storing, caring for and stressing about the other 80%? We acquire over decades, yet rarely let go. Our tastes change. Styles change. Our bodies change. Our clothing should reflect all of that.
I work with clients to sort through their clothing, deciding what to save and recommending they let go of the rest and move on. Donate it so that someone who truly needs it can use it. I often hear back that getting ready for the day is so much less stressful when faced with only the clothing they use and love.
In the future, even if it is an incredible bargain or gift, stop and consider the financial cost of storage space, the emotional stress of dealing with the disarray of too much. Limit your purchases to those items that you need and make you feel great when you try them on. Once they are no longer used and loved, let them go.
Sandra Wheeler
For Peace of Mind, LLC