Do you see all those bags above? Those are just from going through *my* clothes. Yep....sad but true. Typically, I am an organized person (and a regular purger)...but there are some areas I need to work on. Clothes was one of them (books is another area I will tackle soon...once we are ready to move into the addition/new living room and I will be moving book shelves around...I figured that would be the best time to go through each book and really purge what I don't love).
After hearing a lot of great things about this book...I decided I needed a copy to read. It is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
She really makes you think about what items give you joy to own...and how much we hold on to too much stuff (for a variety of reasons). I do *not* thank the clothes for the job they have done or whatever way they "served" me before getting rid of them. I think it is silly to do such a thing. I prefer to thank God for the clothes He has given and for the purpose they served...and that they may now be put to good use by someone else as I donate them. (I love to have matching hangers when I can...I think it just looks so much neater! Mine are similar to THESE
Look at all those empty hangers...
She doesn't recommend hanging your clothes but it is necessary for me to hang my shirts. I just don't have the dresser space unless I do. She says to roll clothes to fit more in and keep things neater. Here are my skirts and pajamas...
I realize it appears that I have a *ton* of jeans....but for me right now, I have 3 different sizes of jeans and with me losing weight, they all fit me but I am not quite ready to let any of them go yet (when my weight can tend to fluctuate often). Marie also recommends not holding onto any loungewear...I had to disagree with her there as well. I got rid of some but held onto a few things and a couple tshirts. There are simply times when loungewear is necessary (when painting your new living room, for instance, which has been keeping me busy lately!)...
I worked on Chris's clothes too (with his permission)...
He took a few things out of the donation bag unfortunately...but we still cut down on a lot of his unnecessary items. Many things I just threw away because of stains, holes and just plain icky-ness! He still has more clothes than truly necessary but he sees no reason to get rid of something perfectly usable (even if he has too many). He sees it as wasteful. I wasn't going to try and force him. People have to *want* to get rid of things or else "tidying up" doesn't truly work.
It is like a breath of fresh air to get rid of things that you don't need. How many of us hang onto stuff out of guilt or "just in case"? Homes should be filled with things you *love* and not with *stuff*!
A cat in a basket...that is something I love! ;) I was thrilled to have camera in hand when I turned and saw Stella tucked sweetly into this basket! She finds the cutest places to lay!
Do you have too much clutter? I recommend the KonMari method completely...she helps you see that you don't have to keep so much! Maybe you have already tried this method as well...I'd love to hear how it worked for you!
I hope you have a great weekend ahead! Chris and our older two children are going snow tubing tonight with friends from church (I would love to go but they won't be back until late...and my body needs *sleep*!)...and we have some busyness this weekend with our homeschool co-op meeting on Monday as well! It'll be a busy but enjoyed weekend here!
Thanks for dropping by!
Warmly,
Katy
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