Oct
- Photo Credit: Flickr lilies and bees
Have you ever entered your closet and not even know where to start, I know how you feel. If you have a husband like mine, his side of the closet is so stuffed full of clothes that he has not worn is who knows how long. I have never had this problem, throwing things away is second nature to me. Santino on the other hand, doesn’t understand the concept. Here are a few rules we use in our house (myself included) to keep down the closet clutter.
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Turn all of your clothes hangers around backward. This may be a little bit more of a pain in the behind, but do it. Turn around every hanger, I mean all of them. Once you do this, wear your clothes as usual. When you do laundry, put the hanger back in forward, this way you know which items you have worn. Don’t touch any of the backward hangers for an allotted amount of them, we usually say 6 months. This will all depend on where you live and how often your seasons change. Here in Florida we have Summer all year except for 2 months of Winter (yes, be jealous). Believe it or not, I actually have an extensive (well at least for Florida) Winter clothing collection. This consists of sweaters, coats, and color coordinating scarves, gloves, and hats. After 6 months, go into your closet and take out all items with hangers still backward. Assess them. Why haven’t you worn them? Are they out of season? If they are just out of season, keep them. If you just haven’t worn them, then you need to sell them, donate them, or freecycle them.
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Have you spouse or significant other go through your closet. Yes, I said it. I go through Santino’s closet and pick out things he tries to keep and still wears when they should have been tossed months before. These items include jeans with holes that show his underwear, stained shirts, socks with holes, and boxers where the elastic has worn out. These are things he would still wear if I did nothing about them. He is a young professional, he should dress like one, not like a homeless bum. Here is a thought, give the worn out clothes to a homeless bum, he will truly appreciate them.
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Use the shopping rule. When we go shopping, if we buy something, we have to give something up. If we buy a new T-shirt for example, we go home and get rid of an old one. Hats are another item that are hard for him. He has a hat basket and hats can only be stored there. If the basket gets too full, he has to clean it out. Usually when he wants to buy a new hat, he has to sacrifice 2 old ones for 1 new one.
All of this may sound harsh, but it works. It is the only way we can keep the closet from getting out of control. How do you handle this issue at your house? Who has more clothes, you or him? I think in most households, it’s the woman who has the shopping problem, Santino and I are the exception.
