Three Tips on How to Cull your Closet Before the Big Move
Upon making the decision to move, I immediately began downsizing. If I was going to travel half way across the country, I certainly didn’t want to bring with me everything I’d collected over those two-plus decades. And what a collection it was.
Luckily, a dear friend had just sent me professional organizer Marie Kondo’s book, “the life-changing art of tidying up.” (I shared some of her wonderful tidying tips with you in a recent newsletter.) So I began the process of sorting through my things with Kondo’s clearing-up clues.
I gave away a good third of my furnishings, clothing and accessories to friends, neighbors and non-profit organizations. As I did so, I could literally feel the energy in my home lighten.
It helped lighten my spirit as well. As I gave away each item, I had the pleasure of remembering what joy it had once given me. And I had the dual pleasure of knowing that someone else would soon enjoy it.
Good intentions aside, I wasn’t the perfect “tidying up” student. I found myself putting things in the “giveaway pile,” then later taking them out. But though I wasn’t the ideal downsizing doyenne, I did learn lots about what to keep and what not to keep.
Here are three quick tips to help you clear out your closet for an impending move:
1. The Two-Year Rule
I also learned that because I had forgotten about some of the clothing in my closet, I had purchased others just like them. And who needs more than five black turtleneck sweaters?!
As the song in the popular Disney movie “Frozen” says: Let it go, let it go. Other items in my closet were forgotten because they were out of date, out of style or I was out of my mind for keeping them, lo, these many years. And even though I had loved them in another era, I just hadn’t been able to let them go. Yet they were literally and figuratively weighing on me.
There was a beautiful long-sleeved, lush green suede dress with a fabulous silhouette that I’d worn in the ’80s. It was a stunner in its day, but it looked sorely dated. So off it went to the “giveaway pile.” (I actually snuck it out of the pile twice before finally closing my eyes and making like Nike: “Just do it.”) Out with the old.
There were beautiful designer pieces that were chic in their day and so classic they would still be chic, but alas, I was a mere wisp of a thing when I wore them in the ’90s. No more. I gave those to a cherished friend.
And then there were items that still fit and were still timely but I just didn’t love them enough to tote them half way across the country.
3. The “Will It Play in Peoria” Factor
All that played a part in what wardrobe and accessory pieces to keep and what to give away. Whereas I wouldn’t usually need a heavy winter coat in the South Jersey area I just left (the ocean effect usually kept winter snow at bay), I will definitely need winter wear in the Midwest. And while enjoying the Jersey Shore, I had accumulated a bevy of bathing suits and beach items that I know I won’t need in Des Moines.