2018 Cleaning & Organizing Challenge Week 1 ~ Clothing

Happy New Year everyone! 2018 is off to a great start and I can't wait to dive into some cleaning and organizing this month. Seriously, I am actually doing a happy dance!

I always start my spring cleaning in January. It cold, and snowy outside, so there's not a whole lot else to do besides clean and organize inside where it's nice and warm. Plus, when the spring time does roll around, I can't wait to get outside and get some fresh air and sunshine, I actually enjoy washing windows when the weather is nice, the last thing I want to do is be stuck inside cleaning.

Since moving into our new house I have done a pretty good job at keeping the clutter to a minimum, but I still have plenty of things to do around here. We are coming up on the on the one year mark since we've moved in, (seriously I can hardly believe that) and that means I am getting ready to do a purge. Things that I haven't used, worn, or looked at, are going to be the first things to go. Of course there are always exceptions, but for the most part, that is my hard and fast rule.

One of my very favorite things to do in January is turn all of my clothes hangers around the opposite direction. Then when an article of clothing gets worn and laundered, before I hang it back up, I turn the hanger back around in the normal direction and then hang up the item. That is an easy way to see what gets worn and what doesn't. Then after a year everything that is still on a backwards facing hanger goes into my sell/donate bin.

For the next several weeks I am going to post a weekly cleaning & organizing challenge for us. Feel free to follow along and participle. Let me know if you plan on joining in :)

I am going to keep it simple and totally manageable. One week, one task. Easy peasy.

Week 1 Challenge: Clothing
And I bet you can guess what the first thing to do is right? Take everything, that is yours, out of the closet and dressers and lay it on your bed. Everything clothing related. Jeans, tops, socks, belts, coats, pj's, dresses, underwear, scarves, hats, etc. Check your dirty laundry (make a separate pile for that) and check your vehicles for anything that might be in there too. Bring everything in and put it in one spot.

YIKES! It is totally shocking to see that giant pile of clothes, and it's a wake up call to see everything that you wear in one place. Do I really need all of this? Do I really love and wear all of this? The answer is probably no. Even after my big KonMarie purge a few years ago, I am shocked at how much I have!

It will be a little overwhelming, I'm not going to lie, but just pick a category, such as jeans, and start sorting. Pretty soon you will be able to move through the articles faster and you will be able to make up your mind sooner. It will get easier and less scary!

Discard everything that needs mended, and you know you'll never get around to doing it, is stained, stretched out, doesn't have a mate, where do those socks go? etc. Donate/Sell everything that you just don't love or wear anymore. Keep your favorite things. 

This is everything that is leaving! 40 items!

Before you put away your clothes, wipe out all of your dresser drawers, wipe off closet shelves, baseboards, vacuum and clean any areas where your clothes are stored. 

Fold your clothing nicely and put it away, even those socks and panties :) I even use cardboard gift boxes that I have lying around to help hold and organize my smaller items. 

Then when you get ready to hang up your clothes in the closet, turn the hangers around the opposite direction. When next year rolls around you'll know exactly what wasn't worn.

*Extra credit: When you are finished with your clothes, move on to your kids clothes, help your teens do theirs, and if you can, involve your husband and go through his clothes as well. I am extremely lucky to have a husband that is just as involved with the clothing purge as I am.

Good luck you guys, and I hope this will help get you motivated, and start the year off right.  It took me right at 3 hours to get everything out, clean, sort, organize, fold and put it away.

This is probably the biggest and most time consuming task in this series of challenges I am going to do. It is also one of the most rewarding. Don't give up, you got this! 

Bye bye clothes!

And if the thought of putting everything together in one pile totally overwhelms you, don't do it. Instead sort through it by each category, finish it, and move on to the next. The only thing I ask is that you lay each category out on your bed as you sort through it. Don't leave it hanging up or in the drawers and just skim over it. It really helps when everything is laid out in front of you.

Here's to a wardrobe full of only the things you love and actually wear <3 Thanks for stopping by! Have a sweet, happy, and organized day.