Day 6 - 40 Bags in 40 Days - The Great Closet Cleanout Continues & Printable Checklist

No matter what size closet you have, if you're like me, it can be a tangled mess catch-all. Spring is the perfect time for a closet cleanout especially with our 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge. We can also take time to cleanout our spiritual closet as well.

I've read a lot of different blogs and went through quite a few slideshows in prepping for this challenge. I can tell you, if you aren't ready, cleaning out your closet can be a daunting task. However, with the right attitude and right tools, you'll tackle this in no time. I'm cleaning out our master bedroom closets over the course of this week, and hopefully each day I will give you some helpful tips and hacks to tackle your closet. Whether you have a small galley closet or large walk in closet, I've got something for everyone.

I clean and organize my closet every Spring and Fall. I find it amazing how within six months I can go from a nicely organized area to a complete mess. I've been negligent since we've moved to Texas because this closet is the biggest one I've had, so space is not at a premium. For most of you, that's not the case so it’s important to get rid of items you no longer like and don’t want to wear because they're taking up valuable space.

Everyone’s closet is different and depending on your types of clothes and size of closet, you need to adjust as needed. Today's post will be dealing with clothes. I'll cover jewelry, shoes, handbags, accessories, etc. throughout the week.

Also, I created a little cheat sheet for you to download and print for when you’re cleaning out your closet. Scroll to the end and you’ll see the signup box to download! Or simply click here.

Step One:

The first step in organizing is weeding out the items that are simply taking up space. So many of us have trouble getting rid of belongings even if we aren’t considered hoarders. I think the reason why is because many of our clothes are associated with memories. I still have my 20 year old sweatshirt from my old karate dojo. I have great memories from that time in my life. One thing I try to remember when weeding through my clothes is that getting rid of the article of clothing doesn't get rid of the memory. It has helped, and with very few exceptions have I ever regretted getting rid of something. But, as in the case of the Dragon's Lair sweatshirt, exceptions can be made. Only you can answer when it's time to get rid of that dress you wore on New Year's Eve ten years ago.

1. FIND AN EMPTY AREA & TAKE EVERYTHING OUT OF YOUR CLOSET

Find a space where you can put all of your clothes. This could be your bed or if you have one a clothing rack! I know it seems scary taking EVERYTHING out but it’s necessary. You’re going trough a deep cleaning, no half efforts. Find a space where you can put everything else separate from your clothes. Since my closet is so big, I can focus on just taking out the things I'm working on, so for now, all of my clothes go to our bed.

2. CREATE THREE SEPARATE AREAS FOR KEEP, TOSS AND MAYBE

Find boxes or trash bags and make an area for each of the following: Keep Toss Maybe

You want to have these areas ready because once you start deciding what stays and what goes you want to have an area to place everything. So make sure you have a designated area for each of the three categories.

3. ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT EACH PIECE

Here's where we get to the nuts & bolts!! Did you know we wear only 20% of the clothes we have 80% of the time. I have no idea where I heard that, but it seems about right. With that in mind, we are going to start sorting through every piece and deciding what makes it back in your closet and what gets the boot. In order for a piece to make it back into my closet I ask myself the following:

a. Does it fit?

b. Does it flatter my figure?

c. Is it in good condition?

d. Have I worn it recently?

e. Does it bring me joy? Make me feel confident/happy?

You don’t want to spend more than a couple of minutes on each item, if needed try on a piece to verify your feelings about it. Though I am often tempted, I do try not to make whole outfits out of individual pieces. Focus on just that one item of clothing in front of you. Your first reaction is usually the right reaction. If you find yourself justifying keeping the item, it needs to go.

Again, there are exceptions to the rule. When I was losing weight, I bought myself a couple of items for my goal weight. However, if you've had the same goal weight dress for years, it's time to toss it.

4. Go through the Maybe Pile Again

I start again on the maybe pile and go through them once more. I try to whittle the Maybe pile to a decent size. After going through the items a second time, anything left in the maybe pile goes into the donate pile.

Step Two:

HELPFUL HACKS

1. Storage Containers

If your closet doesn’t fit everything look for storage alternatives for your seasonal clothes. My cousin would store hers in foldable drawer that she kept under her bed. I do plastic totes with cedar planks. Another option is a rolling hanging cart that has zippered plastic that you store in your garage.

2. INVEST IN GOOD QUALITY HANGERS

It’s always a good idea to invest in quality hangers. Not only do the hangers themselves last longer, but the clothes you hang on them will too. There’s no need to run out and buy them all at once. I simply buy a pack or two of the wooden ones every month or so when I am out on errands for other home supplies. I sometimes buy the tough plastic ones as well.You also want all of your hangers to match. It makes for a more appealing closet. Just like in stores. Dave likes the wooden hangers for his pants and his dress shirts. He uses black and blue plastic hangers for his casual clothes and plastic black shirt hangers for his business casual shirts.

I, on the other hand, use plastic hangers for my clothes, and I like to keep them matching. It's the OCD in me. I have found that in Dave's closet, my biggest clean up is weeding out the wire hangers from the dry cleaner. Our dry cleaner gives us a discount for every 20 hangers we return.

3. TURN YOUR HANGERS THE WRONG WAY

What? Why would you do that? This easy trick will tell you whether you actually wear something or not. When you start placing your clothes back in the closet, turn all your hangers the wrong way, and after you wear something hang it back up the RIGHT way. When you come to your Fall Cleanout, you can tell which clothes you wore, and what can be weeded out. Since I don't store my clothes by Season, I'm mindful of the time of year before I weed something out, but for the most part this has been invaluable. It also challenges you to wear items you wouldn’t normally choose because you can instantly see which ones need some attention.

4. Wrap pipe cleaners around your hangers to keep clothes from falling off

5. Instead of throwing bras in a drawer, help them keep their shape by storing them on hangers in the closet.

Buy a few wooden shirt hangers, and on the bottom attach an eyelet screw and hang another hanger. Keep going until you have a hanger for every bra you own.

6. Hang multiple garments in one spot with soda can tabs.

This is a great hack if you have a small closet.

7. You can also use chains and s-hooks.

Step Three:

PUT EVERYTHING BACK IN YOUR CLOSET IN AN ORGANIZED WAY

1. Arrange by preference

Now you're ready to put everything back in your closet. Knowing how to organize your closet really depends on your situation and preferences. I tend to need more room for blazers, shirts and dresses. I arrange my closet by category, for example; dresses, skirts, shirts, blouses, and pants. After arranging based on category, I organize by color progression starting with light to dark.

2. 4 different ways to organize your closet.

Select the one that suits you best.

a. By Season: This is a good choice for those of you with smaller closets. If all of your clothes don't fit then it's more beneficial for you to return your clothes by the season. This method of organizing takes a lot of reorganizing and cleaning, but it will work if you practice the Fall/Spring guideline of cleaning your closet.

b. By Clothing Type (This is what I do): I like to have similar items together. I like seeing all the options I have at a glance. If you have the space, this is the easiest option. So organize all of your shirts together, all your pants together, all blazers together and so on from darkest to lightest. I've broken my tops down even further from casual to dressier. I have the space so I thought why not?

c. Separate Work and Casual: If you own more work clothes than you do casual or vice versa then you might want to separate your work/office attire from your casual attire. This is optimal for some because it separates the style of clothes, i.e. jeans from dress pants.

d. By how often you wear them: If you wear some items more than others than you could place those front and center. Simply arrange your closet based on your lifestyle and make sure the space you have can accommodate it all.

Step Three:

DON'T FREAKOUT!

1. REMOVING THE UNWANTED ITEMS

The very last step in clearing away the left over, unwanted items is deciding where to send them. I usually donate my undesired pieces. Other pieces, that may still have some dollar value left in them, I end up selling. It's up to you how you want to get rid of your unwanted clothes.

As I said earlier, sometimes we place value on items because of he memories they hold, so it's easy to freakout. Just take a step back, and remember why you are cleaning out your closet.

Another thing to consider is giving them to friends or family.If you had your best friend helping you organize and they thought some of the items were exceptionally cute, why not give it to them? It’s a great personal way to say thank you.

CLEANING OUT YOUR CLOSET PRINTABLE CHECKLIST!! I know this can be a bit overwhelming so to make this a job easier I created a printable checklist for you to have available. Click here and I'll immediately send you the printable checklist. It's that easy!! Also, if you have any clothing hack/storage tips, feel free to share them in the comment section. Post your pics of your before and after if you've decided to tackle this project!

Don't forget to subscribe to enter to win a great Spring Cleaning Prize package!! It includes a roomba vacuum, a mini hand held steam cleaner, and a set of Spring Cleaning Essential Oils!

Tomorrow we will focus on accessories and I'll have some more space saving and organizing tips and hacks. Scroll down for today's devotion. I'm doing a new format for the 40 Bags in 40 Days. I'm going to separate the devotion from the Challenge to hopefully make my thoughts and the blog more cohesive. I welcome any feedback!

40 Bags in 40 Days Daily Devotion:

Today's prayer in the Ashes to Fire (Year B) book I'm using for this Lenten Season is from St. Ignatius of Loyola. It says, "Teach us good Lord, to serve as you deserve; to give and not count the cost...".

As I was separating my clothes and cleaning out my closet, I began to focus on my Spiritual Closet, and what needs cleaning out. Lent is the time of year that we focus on the sacrifice Christ had made and the price He paid to give me salvation. It's time to clean out all the things that are hindering our walk with God.

And like in my closet, it's not one big thing but a bunch of little things that clutter up my Spiritual life. If you're like me, it's those little things that when we don't address them that become bigger and more problematic. The things we don't think of as a big deal, and pretty soon, before you know it, you're mired down in a bunch of "junk".

One of those small things is spending time in prayer. The Bible tells us to "pray without ceasing".

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18English Standard Version (ESV)16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

It's easy to forget to thank God for all that He has provided. It's easy to focus on the things we need and/or don't have. But as I separated out my abundance of clothes, many with the price tags still on them, I thought about taking those to the consignment store down the street and making some extra money. I'll be honest, I wasn't thinking about donating the funds to any charity, but how it could pay for my ever growing love of sewing and embroidery.

I had four piles set up: Keep, Toss, Donate & Sell - which is what I usually do when I do my closet cleanout, but that's not the purpose of 40 Bags in 40 Days. Anyway, I took timeout to read today's Ashes to Fire devotion, and the prayer by St. Ignatius brought me back to reality. It's important to give and not count the cost. So, the sell pile was mixed in with the donate pile.

I realized that with all of the abundance God has provided, I had stopped practicing the attitude of gratitude. I firmly believe when we thank God everyday for what we have, we remember that nothing is ours, but everything is from Him. (see James 1:17 (NIV) Every good and perfect gift is from above). He gives us everything, and we realize that, it becomes easier to give without counting the cost.

It's in that constant conversation with God that we can put our life and circumstances in perspective. For me, it keeps me humble, keeps me from feeling entitled, and keeps me grateful for all that I have been given.

God is so good. So, today was a time of talking to Him. As I separated the clothes, I was so glad that I have so much I can give to others (which made it easier to get rid of the clothes), and I prayed as I put my clothes in the donate pile. I prayed for the women who may wear my clothes, and for the charity who may benefit by selling my clothes to recycle - that they may be able to help as many people as possible. As I returned my clothes to the closet, I thanked God for the clothes on my back, and like our clothes provide protection - I am grateful for the protection God has provided to me, my husband, my family, and my friends.

Today convicted me that my prayer life has become a bit rote of late. Praying the standard, same worded prayer giving little thought to the meaning behind the words.

The Bible says, "when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:5). We need to have our "prayer closet" that is free from clutter and is a time that we just focus on Jesus and what He would say to us and us to Him. We need to get rid of anything that keeps us from spending time with Him - even for just a little while, so that the little things don't turn into big things.

I'm grateful for today's devotion, and the chance to clean out my prayer closet.

Do you have any little things that are becoming stumbling blocks in your walk with God?