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All the professionals will tell you the easiest way to have a consistently tidy home is to have less stuff.
That is way easier said than done. For some people it’s even harder than that.
I wouldn’t call myself a hoarder, although, I do live with one.
I also wouldn’t call myself a minimalist. I like my stuff. I want a house that looks cozy and lived in, and you can’t have that with nothing.
For me what typically happens is I tolerate all the stuff and mess and try to pretend it’s going to be alright and then bam, one day I wake up and decide, that’s it, it’s got to go.
I cannot handle paper clutter. Andrew’s not kidding when he tells people that if he doesn’t read a magazine the day we get it, he’ll never see it again.
Stuff and clothes and toys I handle better as long as they have place I can stuff it all in and hide away when company comes.
So, with that mindset, you can see how our closets can easily become overwhelming. Our master closest is where everything goes to die. I mean hide.
Over the years, I have learned a few tricks to keep our closets under control.
I keep a basket or a trash bag in my closet at all times. That way if something doesn’t fit or I decide I no longer like the look; I can immediately toss it into the bag to donate.
This bag isn’t just for clothes. If I’m tidying the house and notice something I want to donate, I’ll take it straight to the bag in my closet.
When the bag gets full, I’ll take it out to the car to donate and then start all over with another bag.
I also do my best to stick to the one thing in, one thing out rule. So when I buy a new shirt or pair of pants or whatever, I have to get rid of an older one.
But the best hack I’ve seen comes from This Crazy Life YouTube channel.
Her hack is to take out all the close from your closet. Then put back only what you know you’ll wear.
Here’s where decluttering is set to autopilot. When you hang all the clothes back, put the hanger backwards.
This resets everything. When you take something out to wear it, then the hanger goes back the right way. Whenever you hang something back that you wear, those clothes get hung back up the correct way.
That gives a very clear visual of what you are actually wearing. So after a couple months you can clearly see the items you haven’t worn and then you can take those out of your closet as well.
Anytime a new item goes into the close to hang, first hang it backward. You think you’ll wear it but it also could have been an impulse buy that you will never wear again. This way you will know for sure.
Of course, for the clothes out of season, you would wait until that season before you knew what you wear or don’t wear.
Anyways, that one easy tip has completely changed how I organize my closet and it has been very effective for me so far.
Let me know if you try it or any other closet organization tips you have!