Crowded Closets are not Fun

Sometimes my closets remind me of the "Shoemaker's children" because my poor closets are often neglected. Thankfully, I was able to spend about an hour on my bedroom closet this past weekend. 

Here are my "takeaway" tips for you:

• Pretend you are working on someone else's closet. It's so easy to get overwhelmedwhen dealing with your own stuff.  Take everything off of your shelves first - when the space is empty,you can be more objective about what should go where. Out of season clothing can be placed in the hard to reach spots.  
• Sort like things together. Put your winter stuff together (and hopefully place in a far away place) and sort the current season's clothing in categories (sleeveless, short sleeve, dressy tops, jackets, sweaters, shorts, slacks). 
• Have a bag nearby for items to donate and put them in as you go through everything.
• Put your current season's clothes in your bedroom closet and move the out of season hanging clothes to another location.
• Get rid of all but one spare pairs of sneakers - one spare pair is enough.
• Use the easy-to-reach places for the items you use the most. My bottom shelf has my dog walking clothes and other things I use daily.

Beware of these common roadblocks:

Overwhelm   Where do I begin?

Solution  Begin with a 5 minute decluttering session – grab a bag and put some giveaways in there. Don't over  deliberate about whether to  consign or donate - just decide  what needs to go.

  

Fear What if I don't have time to finish and make an even bigger mess?

Solution Start slow – do one section at a  time and start with the easiest  stuff first – belts? scarves?  clothes that don't fit?

Indecision What if I end up needing this?

Solution If you are really afraid to get rid  of something, place it in a  "marinade" box. Go to your  calendar and pick a date (a few  months out). If you haven't  gone to your marinade box by  that date, then you can  give yourself permission to let  it go.

    

Stamina I can't physically do it.

Solution Ask for help - if you have a non-judgmental person in your life, see if you can barter with them..  you can do a more sedentary favor for them and they can help you climb, lift and carry clothes.

   

And a few parting words for your enjoyment...

• Let go of perfectionism - if your piles don't look perfect, it doesn't matter. Your goal is to DOWNSIZE.  
• Easy does it – but do it. Spend 5 minutes... but do it a few times a week and you WILL see a difference.
• Schedule regular donation pick ups or drop offs - this will give you a needed excuse to gather unwanted items.

Set a goal of when you want to have this completed. If you do not meet your goal and feel discouraged and overwhelmed, then please contact me. I would love to help you. 

Downsize your book collection

Books accumulate in every household. Some have sentimental or actual value, but most are useless once they are read. Unless the book is a classic, most people only read a book one time, if they make it that far.

Many options are available for trimming down your book collection. First, you have to sort through them. Figure out which books are most important. Encyclopedias that many of us relied on for homework assignments as kids, are completely useless to most of today’s internet savvy children. No charity has any interest in old and ridiculously outdated encyclopedias from when the flag only had 48 stars! Other reference books may fall into the same category, although some nonprofits may take those.

Keeping a favorite book of poetry is understandable. Holding a book in your hands may soon be a thing of the past, but you can hang on to some of your most treasured tomes. It is fine to keep some books pertaining to a hobby or pastime, but you can certainly weed out at least a few of them.

If you are an avid reader, getting rid of countless novels may be where you will see the biggest area of downsizing. Once read, either pass them along to a friend or get rid of them!

Many places still love book donations. Probably the most popular in Baltimore is The Book Thing.This wonderful place takes books and then gives them away to anyone who wants them free of charge. The Book Thing is only open on weekends, but there is a 24-hour drop off container. This should go without saying, do not go there and take home more books than you drop off! That is not going to help you one bit.

Donating books to other charities can work as well. Make sure to ask if they accept books before you donate them. Some nonprofits do not take books and will have to pay someone to haul them away.

While some people consider throwing away books a sin, recycling or trashing them might be the best thing. A history textbook from the Eisenhower administration is not going to help any child do their homework. There have been so many advances in science, most old texts are not worth anything. The most someone might get out of them is a good laugh.

A friend of mine unsuccessfully tried to donate some old encyclopedias, but didn’t want the books to end up in the landfill. She carefully used a mat knife and cut the pages out of the all of the books. She recycled the pages and threw away the hard covers! The process helped her avoid the bad feeling of throwing the books in the trash.

According to popular belief, some old books are worth a lot of money. Usually, that is untrue with few exceptions. First editions can be valuable, depending upon the book. Extremely old books can have some value. If you have books that you think are worth some money, you might want to sell them on Amazon, Ebay or Craigslist. Whole collections, like the works of Shakespeare for example, might be worth selling.

At Aim4Order, our mission is to help you reduce clutter and free your space. If you are overwhelmed by your enormous book collection and need help, please email or give us a call at 410-484-8328.