Tag Archives: too many clothes

More Room in My Closet

By Claire Posted in Clutter Tagged , , ,

Those stored clothes I mentioned last week have left the premises and I didn’t even know it. I had put them in the trunk for whenever I got to the Goodwill drive-up. But my husband was out grocery shopping and donated them so he’d have room in the trunk for the groceries. So those things are gone with the wind.

Boy, does that feel good! My two storage boxes of clothes are no longer bursting at the seams but have a bit of extra room in them. Hanging in my closet are some dresses I haven’t worn in years. I have begun wearing them even if I don’t go out anywhere. I finally remembered the adage “Use it or lose it!” Whatever I haven’t worn at the end of the summer will be headed to Goodwill for sure.

It’s been a while since I did a major clothing purge and I forgot how good that feels. Next up: the basement storage area, which is getting kind of crowded. Time to weed out things and move them along.

Repurposing Old Clothes for Grandkids

By Claire Posted in Clutter Tagged , ,

I just went through my stored clothes again and got rid of a lot. Some I had kept because they were made well out of high quality fabric, and that’s not the norm anymore. Then I had a thought. A while back I made myself a top out of very nice knit I had picked up on clearance at a fabric store. I wasn’t happy with how the top turned out, so I only wore it at home, not in public. Then I decided to alter the top but that didn’t really improve it. But that fabric was so darn nice! I hated to donate it or throw it out. So I made a pair of shorts out of it for one of my granddaughters. They turned out so cute! I was able to lay the pattern so that the top’s hem became the leg hem of the shorts, saving me some time.

That success led me to pull out some clothes that I don’t really wear anymore that are made of beautiful fabric. I think a bright pink seersucker caftan is going to become a little dress, and a beloved Lanz flannel nightgown with some worn spots can become a little nightie if I work around those worn spots. There were two Lands’ End t-shirts from at least 15 years ago that I haven’t worn in while; I’m thinking they’ll make nice sturdy leggings.

By repurposing my clothes, I don’t feel bad about letting go of some high quality things I don’t wear anymore. My gram would be proud of me. She invented repurposing back in the 1930s, I think, when she cut up coats given to her for her own use and turned them into coats for her four small children.

Too Many Choices = Clutter

By Claire Posted in Clutter, Simpler Living Tagged , , , , , ,

According to a millennial therapist, millennials’ biggest complaint is that they have too many choices and it’s stressing them out.

I suspect “too many choices” is a first-world problem, and one that is felt by far more people than just millennials. The other day, I went shopping for several things, including some shampoo for my husband. He has used this shampoo for many years, and until fairly recently, I could grab a bottle and keep going. But now that there are at least 20 versions of his shampoo, I have to stand there and figure out which one would be best for him. I can no longer find a basic version of his shampoo.

The “too many choices” dilemma also applies to our homes. If you have too many clothes, you spent too much time each day choosing what to wear. If you have an overloaded fridge and freezer, you spend too much time trying to figure out what to eat. If you have shelves full of DVDs, along with subscriptions to Netflix and Amazon Prime, you spend too much time trying to find something to watch.

The time it takes for us to make all of these choices each day adds to our stress level. The only way to combat this is by limiting choices. At home, that means keeping a modestly sized wardrobe, a pantry and fridge containing only what you need for a week or so, and a limited number of entertainment options.

There is a point where you go from having just enough to living in clutter. To find your optimal level of having enough, keep getting rid of things until you stop finding yourself wasting time making choices. Then watch your stress level plummet.