How to De-clutter Your Home Starting With Clothing

Old clothes tend to pile up for years as they "wait" to be worn.

Clutter gathers so easily and quickly, but de-cluttering your home does not have to be a time-consuming chore. The serenity you feel when you have a clutter-free home will motivate you to continue de-cluttering once you see the positive results. Clothing, in particular, is held onto for long periods of time and takes up a lot of space.

Things You'll Need

• Cardboard boxes

Instructions

1. Start small. De-cluttering can seem overwhelming, so start with one room or, if it would be less daunting, a closet or just a dresser. Commit to filling up one box of clothes and discarding or donating them.

2. Apply the two-year rule. Start with clothes that you haven't touched for two years. This is a good rule for clothing. If you haven't worn a piece for at least two years, you probably won't wear it again. The nice thing is that used clothing in good shape can be donated so that someone else can get good use out of it.

3. Don't wait for diets. If a piece of clothing is too small, get rid of it. You may be saving clothing in the hopes that you will fit into it again someday. If you lose weight and are feeling good about your figure, are you really going to pull out that old, outdated outfit? More likely, you will purchase a new outfit to show off your figure.

4. Sack the socks. Many of us keep old socks to wear just in case all of our currently worn socks are dirty, but in reality, we never actually dip into the standbys. These second-string of socks also tend to be too loose, worn thin, or have a small hole, but only in one of the socks in the pair, so you keep them both around. Old socks make great cleaning rags, so put them in a box marked "rags."

5. Clear out the coats. Coats are bulky and take up a lot of room. Sort through your coats and keep only the ones you wear on a regular basis. Donate all the others to a charity.

6. Stick to a schedule. If you go through one closet a month, or fill up just one box of clothes a week, you be on your way to a de-cluttered home. Your bedrooms and closets will feel much larger, and you will be able to find what you are looking for much more quickly.

Tips & Warnings

• Set a reasonable goal for yourself, such as removing one box of clothes from your home every month.

• Clothes donated to a non-profit organization may be tax deductible, so be sure to get a receipt.