Fall calls for a wardrobe de-clutter involving two mind-sets: one decisive and one sentimental.
MOLLY MAID, the professional home cleaning experts, suggest the following top ten tips to help pack away your summer wardrobe and use it as an opportunity to de-clutter as you move into the autumn and winter months:
1. Divide your summer wardrobe into 'keep' and items to 'donate to charity'. Don't forget the shoes and summer flip flops if they're still is good condition!
2. Pack away items for donation into bags and remove them from the room.
3. Look out for holes, stains and clothing items that may have shrunk in the wash.
4. If in doubt, try clothes on for the 100th time to make sure they still fit as they should – if not, donate them.
5. If you have trouble deciding whether you would ever wear it again, do the litmus test and ask yourself what occasion you would wear it for; for example, work, dinner party, weekend, beach and so on.
6. If you still have doubts, sell anything you haven't worn in a year that might be out of style. You can post a free listing on a websites like Kijiji.ca.
7. Then, if that doesn't work, try to strip out any emotional attachment you may have for selected pieces of clothing – and be honest with yourself.
8. Leave out a few some good transitional outfits: cool enough for warm autumn days, but not too summery.
9. Before packing away your summer clothes for storage, make sure all clothes are clean.
10. Never fall into the trap of having a 'maybe' pile as these stragglers will wriggle their way back into the closet!
Reassure yourself that your new wardrobe, like the old, will acquire its own memory and experience. There's a whole new season dawning and your closet will have the space to breath once more.
