30-Day Organize-athon | Day 2: Clear Out Your Hanging Closet

30-Day Organize-athon 02

Welcome to the 30-Day Organize-athon!

In today’s 5 minutes we’re going to express-clear the hanging part of your closet.

Take a deep breath as you imagine inhaling a sense of clarity, freedom and order, and off we go!

Day 2: Clear Out Your Hanging Closet

Step 1: Grab a large garbage bag.

Step 2: Open up the hanging part of your closet and, quickly scanning your clothes from left to right, toss into the bag anything that:

  • Doesn’t fit
  • Feels scratchy or unpleasant against your skin
  • Is in a shape that doesn’t suit you
  • Is in a color that doesn’t suit you
  • Has a neckline or hem length that doesn’t suit you
  • Has negative memories or associations
  • Is tatty
  • Has been worn too many times
  • Is tragically out of fashion
  • Is not your style any more
  • Makes you feel uncomfortable or unhappy
  • Hasn’t been worn in the past 12 months.

Step 3: Do a second scan, left to right, for anything that needs repair, alteration or laundering. If you know you’ll never get around to the repair, alteration or dry cleaning, then pop these items straight into your first bag. Otherwise, put them aside for later attention.

Step 4: Put your bag by the door or take it straight out to the car. (Take it to the charity store or tip as soon as you can. Really good stuff should go to charity, but let junk go.)

And you’re done!

Got an Extra 5 Minutes?

  1. Notice what’s still in your closet – the styles, colors and shapes that suit you – and make a note to buy more if you need them.
  2. Notice what you’ve decided to ditch – the styles, colors and shapes that don’t work for you – and make a What Not To Wear list to avoid future fashion faux pas.
  3. Tidy your clothes and straighten your hangers.

Now aren’t you looking forward to getting dressed?

The 30-Day Organize-athon Mantra

Move fast. Don’t overthink. Let it go!

Start the 5-minute timer now.

Leave Your Comment Below…

Please leave a comment below to say you’ve completed today’s task.

See you back here tomorrow!

[Image by aussiegall]

415 thoughts on “30-Day Organize-athon | Day 2: Clear Out Your Hanging Closet

  1. Anna says:

    Done! It felt wonderful! Did try to keep what I didn’t need, but I quickly took it to the donation box so I couldn’t go back through the bag today!

  2. Robin says:

    Done! Wish I could get the email in the morning instead of evening though…I have more time and energy in the a.m.

  3. Esther Pacheco says:

    Have done a good job keeping up with this (we do not have a big closet. But I was able to find a few things to give away

  4. "Z" says:

    THIS WAS A WONDERFUL EXCERCISE I DIDN’T REALIZE I HAD BEEN HOLDING ON TO ITEMS WITH THE HOPES OF “ONE DAY WEARING THEM AGAIN”. IT WAS SUCH A WASTE OF CLOSET SPACE TO HOLD ON TO THE PAST. NOW I HAVE ROOM FOR MORE CLOTHES THAT DO A BETTER JOB OF FLATTERING ME AND FITTING IN WITH THE CURRENT STYLE OF TODAY. THANK YOU MICHELLE 🙂

  5. Megan says:

    Yeah… Day 2 is done!! I did this last week. List of what to wear… Good idea once I loss all my baby weight! I will make one for sure. Great idea!!

  6. Christi says:

    Day 2 done, because I just did it last week :). The idea of making a list of what looks good and what doesn’t is a great one – I will have to try that when I’m back out of maternity clothes.

  7. Happy Momma says:

    Finally done with day 2… took way longer than 5 minutes… went thru the hubby’s stuff too… he may not be so happy when he gets home… but it had to be done and I am glad it is done…

  8. Linda says:

    I actually had done this a few weeks ago, but found a few more things to clear out! And I cleaned out and organized my “linen” closet which is really our main storage closet. I labeled each shelf so things will go back where they came from and we know exactly what we have and how much of it we have. I found about 10 cans of Pledge and four bottles of Windex plus two huge refills I had forgotten about! That’s not happening again with my labels.

  9. Valerie says:

    Done plus!! I did my entry way closet as well and got rid of things that I have wanted to for so long – yay!! And put away all the winter gear for the season… finally. 🙂

  10. Vicki says:

    Deary me, I now realize I have too many clothes, this was a hard one for me, but did manage to get a few gaps started, took 10 minutes on this one – thanks for the motivation.

  11. Daisie says:

    I was so motivated after going thru my closet, I also went thru my shirt drawer in my dresser & went thru my kids clothes & packed up stuff that they’ve outgrown! 🙂

  12. Denise says:

    I did this back in January but had to wind up buying new clothes since we discovered in February I am pregnant.

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