Hello!!! Johnny and I have been living in our bigger apartment for over two years and it has been great. We moved from a one bedroom loft into a three bedroom, one and a half bath space and it is such a gift to have all of the extra room. While we were in the process of moving, we had a huge clean out and were able to clear up a lot of excess clutter. Since then, we haven’t had a good haul away in a while – only added and I can definitely tell. It feels like there is stuff everywhere! On Monday, I began doing a clear out of my belongings and it was kind of difficult at first. However, it got much easier as I went along and followed these steps:
Start Small:
Johnny and I are honestly both pack rats and I had no idea where to even begin. So, I started small and worked my way up to bigger items. For starters, I decided to go with things that indisputably needed to be tossed – old makeup. I had tubes of lipstick that haven’t been used in years and I’m sure were well beyond an expiration date. Yes, it was a baby step but it got me used to the feeling of letting go of items and I was in a more comfortable place for harder decisions.
What Can’t Be Repaired?
After working on smaller odds and ends for a while, I turned my attention to the things that I planned on getting around to repairing and didn’t. The primary culprit was shoes. I have a handful of pairs that needed some semblance of repair done to be able to wear them again. A plethora of time had passed and they had not been taken to the shop down the road. It would have been a ten minute errand to run and I chose not to. With that in mind, the busted shoes went next and it felt good to be rid of them once I thought about it from a more logical perspective.
Unworn (In A While!) Clothing:
By the time I was done in the shoe department, I was on a roll and felt ready to tackle clothing next. The standard rule for getting rid of clothing is “toss if you haven’t worn in X amount of years”. I followed that as best as I could and ended up with a bagful of clothes to be donated. As I dived deeper into drawers, I found items that I didn’t even realize I had kept and into the bag they went. If I didn’t like them enough to remember having them, then I certainly don’t like them enough to wear now!
Sentimental Items:
Over an hour into my clear out, the last thing on the agenda was some sentimental items and I am so glad that I started the process with baby steps. The main thing I knew had to go was some of my old warm up gear from my days as a competitive figure skater. I think back on that time most fondly (For the most part!) and have always just hung onto the clothing from the skating club I was in. At this point, I was able to recognize that all they were doing was taking up space in my drawers and was able to toss them without a second thought. I did, however, hold on to my favorite skating dress and don’t ever plan on letting that go. 🙂
I was very much out of practice when it came to a good old fashioned clean out and it was hard at times. Once I was done, though, I felt so invigorated and can’t wait to go for Round Two this weekend!
How often do you clear out unwanted items? What are some of your pro tips for a haul away? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah





