Decluttering Challenge – Day 17 – Hangers

You have enough hangers. I promise. But they are big, small, wood, plastic, metal and all different colors. This alone is making your closet look messier than it really is.

By now you know that I am not an organizer who encourages you to buy stuff.  I will always suggest you reuse, repurpose or borrow first.  However, when it’s time to replace broken hangers or improve the quality, I can get on board with disciplined and thoughtful purchases. 

First, we have to figure out how many hangers you really need. Because it is less than you think. I decided to get a baseline by counting mine.  I have 73. For a tour of my closet, click HERE. I filmed this about a year ago and the only difference to today is that I removed even more items.  When I buy shoes, it is to replace a worn out pair. Like accessories, I consider the colors in my wardrobe and purchase shoes that will coordinate.

Decluttering Challenge Day 17

• Donate Clothing – In honor of Day 17, find 17 clothing items for the donation pile. If you skipped this step yesterday, now’s your chance to catch up. 
• Remove Empty Hangers – Store in a box. Return metal hangers to the dry cleaner. Recycle plastic store hangers.
• Sort by season – If possible, move the current season clothing to the front. Utilize a spare closet for temporary offseason storage while you downsize.
• Sort by color – It creates a cohesive look and makes it easy to find things
• Turn Hangers – Turn them to face the back of the closet.
• Hang Clothes – For the next 2 weeks, when you hang up clean clothing. (Such as the laundry you did yesterday.) Turn these hangers the opposite direction.
• Assess the Closet – After two weeks, consider what you wore and did not wear. Donate 15 more items.

Keep turning hangers through the end of winter. Remove a specific number of items every two weeks until all your hangers are facing the same way again. This means that you wore all the items and love them or you donated them.

Set a goal of reducing your closet by a specific number of items or a percentage. This goal will encourage you to make trades and be honest about what items you love. Reward yourself with a set of high quality hangers like these.

If the hanger trick seems too easy try Project 333. Box up summer and spring and build a winter wardrobe of just 33 items. See the link for details about what’s included and what’s not. You can modify to support your lifestyle and meet your goals for an organized closet.