Throw It Out

Throw+It+Out

Amanda Depew, Social Media Editor

How do you know when you’ve had enough of that one shirt you have been keeping in the back of your closet for 3 years but never wore it since the 7th grade? How do you know when to get rid of that pair of shoes that have totally fallen apart but you won’t accept it?

When do you being to clean out your closet or even you room in general? My answer: when you literally can’t hang anything else up or put anything else in those draws without something breaking of being over loaded.

Start with one end of your room and eventually finish at the other end. Depending how much overloading of stuff you have it may take more than a day to do, but it’ll be worth it.

When I get rid of clothes I ask myself if I have worn it within the past year. If the answer is no, I throw it in a donation pile. Even if I have a deep attachment to it I have to face the fact that I need to get rid of it otherwise my new clothes will never make it into my closet.

While getting rid of old clothes even if I have worn it in a year, I take a closer look at it. I say oh hey there is a stain on this maybe I should get rid of it even though I love wearing it almost once a week. There are plenty of new clothes out there to buy.

Now onto the new clothes in your closet that you haven’t worn. They still have tags on them, you’ve never worn them and they have just taken up space in your closet because you were too lazy to return them 6 months ago. What do you do with them? First off, see where the clothes were purchased, some stores return policies are never ending and you can still get some money back even without the receipt, granted it may only be like $3 per item because it is so old now. But hey that like $3 off your next purchase so it never hurts to try. Some stores have a strict return policy and you can’t return them without a receipt so those clothes, just donate them. You have already proven to yourself you aren’t going to wear them, why keep them in your closet?

Now let’s move to your shoe closet, I don’t know about you but I own over 100 pairs of shoes so I have a lot to choose from every day, but difference between my shoes and clothes, I really do wear every single pair of shoes I own. But as I go through them I look to see how much I have worn them out, if they even still like nice because what’s the point of wearing them if they look like they are falling off your feet?

Clothing and shoes are a hard thing to let go of but it’s something we all need to do once every 6 months to a year even if it is only a few things each time we are tossing away. It helps you out in the long run.

Once you’ve done all your closet and dresser, move onto things. Literally things. Things that are in your room just taking up space. Why do you have that foam finger from 8 years ago? What are you going to do with it? You’ll never use it again, it’s filled with dust and is probably starting to decay. Throw it out. Why do you still have that ugly painting you did in art class in the 10th grade hanging up? Was that extra credit if you hung it up? Probably, and you probably forgot to take it down and have gotten so used to it that it doesn’t even matter anymore. Throw it out. You’ll never need it again.

These are the questions you have to ask as you look at all the things in your room, or any room of your house. Do I need this? Does this even do anything? Why do I even have this? Where did it come from, I never bought that.

Decluttering your room is like decluttering your life. You will feel so much more relieved and less stressed once you have finished. Set aside a day to do this. Pick a rainy day if you don’t want to waste the beautiful days of spring and summer coming up. But get to it!