Seasonal Clothes and Seasons of Life Clothes

Now we jump into the clothes that are seasonal and seasons of life clothes! 

Seasonal clothes are those clothes that are spring, summer, winter and fall clothes. If you have room in your closet, I suggest keeping them all together.  This keeps you from having to switch around when seasons change but it also allows you to know exactly what you have so that you are not buying things very similar to or just like you already have; many times when the item is out of sight it is out of mind.

If your closet will not house all your clothes at one time, I suggest using a guest closet, a child's closet or purchasing a Portable Clothes Closet similar to the one pictured below.  This item will keep your clothes separated as well as dust and wrinkle free. 

So what are Seasons of Life Clothes?  We all have those clothes that we have kept because of the event or the memories.  Nostalgic clothes.  Clothes that make us smile because we remember the time and the place we got them or we love what they represent.  The clothes bought on a trip.  The massive collection of T-shirts that we got on vacation or at concerts.  The clothes from the '80s that are sure to come back into style.....really they will!  The prom dress, the bridesmaid dress, the wedding dress that you wore for the marriage that didn't last.  What do you do with all of these clothes? 

1.  First of all, if they don't bring back good memories......let it go!

2.  If you have so many t-shirts from trips or other events, make a t-shirt quilt 

     http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Quilt-from-Tee-Shirts

    or just keep a couple from the places that really meant the most.

3.  Prom dresses, you probably have a picture of you in that prom dress so let it go or

    find a little girl to use it for dress up.

4.  Bridesmaid dresses.....same as the prom dresses.  Unless it is unusually stylish for a

     bridesmaid dress, you probably will not wear it again and it is time to let it go.

5.  Wedding dresses........marriage didn't last, time to find another home for that

     dress.  Try to sell it at http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/ or if it is not too

     dated you can donate the dress to:

      Brides Across America

      Brides Against Breast Cancer

      The Brides' Project

     Marriage lasted.......have it stored professionally. 

6.  If you want the memory of any of these items, take a picture of the item.  The

     picture itself will bring back the memory that you are looking for.  If you want to

     keep these items, have them cleaned and stored professionally but get them out of

     your everyday clothes space.

Shoes, Purses and Accessories

Shoes, purses and accessories are some of the hardest things to gain control of in a closet because of the sheer numbers of them! 

Shoes

Consumer reports found that the average woman owned 19 pairs of shoes, however the "shoe people" owned an average of 27 pair.  How many pairs of shoes do you think you have?  How many do you actually have?  Have you ever counted?  There are many ways to store shoes....here are a few ideas.

1.  Over the Door Shoe Organizers

These work great on a door or on a wall.  These can be found at places like Wal-Mart, Bed Bath and Beyond, or Amazon.

                 Over the Door Shoe Organizers

2.  Hanging Shoe Organizer 

These shoe organizers hang from a rod in your closet.  These can be found at Organize It.com, Wal-Mart, and Amazon. 

 Smart Carousel Organizer        Hanging Shoe Organizer

3.  Under the Bed Shoe Organizer

This is great for special occasion and rarely worn shoes or for people that have very limited closet space.  These can be found at Amazon, Organize.com, and Target.

4.  Shoe Organizers for Shelves and Floors

Several different options but notice they are all clear! Not all of these can be found at the same place.  The Clear Boot Storage and other Clear Shoe Storage can be found at clear-shoe-boxes.com, the Clear Shoe boxes can be found at the Dollar Tree or Dollar General, and the Clear Shoe Drawer can be found at Amazon.com. 

5.  Shoe Cabinets and Shoe Cubbies

Some unique ideas for your unique needs.  The White Frost Cubby can be found at Amazon.  The Shoe Cabinet can be found at Home Decorators Catalog and the Shoe Cabinet with the Fold Down drawers can be found at Wal-Mart and E-bay. 

Purses and Belts 

There are many ways to organize purses and belts.  Here are a few ideas.  All of these came from Amazon but are available from other places. 

       Park a Purse                Natural Canvas Hanging Purse Storage 

          

                              

                              Twirl A Belt Organizer

Finally, you have cleaned up, cleaned out and organized.  What do you do with the piles of clothes, belts, shoes and accessories that you have.

Clothing and Accessories

• The best thing to do with clothing and accessories is to donate them to a worthy cause.  You can get a tax deduction and there are no more worries about it. Goodwill, Salvation Army, a homeless shelter, or organizations that are setting up homes for refugee families.   Ask around, you can usually find someone that knows someone in need!
• It you don't want to donate it, try and sell it on a Yard Sale website - around New Bern there is Cherry Point Yard Sales or have someone sell it on Ebay.  Only the higher priced items that have never been worn or rarely worn will bring any return.
• Some of your items can be sold at a consignment shop. Most consignment shops will only accept items that are 2-3 years old unless they are classics.  Most of the shops require the clothes to be wrinkle free, stain free and on hangers.  The clothes also have to be seasonally the clothes they are selling at this time.  Each consignment shop has their own split, some are 60/40, some are 50/50 and some are 40/60.  You have to decide if the effort is worth the return. 
• List your items on http://www.freecycle.org/.  This is a website where you can list any used items and see if someone in your area would like to have them for free.  It is recycling to a person instead of to a landfill. 


Shoes

Donate your gently used shoes to an organization like Soles 4 Souls or Donate Your Old Shoes.  These are organizations that collect shoes to donate to people around the world. 

soles4souls.org

donateyouroldshoes.org

Donate your "beyond any wear shoes" to the Nike Reuse A Shoe program.  Nike takes the shoes and turns them into tracks or playgrounds! 

 nikereuseashoe.com

Well, I hope you are well on your way to a much more organized and workable closet!  I will be happy to come help you if you need some help or a little gentle nudge in the right direction! 

Happy De-Cluttering!

Peggy