Three steps to transforming your habits, your living space, and perhaps your life
If you had a chance to read our last post about ‘new with tag’ items, you’ll see we touched on clothing storage and the damage this does to clothes that are left at the back of the cupboard for too long. This is such an issue for us as we see so many items, often brand new, come through with storage stains. These often look like brown spots and are caused by mould which eventually turns brown when it hasn’t been removed. It’s such a shame when we can’t list these items on our website.
Storage damage extends to every object we own. Books yellowing and getting damp in a box in the garage, excess crockery never used gathering dust and making it difficult to keep your cupboard clean and hygienic. Rust accumulating on outdoor equipment that is left out and never used.
What we want to talk about now isn’t how to deal with clothing damage – but avoiding this issue in the first place and transforming your home into a pleasant and beautiful space you enjoy being in. Space that is de-cluttered, manageable, and where everything is easily found. Imagine opening a cupboard and seeing every item in there in one go. I reduced the time I take getting ready to head out the door by about 15 mins just by going through my cupboard twice a year (only takes about one hour in total) and refolding items, separating exercise gear from pyjamas, and (this is a really important step) placing off season clothes to one side where they don’t get in the way - who wants to be shoving swim suits and dresses aside in July when you just need to find your long sleeve tee shirt?
So, there are three things you need to do to achieve the control of your space.
Step one – sort your spaces
Sort your spaces, one at a time and decide what stays and what can be re used by someone else – or perhaps recycled into new goods. That’s obvious and I’m sure it sounds a bit tedious and overwhelming. There is SO much advice on how to do this. We recommend visiting our first blog post which will link you in with experts in the area who know all about de-cluttering and maintaining pleasant, calm and ordered living spaces. Stick with it because the second and third steps are far more exciting, far more significant and transformative.
Step two – buy less
Maybe you already do this, but even so give some thought to whether you really need new items, particularly clothing. Apparel is often something purchased in excess and is possibly the easiest place to start when cutting back purchases. Clothing production is the third biggest manufacturing industry globally, so it’s pretty clear we are all purchasing more than we need. A great technique we have found is to give yourself 24 hours to consider a purchase before going through with it. You can find more advice on this here. So why is this part exciting? After some time you will find you do have less things in your home. You’ll find you may have more savings, and when you do make purchases it is so satisfying because you’ve really considered what you want.
Step three – pass it on today
This is SO important. Consider passing on your items while they are still in good shape. This sounds easy but it is likely going to challenge you. It isn’t as easy as it sounds to give something away. We think we may use an item again and this is often coming from a place of guilt. A friend may have bought you a gift you’re not crazy about. More often than not though, it is a clothing purchase that we regret. Passing on these items is admitting to ourselves we made a bad purchase and that’s really hard. We think of the wasted money and it hurts. Well - think of it this way. If you pass it on now, the item won’t be hanging out in your cupboard and continually reminding you of the choice you regret making. For passing on children’s clothing, have a look at Kids Closet’s options to send clothing for free to us.
We really hope our three-step process is helpful and rewarding for you. Good luck!
