Organizing Season

Seasons always bring about change in the weather. But they are also a perfect time to bring change in your life and in your home. For me, I always have a spring and fall purge! I go into the closets and things get organized, donated or thrown out. It is a way to mentally prepare for the season and to prepare your wardrobe and home.  

Now this is not because I am materialistic or wasteful. This is about being organized and clutter-free and creating functional space. If something has not been worn, used, taken out in 17 months, it needs to go. Sometimes it just needs to go get stored somewhere else, but typically it gets consigned, donated or tossed. I love the idea of consigning and donating is great too for re-purposing. This way I know that the item or clothing will get used again and someone else fines themselves a gem of a deal! I have three categories for my annual purges. Clothing, home decor and toys. 

First thing. Make a list. List what you want to accomplish and do. This will keep you on task. 

For clothes, I always start with pulling out what I have not worn over a year. Then I go through each item one by one and ask several questions.

1. Does it fit?
2. Is it in good condition?
3. Do I like how it looks and more importantly, do I like how I feel wearing it?

Those three questions usually are a big help in the deciding factor. Especially how do I feel wearing it. Right? Our clothes and how we present ourselves have an impact on how people perceive us and how we feel about ourselves. The biggest accomplishment is actually having all the clothes in your closet that you actually wear. Makes deciding what to wear and getting ready in the morning a lot easier. And hey, who are you kidding, you know have an excuse to get a few nice new things that you might have had to toss in order to refresh your wardrobe. :)

When it comes to home decor I always ask myself if I have displayed or taken it out in the past year. Normally most of the stuff I have, I do! Seasonal decor gets stored and taken out when the time is appropriate. But, some things I find get stored in the hutch or closet and never make a grand entrance again. Perhaps you do not entertain as much as you used to so having 3 serving platters is not necessary and taking up too much space. Best to keep your favorite and forgo the other two. This can happening easily with vases when you get delivered flowers. All of the sudden you have 12 vases in the house! Keep going with that mindset and before you know it, space will start appearing. 

Last category is toys! Is it me or do they pile up too fast! What seems like the hottest toy of the season or something your child "had to have", might be now collecting dust in the toy box. 

First rule of thumb. Get your child involved! After all, this is there stuff and there room. Go through each area and discuss that you will be tossing some items and some can be donated for other children to enjoy. 

I normally go to the obvious. Age appropriateness. We forget our kids grow up! Check out the books and toys that are for wee ones. I bet you did not even know they were taking up rent in your kids room. If they have outgrown something, let it go. Stuff animals is one that grows in our house. At 9, my child still loves collecting them which I think is endearing. Many are from carnivals and arcade games so I never feel so bad tossing them. Special ones we always keep, but I do have my child go through each one and we discuss which is stained or ripped and maybe one that another child can now enjoy. And if you consign the toys and get cash, your child will have some extra money to buy things they would play with more. 

This is just a start to the list of organizing you can do each season in your home. Imagine walking into your closet to find order and knowing everything has it's place. Dreamy. :)

How do you organize or do seasonal purges?