Decluttering your closet? Make sure you ask yourself these 9 questions when getting rid of clothes–they’ll help you decide what’s worth keeping.
Two years ago, I decluttered my closet and got rid of HALF of my clothes. Yes, that’s 50%!! It felt so good to purge clothing and free up space in my closet. Well after two years, my closet had filled up again and gotten pretty messy so I recently organized it again and decluttered more clothes.
If you’re ready to declutter your closet like I did, try asking yourself these 8 questions when you’re deciding what to keep and what to let go of. They’re really helpful!
These questions really helped me with getting rid of clothes that I no longer need, and it was so easy that I was able to sort through my entire closet in just 30 minutes! That’s right, I just spent one Saturday morning looking through each item in my closet and deciding what to keep, what to donate, and what to toss–it was so simple and really helped declutter a ton of clothes.
Keep reading for my checklist of questions to ask yourself when getting rid of clothes!
Ready to jump into decluttering your house following the KonMari Method? Be sure to download the free checklist using the form below!
Download Your Free KonMari Checklist!
Review the rules, check off your progress, and see which category is next with this free KonMari checklist! Subscribe to have the free guide sent straight to your inbox. By downloading this guide, you will also receive weekly emails from me filled with organizing tips!
Looking for more organizing ideas? Take a look at these blog posts:
- KonMari Method Basics & A Free KonMari Checklist
- Decluttering Clothes With KonMari – How I Got Rid Of 50% Of My Closet
- Organization Hack: Storing Outgrown Kids’ Clothes
- How To Declutter & Organize Your Coat Closet – 20+ Ideas For Families!
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Decluttering Questions
Ask yourself these questions if you’re struggling with deciding what to keep or discard. Consider this your quick litmus test as you’re trying to decide what to let go of and what’s worth remaining in your closet.
1. Does this fit me right now?
Life happens, there’s no need to keep clothing around that you can’t wear! Keeping jeans that are way too snug can leave you irritated. Take a few minutes to try things on and be okay with letting some things go. We all have clothes that have gotten a little too tight and those things that never fit quite right in the first place.
It’s tempting to hold onto clothing thinking you’ll fit back into them “someday”, but one thing I’ve learned is that it’s best to let them go and fill your closet with items that make you look and feel your best right now. If you really think you’ll lose the weight, go ahead and pack up the too-tight clothes into a storage tote and store them for now. Set a reminder on your calendar to revisit them in 3-6 months and try them on again then.
2. Does this make me feel good?
Everyone has that one shirt they always wear when they want to feel their best. Almost everyone probably has shirts they avoid too… purge the things you never reach for! You deserve to feel confident in all of your clothes, so if you’re always choosing other items over this one then that’s a good sign you can get rid of it.
3. Is this in good condition?
Jeans with holes in them or sweatshirts with stains most likely won’t get worn. If it needs alterations or mending, either make a plan to make those things happen so the item is wearable or purge it! Keeping some “chore” clothes is a good idea but be mindful of how many you really need to keep around.
4. Do i have multiples of this?
Do you really need eight plain black tees? Maybe try cutting it down to your favorite two and donate the rest. Take a close look if any are faded, stained, or are in need of repair, and get rid of those. After all, you can only wear one of something at a time so if you have multiples you’re probably always wearing your favorite one or two and the rest collect dust on their hangers.
5. would I buy this if I saw it in a store today?
Be honest with yourself: if you saw this item in a store today, would you buy it? Sometimes we buy things on a whim and end up deciding their not all that great after all. Maybe your style has evolved and even though you paid money for that shirt at one point in time, it’s not something you’d purchase now.
Give yourself permission to let go of things that still have the tags on or you paid good money for. If you wouldn’t buy it today, I’m guessing you’ll never wear it so there’s really no sense for it to take up valuable closet space.
6. Do I have anywhere to wear this?
As you’re decluttering your clothes, you might come across items that don’t fit your season of life or current circumstances. Maybe you have a ton of dress pants but your new job doesn’t require dress clothes. Maybe you used to wear a lot of cute dresses out with friends but now you don’t have much of a social life and have more need for sweats than sequin dresses.
It’s okay to purge clothing that still fits and is in good condition if you realistically won’t have many opportunities to wear it. I recently parted with several dresses that all fit, but when I was honest with myself I realized it was rare for me to have an occasion to dress up for these days. So I kept a couple of my favorites and donated the rest.
One mistake here is telling yourself you might have somewhere to wear this one day. Like what if you need that formal gown for some unknown event in the future? My advice is to donate it if it doesn’t fit your current reality. If you do need a fancy gown in a couple of years, you’ll probably want to shop for something new anyway and that’s better than hanging onto a piece of clothing “just in case” you might need it someday.
7. Is this still my style?
That leather jacket you bought for a party 5 years ago might be cool, but will you wear it now? Is it style your style? Does it fit your current lifestyle?
It’s natural for our personal styles to evolve so learn to be okay with letting go of things that are in perfectly good condition but aren’t really clothes you’ll wear right now. They might be cute and you might have loved them at the time, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep them forever.
8. Am I keeping this out of guilt?
Guilt is a big reason we hang onto clothes! One form of guilt is related to clothing someone gave you. Maybe your mom gifted you a really nice sweater and you feel like you need to hold onto it because it was a gift, or your mom spend a lot of money on it, etc. If it’s not your style or doesn’t fit quite right, it’s totally okay to give it away!
Another form of clothing guilt is feeling guilty about how much money you spent on something or that you bought an item and never wore it. Let’s get real here: no matter how much money you spent on this clothing item, if you’re never going to wear it then it doesn’t deserve space in your closet. Let go of the guilt and donate it so someone else can enjoy it instead of letting it sit in your closet and make you feel guilty for never taking the tags off or only wearing it once.
9. Would I rather do laundry or wear this?
This is such a good question to ask yourself! If you’d rather do the laundry so you have something you want to wear instead of wearing that pair of jeans that are still hanging in your closet, then that’s a good sign you can part ways with the jeans. We all gravitate toward wearing the same favorite clothes on repeat so if you’d rather wash your favorites to wear again, then you’ll be okay getting rid of the clothes that you don’t love to wear as much.
Decluttering your closet and getting rid of clothes that are no longer serving you feels so freeing! It will make the process of getting dressed each morning much more enjoyable when you have a closet filled with things you actually love and feel good in, instead of constantly sifting through items that make you feel stressed or guilty.
I dealt with a messy, cluttered closet for MONTHS before I finally dove in and decluttered it. And you know what? After all of that procrastinating, it only took me about 30 minutes to sort through every item in my closet and ask myself these questions. And I ended the morning with an organized closet that felt light, not stressful.
Let me know how your decluttering process goes! Which question helped you the most?
Looking for more organizing ideas? Take a look at these blog posts:
- KonMari Method Basics & A Free KonMari Checklist
- Decluttering Clothes With KonMari – How I Got Rid Of 50% Of My Closet
- Organization Hack: Storing Outgrown Kids’ Clothes
Have a fantastic day!
Declutter Your Closet: 9 Questions To Ask Yourself When Getting Rid Of Clothes
Decluttering your closet? Ask yourself these 9 questions when getting rid of clothes--they'll help you decide what's worth keeping and what to purge.
Instructions
Ask yourself these 9 questions about each clothing item one by one. Use them as a litmus test for what's worth keeping and what you should get rid of.
- Does this fit me right now?
- Does this make me feel good?
- Is this in good condition?
- Do I have multiples of this?
- Would I buy this if I saw it in a store today?
- Do I have anywhere to wear this?
- Is this still my style?
- Am I keeping this out of guilt?
- Would I rather do laundry or wear this?
Notes
Visit smallstuffcounts.com/getting-rid-of-clothes for more tips on decluttering your clothes plus our free Konmari Method checklist!
Download Your Free KonMari Checklist!
Review the rules, check off your progress, and see which category is next with this free KonMari checklist! Subscribe to have the free guide sent straight to your inbox. By downloading this guide, you will also receive weekly emails from me filled with organizing tips!