Does your wardrobe smell of old clothes? It might just be time to ship the kids off to the grandparents for a weekend and re-evaluate the essentials of your wardrobe.

Spring Cleaning Your Wardrobe

Before you start your major wardrobe overhaul, here’s a handy closet guide from Tommy John; because they know a thing or two about the essentials like your hubby’s underwear!

Before you start tearing into your wardrobe and throwing out clothes, let’s take some time to walk through this flowchart.

What’s Love Got to Do With It?

Getting rid of our clothes can be a much more emotional experience than we realise. You may have been wearing that spaghetti strap blouse when you met “the one,” but honestly, when was the last time you wore it?

While it may have some sentimental value, you really have to ask yourself if it’s doing any good or just taking up space in your closet.

In my experience, if I truly haven’t worn an article of clothing in the past six months, someone else less fortunate than me will – I vote to donate.

⇒ Related Read: How I decluttered my home the Marie Kondo way

Stain Doesn’t Add Character

We all know the story; you’ve been through everything with that pair of blue jeans. The stains, rips, and fades are all just parts of the story. While these may mean something to you, they mean something completely different to everyone else. The way I see it, there are two ways to look at your worn-out wares.

Option 1: You retire your beat-up clothes from the public eye and only wear them while you’re gardening on the weekends or wear them at home. If gardening isn’t your thing?

Please refer to Option 2.

Option 2: Throw them out, recycle it or donate it (if it’s still in good condition). This might come off as a little harsh, but sometimes that little kick is what we all need.

A Lesson for The Kids

So, you’ve officially cleaned out your wardrobe. Your closet looks great, your remaining clothes look even better, and, most importantly, the headache you got while picking out your outfit every morning is finally gone.

You may have noticed that, while your closet looks immaculate, you are still left with all of your clothes that you didn’t immediately toss. Head to the local donation center to put the clothes to good use. This time, involve your kids! They could learn a thing or two from this part of the process.

My kids always seem to get into the spirit of giving back once we get to this step. In fact, I’ll usually let them pick out a few things of their own that they no longer use. This way, they can figure out first-hand how good it feels to help out those who are less fortunate. It’s fast becoming a spring family tradition, and we have no intention of slowing down.

⇒ Related Read: Where to donate your preloved toys, books, clothes and furniture

You did it! Breath easy and take some time to admire all of your hard work. If want to go a step further, you can apply this method to anything in your house. I personally went through my entire jewelry collection and I couldn’t believe how much I no longer wore.

Whatever is taking up too much space in your life, try and utilize some of the techniques you learned here; you might just change more than your closet.

Contributed by Shannon Burns for Tommy John.

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