Declutter Your Way Through A Seasonal Swap
How to simplify, decide what goes, and then WHERE it goes!
The changing of seasons and the swapping of seasonal wardrobes is a great time to take stock your life and consider what truly adds value to your life… and what might not.
Preparing your summer clothes for hibernation and pulling out your winter wardrobe is a great time to go through every single article of clothing and make some decisions about what stays and what goes.
If you’re putting off decluttering and parting with some items, it might not actually be a result of wanting to keep things….
Sometimes the reason it takes us so long to get rid of things is figuring out what to do with the items we decide we don’t want or don’t need anymore.
Swoon Spaces will help you take the hesitation out of decluttering by doing the heavy lifting for you! In this blog, we’ll cover:
what to declutter
what to actually DO with the items you don’t plan to keep
HOW TO DECIDE WHAT TO DECLUTTER
When it comes to decluttering, the primary question to ask about an item is if it adds value to your life. If you don’t use it, don’t love it, or don’t need it, generally it’s time to thank an item for all the goodness it gave you and pass it along. If you want some ideas on specific items to declutter, we’ve created a Fall Decluttering Checklist! These items are things we find that most people have too many of, need to get rid of, or simply are just ideas to get you started on your decluttering journey!
HOW TO DECIDE WHAT GOES WHERE
Now for the part most people get stuck on… what to do with the items you’re not keeping. There are a couple of different options but typically you are either going to discard, donate, or sell.
DISCARD
These are the clothes that have holes and stains or items that are broken. We encourage you to re-use or recycle as much as possible. Use old clothing as rags. Recycle any plastic, metal, or paper goods. If you live in NYC, we’ve linked a couple of options below where you can find textile recycling for old clothes and shoes:
DONATE
There will always be an organization or place to donate items. Typically, we recommend dropping items at a Goodwill, Salvation Army, or Housing Works as these are typically easy to locate and get to. Keep in mind these places might have donation windows or may not accept any donations once their drop points are full. We recommend going before noon to make sure your items are accepted as well as checking in advance to see if there are any donation restrictions. Animal shelters typically will take linens that other donation centers might not accept. You can also check with local or community organizations, churches, and recreation centers to see if/what kind of donations they accept. Some of these organizations might actually be in need of specific items you are parting with!
SELL
While this is our least-recommended option, if you have items with a higher financial or emotional value, this might be your preference. Typically, items you plan to sell will sit around in your home for too long before they actually get sold so we recommend donating or passing items along to friends instead of selling them. If you decide you want to sell an item, The RealReal, ThredUp, and Poshmark are great places to sell items. You can also try thrift stores, like Buffalo Exchange.
A few other options to consider as you declutter…
Buy Nothing Groups - local Facebook groups where members can pass along their gently-used (or sometimes new!) items to others for free. It’s a great place to hand off any items that you don’t use that someone else might be looking for! You can also request or search for items in these groups if you are looking for a more sustainable approach as a consumer.
Host a swapping event - before or after you change over your wardrobe, host an event with some friends and ask everyone to bring items they might have grown tired of. Everyone can walk away with items that are new to them! This is another sustainable way to declutter your belongings and maybe even get some interesting new pieces.
Identifying clutter in your life can help you take note and tackle it! Read about the 3 primary types of clutter here!
