Discarding Drill: Clothes

Phase 1 of the KonMari method is to sort through and discard all the clothes in your house that do not spark joy. I thought it would be best for Clayton and I to pull out all of our clothes at the same time, so we spent an entire day working on this project.

Step 1.  Search every closet, drawer, and laundry area for clothes.

We had clothes in every room of the house, and I didn’t even realize it. Here are some pictures I took before we got started.

Step 2.  Place every item of clothing on the floor in one area.

This is the part of the process where I regretted ever picking up the book! Our living room was a disaster, and we could barely walk through the mess. It was too late to turn back so onwards and upwards!

Step 3.  Sort items in the following categories:

• Tops
• Bottoms
• Hanging clothes (coats, jackets, suits, etc)
• Pajamas
• Socks
• Underwear
• Bags
• Accessories
• Clothes for specific events (uniforms, swimsuits, etc)
• Shoes

Step 4.  Begin deciding – touch every item and ask, “does this spark joy?”

We started with off-season tops and worked our way down the list. This order really does help to build momentum. By the time I got to the shoes, which I thought were going to be the hardest to part with, I was so frustrated with myself for having all this junk that I was able to blow through the pile very quickly.

We sorted our clothes into 4 piles:

1. Keep
2. Donate
3. Sell
4. Trash

All of our clothes now fit in the master bedroom storage space. This is not the final storing solution, so those pictures will be coming in a later post.

This process is physically and mentally exhausting. I wanted to quit once we started step 2 and take a nap half way through step 4. It was a great relief to finally finish, and Clayton and I aren’t dreading the next phase of discarding books!

Have you ever tried sorting through every article of clothing you own? Please share your experience in the comments!