Decluttering Clothes

 If you are decluttering clothes, shoes, sporting items, or accessories, ask yourself the following questions.

• Is the item in good condition?
• Does the item need repair?
• Is the item faded, stained, pilled, or ripped?
• Does the item fit or is it too big or too little?
• Does the item flatter you with its color and style?
• Do you like the way the material feels on your body?
• Do the shoes make your feet hurt?
• Does the item have an unpleasant odor?
• Do you still participate in the sport or exercise?
• Would you buy the item again?

Getting rid of things

• Get rid of faded, stained, pilled, ripped, or smelly articles or clothing.
• Get rid of items that need repair.
• Get rid of items that don’t fit.
• Get rid of items that don’t flatter you.
• Get rid of items you would never buy again.

Sorting

• Sort the items in the keep pile.
• Try articles on and have someone take pictures of you in the item.
• Ask yourself if you really want to keep the item now?

Success

• Set up a core wardrobe of clothing.
• Supplement needed items with quality mix-and-match timeless pieces.

For the future

• Keep a Goodbye Bag or Basket in your closet for ongoing purging
• If you put the item on and realize it no longer works, put it in the Goodbye Bag or Basket.
• Clean the item and put it in the bag immediately

Rockers

 A rocking chair can be in any room or on a porch. My grandmother had one on the porch and two in the living room.

The nursery is currently the most popular room for a rocking chair—where the baby sleeps and is fed.

My glider rocker is located in the living room, and everyone fights over sitting in it.

One might have a rocking chair placed in the bedroom in a reading nook.

A gaming room might have a console gaming chair. The seat is on the floor, and there are no legs. You might have these in a playroom for gaming and watching movies or sports.

I haven’t seen a rocker in the dining room or the kitchen or bathroom—yet! However, I could make a case for having one in the dining area if the mom has more than one child and needs to watch other children while feeding a baby.

Most kitchens in smaller homes don’t have enough space for a rocker, although those homes with open designs could probably work in a nook with room for a rocking chair in the kitchen.

The bathroom—just no. A changing table, if room permits. A rocker, no. The bathroom isn’t the place to loiter.

Mapping out furniture in a room.

Use graph paper to “map” a room and its furniture. I prefer the type with many lines, not just equal size squares. Having divisions in the larger squares makes scaling furniture more precise.

Graph out the room to scale using the large squares as feet. Include doors, windows, air vents in the placement. Indicate the direction the doors open—this takes up available floor/wall space.

Measure and graph out each piece of furniture—length and width. Scaling the furniture pieces sizes is more precise with the extra squares for accurate representation.

Play with the furniture placement in the room. It is much easier to move around paper pieces than real furniture.

Don’t block doors and windows. Air vents need adequate circulation, so don’t cover them with furniture that blocks the vents. At least one window should be available to exit in case of fire.

You need at least 3–3.5 feet of open floor space to access doors and drawers. Five feet of clear space is better if there is a need for wheelchair use.