What's in your closet?
If our closet looks like this one, it's going to drain a lot of our confidence. Why? Because when we wake up in the morning, we can't find anything to wear. When we do find an outfit, it needs to be ironed after laying in a heap on the floor. But, since we've spent so much time rummaging around for our clothes, there's no way we can iron anything. So, we run out the door, looking as if we've slept in our outfit.
What does God think about our messy closets?
The apostle Peter has this to say about our overflowing, poorly organized closets: Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. (I Peter 4:10 NIV)
It is our responsibility to take very good care of every blessing that God gives us, including our clothing. If we've got outdated clothing that we can no longer wear, the wisest thing we can do is give it away. By doing so, we serve others who cannot afford new fashions.
Organize your closet.
There are eight steps that we can follow to organize our closets and boost our confidence in the process. If we feel overwhelmed by this task, inviting a friend to help us can be a great idea.
Not only can our friend assist us in carrying away lots of outdated clothing, but she can also tell us honestly that it's time to give away that sweater that we've been hanging onto since eighth grade. Perhaps we can return the favor later by helping that same friend to clean out her closet.
1) Gather lots of containers. The more outdated clothing in the closet, the more containers we'll need. I use large black garbage bags or empty boxes.
2) We begin by removing and, if necessary, trying on one item at a time. This may take several hours (or days if we haven't organized in years), but that's why we've invited our friend to hang out with us. They can offer moral support and sit with us during breaks to bolster our courage with a cup of coffee or a plate of snacks.
3) Every article of clothing goes into one of four places:
a) back into the closet, because it fits, it's clean, and it's in style. If it's dirty, we put it in the laundry basket or a box destined for the dry cleaner. If it's clean, but wrinkled, we can have our friend iron it while we try on the next item.
b) into a garbage bag destined for our favorite charity, because it's out of style but still in good shape;
c) into a box that will be taken to a consignment shop, because it's no more than two years old and is in great shape, but it doesn't go with anything else we own, or it no longer fits; or
d) into the trash bag, because it's stained, torn, or so old that homeless people wouldn't even consider wearing it.
4) As we re-hang the items that we decide to keep, we place the ones we will be wearing for this season in some kind of logical order. I arrange my closet by putting all of the pants and skirts in one section, blouses in a second one, and jackets in a third. Since I own very few dresses, they generally go in a fourth section by themselves in a part of the closet that's not as easily accessible. I keep shoes in transparent boxes on the shelves.
5) For those items that are out of season, we find another place to store them until the weather changes. We may find space in a spare bedroom closet, or we may have to go to a store to buy some inexpensive clothing racks with covers. These can be placed in a basement or spare room.
6) We make a list of items that we really need, because we've given away your last pair of black pants or our only white shirt. We must resist the temptation to buy anything again without checking our closets first. So many people buy on impulse, just because something's on sale. This almost always proves to be a waste of God's resources, because it goes with nothing in the closet.
7) We load our boxes and bags of dry cleaning and cast-offs into the car and drop them off at the cleaners, our local charity, or a consignment shop. Taking our friend along helps us to resist the urge to pluck things back out of the stash. She can remind us that we're being good stewards by sharing our blessings with the less fortunate.
8) We make a date with our friend to go shopping on another day so that we can fill in the gaps in our wardrobe. She can remind us to bypass all those great deals on clothing that we don't need. We might buy her lunch when we're finished to show her our appreciation and to celebrate our new confidence!
Stay organized.
A word of warning: if we hate this process of re-organizing, we must make sure that we keep our closets tidied up on a weekly basis. When we pick up dry cleaning or do the laundry, we don't put anything back into the closet in the wrong place or without ironing it.
Each season, when we swap out our clothes that we put into storage, we need to repeat this eight-step process. Over the years, it will become much easier and take far less time. We'll discover that we're spending more hours shopping and dining out than we are overhauling our disastrous closets.
We'll also save a lot of money by following this plan. Shopping only with our list and with our wardrobe accountability partner prevents us from wasting money on things we don't need.
Keeping our clothing organized is key to feeling confident. Our dressing area sets the stage for the rest of our day, so we must make it a place that will inspire us to look our best. Because when we look sharp, we feel sharp.
Today's Challenge
Schedule a block of time with a close friend to organize your closet, following the eight steps detailed above. Choose that friend wisely, because a person who is a pack rat or has a messier closet than yours may not be as helpful as one who is well-dressed and highly organized.
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