3 At-Home Activities You Can Do To Improve Your Closet Today

Right now, we’ve all got a lot of time on our hands, so let’s make the most of it.

Here are three easy practices you can implement today that will improve the look and feel of the room you visit every morning.

First, pull out two trash bags: one bag will be for giveaway, one bag will be for throwaway.

Clean out your workout gear. 

As the news rolls in of more gym studios closing temporarily, you’ve gotta get creative with how you work out.

If you don’t always feel motivated to hop to it, having easy-to-reach outfits can improve your desire to sweat it out at home.

To prep for your next at-home workout, it’s time to clean out your workout drawer or shelves, so you only see what you need and can easily grab what you want.

The good thing about this clean out is it’s an easy one. The workout drawer clean out only requires you to ask yourself one question, “Do I wear it?” If the answer is “no,” it’s time to say goodbye.

The Capitol 10k and Turkey Trot shirts you’ve worn once, the old wind shorts from 2004, and the Rolling Stones tee that’s seen better days — they can all go.

Now there might be some sentimental pieces in this pile, and some are okay to keep, just not all of them. Make sure to limit yourself, and pick two or three at most to go back into the drawer or on the shelf.

Any workout gear that’s in good condition can be donated, but if it’s a hole-y mess, to the throwaway bag it goes.

Clean out your tank tops.

Tank tops tend to be something that women think they need to have, and anything you think you need (vs. yes I love this AND it’s useful), tends to sit there and never see the light of day. For tank tops, you may have found one that “works,” you bought it in seven colors and now they’re shoved in a drawer next to your t-shirts or slung over a number of dress hangers in your closet.

It’s time to get rid of them, and keep only two: one black or navy, one nude or white.

These two will ensure that if you need a tank for under a see-through top, you have light and dark options. Light top needs the light option. Dark top needs the dark option. You also have one option for under sweaters if the other is in the wash.

And, just to be clear, these are pretty much the only two times you would need your tank tops. They are function over fashion, so use them when you need, but don’t buy another unless you have to replace one of the two you have.  

Clean out your shoes. 

Shoes stack up like tank tops, except there’s always way more of them.

Here’s what to ask yourself to do a proper shoe clean out:

4. Is any part of the shoe worn out, including the heel, sole, or toe cap?

If yes, put it in your throw away bag. Anything you give away needs to be in good condition and ready to wear.

3. Do you have doubles of a shoe?

It doesn’t have to be the exact same shoe, but almost identical in look and style fits this category. For example, two pairs of knee-high black riding boots, doubles of nude pointed-toe pumps, or two pairs of black flip flops would fall into this category.

Multiple pairs of athletic sneakers, not fashion sneakers, used solely for workout would fall into this category too even if they are composed of  different colors. The function makes them enough alike.

 Ask yourself…

Is there one pair you like more than the other?

Is there one pair you use way more?

If these two answers match up, get rid of the one you don’t use and don’t like as much. Put it in the giveaway bag.

2. Is the shoe outdated?

This can be a tough question to answer on your own, because it’s hard to take a step back + take a completely objective perspective on your closet. Sometimes determining what’s outdated sways you in the direction of emotion rather than logic — you once loved the shoes and it’s easy to feel like you still do. In reality, you haven’t paid attention to them in a long time.

So for this question, I’ll make it easy:

If you’ve had the shoes for 10 years, it’s time for them to go into the giveaway bag.

If you’ve had them for 5 years, ask yourself, “Do I still love these?” If the answer is “no” or you never  did,  put them in the giveaway bag. If it’s a resounding “yes,” hold onto them for future use.

1.  Does this shoe work for my current lifestyle?

I hear all the time from my clients that having a baby can make you shoe size go up, so if a pair just doesn’t fit, put it in the giveaway bag.

If you used to work in a business professional environment and now work from an office or home in an overwhelmingly casual environment, those power pumps are probably not all useful. Keep one in case of an interview (black or nude will do ) and give away the rest.

If you used to live in Chicago and stockpiled snow boots, but now live in Austin, the land of humidity and ninety degree weather, time to downsize. Keep one pair if you travel back to the cold yearly, but otherwise, give them away. 

If you’ve gained weight, you may not be comfortable in an old shoe that fit your foot better in your old size. If you lost weight, you may not be comfortable in the shaft of a boot that fit the width of your old calf. Give away what’s not suiting you right now.

Finally, if you’ve been through surgery, you may not feel comfortable in what used to feel good. Get rid of what doesn’t suit you, and don’t look back.

No matter what life change you’ve been through, you are exactly where you are, because it’s exactly where you’re supposed to be.

And as you go through these three exercises, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or comments. I want to hear how you did and how you’re doing.  

Lots of love and joy,

Raquel