Inside: Wondering what to declutter in July? If you’re slow decluttering or doing maintenance decluttering, this “Declutter in a Year’ series is for you! This month we’re tackling clothing (including stored clothing) and kitchen basics.
July went by so freaking fast! I planned to get this post out much earlier, but I spent much of the month weighing the very difficult decision of whether or not to leave our homeschool co-op.
One day, I’ll share my thoughts about homeschool co-ops – why we tried one, what we got out of it, and why we decided to leave – but not today.
The other half of the month was spent cleaning out our garage in order to make another decent space for the kids to spend time in during the long winter months. Our family is big and loud and overwhelming at times – or a lot of the time? – so we could use more space to spread out AND to host teens occasionally.
We decluttered so.much.stuff from the garage, including throwing away worn out sports equipment and paring down our kids’ stored clothing to just two bins. Those bins used to be in the laundry room, but after redoing the floor, I decided to rehome them to the garage.
We sorted through beach toys and camping gear, asking questions like, “Why do we have this again? We don’t even camp.” Good question: we’re never going to be campers. Buh-bye camping gear.
Missed Last Month’s Post? Read 5 Things to Declutter in June HERE.
5 Things to Declutter in July
THIS POST PROBABLY CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. AS AN AMAZON ASSOCIATE, I EARN FROM QUALIFYING PURCHASES. YOU CAN READ OUR FULL DISCLOSURE POLICY HERE.
This month, we’re tackling some potentially bigger categories like clothing, shoes and jewelry. Kids’ stored clothing can also be intimidating, depending on how much inventory you have.
As always, I recommend starting with whichever of these categories is easiest for you. Completion will give you the energy you need to declutter the more challenging stuff.
Here’s what we’re focusing on in July!
Your Own Clothing & Shoes
After watching some decluttering videos on Instagram recently, I was reminded of just how many clothes and shoes people can own. I’d forgotten what my closet was like before minimalism.
Clothing is one category where you can benefit from seeing just how much you have, especially if your clothing is spread out over multiple rooms (actual Marie Kondo episode). If you have too many clothes or too little time, work by category: do shirts one day, pants the next, etc.
If you are dealing with a very large clothing collection, as you sort, throw away anything with damage that makes them unwearable (do not donate these – they’re trash).
Evaluate your clothing storage: did you have more clothes than could fit comfortably in your closet and/or dresser? How much would you have to get rid of in order for things to fit? 30%? 50%? Make decluttering decisions accordingly.
If you’ve been putting off donating your “time will tell” clothing bin, now’s a good time to drop these off at your local clothing donation bin or thrift store.
For more help decluttering clothing, see these articles:
- Decluttering Clothes: A Realistic, Step by Step Guide
- A Realistic Four Season Minimalist Shoe Collection for Women
- The 7 Most Effective Ways to Minimize Your Wardrobe
Jewelry
I am not a jewelry person. Maybe religious trauma from the weird purity ring trend? Who knows…
Whatever the cause, I only own a few pairs of earrings, so I can’t claim to know what it’s like to declutter a massive stash of jewelry. I did declutter necklaces years ago because I realized I hated wearing them, taking them on and off, and I don’t miss them.
I did try to branch out from my few pairs of earrings in the past couple of years. You know what happened? I ignored the new ones and just reached for my old favorites.
The biggest problem with jewelry is that, like clothes, there are only so many days in a year to wear said jewelry.
So if you own thirty pairs of earrings, are you really rotating through all those earrings each month? Or do you just reach for the same few pairs over and over again?
Do you have the space to store the jewelry you have in such a way that allows you to see what you have to get the most use out of it? Or have you exceeded the capacity of whatever container you’re using?
Do you actually wear everything you have enough to justify keeping all of it? Does changing up your jewelry bring you joy? Or like me, could you care less and would be fine with a couple pairs of earrings?
In my opinion, the easiest way to deal with this category is to put everything in a shoe box (or other container) except one of each jewelry type you typically wear (e.g. one pair of earrings, one necklace, etc.). Try wearing just those pieces for a week or two.
After that, only pull out pieces as you remember them. So if you think to yourself one day, I miss this specific pair of earrings, great! Pull it out of the box and wear it. After a month or two, You’ll most likely know what you didn’t even remember you have, and you can safely declutter it.
Kids’ Stored Clothing
For years, I saved SO many kids’ clothes. We were broke, and I was trying to stretch my free GAP clothes as far as they would go by handing them down to younger brothers.
But after a while, I realized that because we’re minimalists and we own less clothing than the average family, my kids are hard on their clothes. They get worn more frequently and washed more frequently. The clothes usually survived one round of hand-me-downs and never made it to the youngest brother.
So I started being pickier about what I kept. I threw away clothes with rips or stains or other damage. I could give away cast-offs from my youngest two because there was no one left to hand them down to.
I currently have two bins in the garage of hand me downs. Those are my container limits for stored clothing. I stopped storing off season shoes out of sight because I would forget what I had and rebuy them!
If you are struggling to decide what to let go of in this category, here are some questions…
- Do I actually remember what I have?
- Do I need this many hand-me-downs?
- Is it more work to maintain the hand-me-downs than its worth?
- Could I think creatively about new clothes for kids, instead? (thrift stores, rewards, etc.)
- Could we get by with fewer clothes/shoes per child?
I’ve been in a place where we truly could not afford new shoes all the time, when it was easier to store more clothes than go out and thrift a whole new wardrobe every season.
Only you can decide if storing hand-me-downs is worth it for your family, and if it is worth it, how much stored clothing you can successfully manage.
Dishes & Drinkware
Hopefully this category will be a bit easier!
First things first: get rid of the chipped dishes if you can afford to replace them or have enough without them. As much as I want to be chill about chipped dishes, they do harbor bacteria. Off to throw away my chipped dishes…
Next, decide how many dishes you actually NEED. Some extreme minimalists get by with one plate, one set of silverware, one bowl per family member, with a few set aside for guests. That is not my family.
We personally own one plate and bowl per family member with a generous amount of extras, but not enough for two of each per person. Our pyrex food storage serves as emergency back-ups. We also are in a season where we buy 8.5” paper plates because we are all home all the time, and only want to keep up with so many dishes.
After you have a number in mind (2 of each thing per family member, for instance) gather like items together. Cups with cups. Plates with plates, etc. Keep your favorites and declutter whatever is above the number you decided on.
Personally this month, I let go of almost all non-dishwasher friendly items (I forget to not put them in the dishwasher). I also threw away chipped dishes and worn out small camelbak cups that my kids have outgrown.
Food Storage Containers
We transitioned all of our food storage to Pyrex glass food storage containers several years ago. We recently purchased an additional set because we were constantly running out.
I strongly encourage transitioning to glass food storage over time if you can afford it. Plastic is just not a great idea for microwaving or stains.
Throw away any broken lids or chipped storage. Decide on a container for your food storage – one shelf, two, etc. Declutter containers if your food storage is unmanageable in the container space you’ve chosen, has overflowed its container OR you simply don’t need as much as you have.
If you have glass food storage in good condition, you can likely give these away pretty easily on Facebook marketplace or to a local thrift store.
Declutter in a Year: It’s July, And You’re Halfway There
If you’re running out of steam, remind yourself why you’re doing this: to clear the visual clutter and reclaim your time and brain space.
You deserve to spend more of your time doing things you love, and less time shuffling stuff around the house. Period.
Keep going! You’ve got this!
Read Next: 7 Simple Tips for Creating a Kids’ Capsule Wardrobe
