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Friday, October 28, 2011

A Sorting We Will Go


We have been trying to declutter around our house, it's not that my home looks like it could be on an episode of hoarders or anything but there are things that we have stored that could be used by others, we are to be good stewards

That being said, cooler temperatures have arrived and its time to pull out all the sweaters and winter wear, perfect time to sort and purge. This year I am also doing it for my SIL, she doesn't live with us but because of limited storage space we keep her off season clothing at our house. I started this sorting process for her this summer and thought I had done a pretty good job but when it was time to bring out the winter stuff I realized there was still work to be done.

Sweet Lady lives in an Assisted Living, this is what we have learned about her clothing needs
  • Keep it simple. She likes separates, we made sure all the tops went with all the bottoms, so no matter what she chose it worked well together
  • Keep it minimal, too many choices is confusing
  • Make sure everything is machine washable, no dry cleaning, no ironing, no special care
  • Shoes need to provide support, no heels, no mules, no slip on shoes
Those were the guidelines I used, then of course the climate is totally different than where she lived, no parkas needed here. I also eliminated it if it wasn't the correct size, had any wear and tear or didn't fit her lifestyle needs. So Sweet Lady is now ready for winter, I have her summer clothing neatly stored until next year and I have one bag to donate. Now on to my wardrobe, you know a lot of those guidelines could be applied to my own closet.

5 comments:

Petra said...

Those are very good guidelines, and you're right, I should print them out for me too. Thanks for the nudge to get organized and to do it wisely! :-)

camp and cottage living said...

MaryAnn
I've been working at this for a couple of months and am still not done yet! So nice you can sort through the stuff for your SIL. I'm sure it's a great help to her!

Sandy said...

This is the time of year when
I always sort through clothing
our family no longer wears and
donate to Goodwill. I actually
enjoy sorting and organizing,
getting things in order. It
lets us know what we may have
need of, how we may have over
spent or bought things we really
didn't need and helps us to be
more wise in our decisions next
time.

Debbie said...

How nice that you are handling all of this for her...how helpful that must be. Don't you just love it when you get things all sorted and organized?? I know I do! Have a good week-end! HUGS

Kathleen said...

I live through many a season of disorganization. I don't know what happened (age & wisdom, no doubt), but maintaining a sense of order has become a part of the fabric of my existence. An pleasant and unexpected by-product has been a greater sense of peace.

What was hard was understanding the tension between order & control.

Blessings,
Kathleen