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Feel free to use this tip sheet / checklist as you tackle your own ""do-it-yourself"" organizing projects. If you would like to REPRINT or DISTRIBUTE this information, please click here for reprinting instructions.
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Belts
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- Purge belts that don’t fit and donate those still in style.
- If you’ve lost weight, get a new hole punched in the belt!
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Closet Basics
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- Categorize by type: short sleeve, long sleeve, pants, skirts, blazers, evening wear, etc.
- Don’t think summer or winter, think basics. Switch only a few items meant for only one season.
- Use good hangers that match.
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Concentrate on your current size
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- If you don’t feel comfortable in your clothes, don’t keep them.
- Buy new clothes when you lose weight
- Small sizes make you feel bad.
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Donate unused (but stylish) clothing if you didn’t wear it that season
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- If it still has the tag on it and you haven’t worn it in two years, donate it or give it away
- Look for women career donation centers.
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Jewelry
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- Fine jewelry is always in style, wear it often and not just in the evening.
- Costume jewelry goes in and out of style, so purge often.
- Narrow your jewelry down to a manageable amount by handing some down to relatives, donate it or sell it.
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Pantyhose
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- Keep different colors of hosiery in separate plastic bags.
- It takes less time to find them and they don’t snag.
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Purge your wardrobe
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- At the end of winter and summer
- If it’s worn, faded, “pilly”, or out of style, throw it away.
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Scarves
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- Store flat in zipper bags with air pressed out. Takes up less room
- Try new ways to use them (e.g. tie onto a purse).
- Donate the ones you don’t use.
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Shoes
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- Repair/replace heels on good shoes
- Put dryer sheets in shoes.
- Store shoes without boxes, takes less room
- Replace sneakers often, arches break down.
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Sweat pants & T-shirts
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- Keep the nicest and most memorable ones.
- Don’t use them as pajamas, buy real pajamas.
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Underwear and lingerie
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- Replace stretched out or stained lingerie
- Get a bra fitting!
Vali Heist is a Professional Organizer, the owner of The Clutter Crew for homeowners, and a Certified GO System Trainer for businesses. She also writes a monthly column for the Reading Eagle called 'Ask the Organizer' and has a radio program called 'Organize This!' on BoomerGenerationRadio.com.
Vali's bachelor's degree is in Business Administration from Shippensburg University and her Master's Degree is in Higher Education from Kutztown University. Vali has an extensive background of 24 years in Higher Education including training, administration, project management, writing, and editorial production.
Her passion has always been organization and how it relates to the simplification of work and personal life in order to enjoy both to the fullest. Her ultimate goal is to continue finding simple, easy to implement ideas that work in the real world and pass them on to her clients.
Member Of:
- Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- Greater Philadelphia Chapter of National Association of Professional Organizers
- National Association of Professional Organizers
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