Closet Cleanse

One of my September goals was to go through all of our closets and cabinets. My plan was to declutter, donate any unwanted or unused items and sell anything we’ve outgrown.

Every year around Felicity’s birthday we go through her playroom and declutter. I had to start having her be a part of this ever since I gave away a seemingly unplayed with unicorn and she has asked for it ever since.

She’s done well being a part of the purge, I pull out a pile of toys I haven’t seen her touch in a while and I set two large clear bins in front of her. She puts everything she wants to keep in one bin and everything she’s ok with donating to ‘another little girl’ in the other bin. We usually dump out every single one of her stuffies so she can see the abundance of what she has and have her donate some of those too. Stuffies are hard cause they’re usually sentimental. One way I’ve cut down on stuffies all over the house is keeping some in her vet clinic market kit, this ensures they actually get played with and it feels like a new toy again when we set up the vet clinic. I also keep certain stuffies with our seasonal decor. All of her Easter bunnies come out with the Spring decor, her Grinch and pajama Santa bear come out with the Christmas decor. She seems to really like that and I don’t end up buying a whole bunch of new stuffies for each season. I got this idea from Brandon’s mom who put little Easter toys in our Easter baskets and made us return them at the end of the day, as she knew we’d lose interest in them by then or chuck them when we got home.

Getting some well loved and outgrown items out of your home is such a great feeling. I think doing this before the holidays is essential, to make room for holiday decor and gifts. It gives me good perspective when I’m Christmas shopping that we don’t need another stuffie, or whatever it may be that I thought Felicity would like but it turns out she’s not into.

During one purge Felicity told me that she was ok with donating all of her dolls because she doesn’t really play with dolls. They weren’t even on my radar partly because they were sentimental to me. Nevertheless we donated the majority of her dolls and doll accessories and kept a favorite for when friends come to play. It’s always good to get a read on what she prioritizes in her toys so I can choose gifts for her that she will actually play with for Christmas.

It also reminds me in general of what we have and how little we really need. I typically feel good about my freshly organized closets and am not jumping to fill them back up again.