Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Hanging Backwards

Happy 2013 y'all!  How was your Christmas?  The Bluefield family had a great time, hosting 2 sets of houseguests over the break, with just the boys heading out for an ice fishing expedition at the end.  As busy as it was, it was relaxing and renewing as well.  Miss you already, guys.

Anyway, have you heard about this closet decluttering tip?  The idea is, at the beginning of the year (or whenever you want, really), you turn all the hangers in your closet around backwards.  As you wear the clothes, when you hang them back up, hang them up the regular way.  At the end of the year (or whatever time period you choose), whatever is still hanging backwards you haven't worn at all during the year, and you can safely get rid of*.  If you're patient enough to wait a whole year (or whatever), this could be a terrific way to get an idea of what you actually wear and what you don't need anymore.

So, this morning, inspired by my mother in law, who retired last year and mentioned she needs to weed some things out of her closet, I turned all my hangers around backwards.  I was thinking I should actually hang some things that aren't normally hanged (my t-shirts and casual pants) to see if I can weed some of those out as well.  And then, just because he wasn't around to object, and I'm curious to see the results in a year, I turned Hubby's around, too (sorry if that bothers you, honey.  Anything you wear you can turn around after you wear it, K?).

I actually weed out clothes with some frequency, since I love to get rid of things so much, but even so, as I was turning my hangers around I saw a few things that I wouldn't be surprised to see still hanging backwards at this time next year. 

It's all about the mights, you see.  I might wear this.  I might need this.  We let the mights cloud our thinking.  The hangers?  They're completely objective.  This way, I'll know.

Anyway, just wanted to share.  Let me know if you try it.  And if I remember, I'll let you know how it turns out for us :)

* Of course, you're allowed to still use your judgement on this (you're a grown-up--you can do what you want).  I'm pretty sure Hubby's not going to wear his sports coats this coming year, but I'm also fairly sure he shouldn't get rid of them, at least not without replacing them.  Because sports coats are something he should have, even if he doesn't wear them frequently.


  1. I had to think about what you meant by hanging a hanger backwards. I still am not sure which way is backwards and which is frontwards. I have them both ways in my closet. I suppose if I look over at my wife's side, however she has them hanging is frontwards.

  2. Backwards is however you define it. If you normally hang them one way, hang them the other way if you want to try this tip. Since you have them going both ways, this technique might not be as useful to you as it would be to someone who has all theirs going the same way...

  3. Actually, I am able to look in my closet and figure out what I don't wear. I just dropped off a big garbage bag of closet clothes at Goodwill a couple weeks ago.


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