Star’s Lifestyle Tips – Becoming minimalist and how to stop hoarding clothes

April 12, 2019. Becoming more minimalist in your life is a series of small steps and changing habits that eventually impact the way you make decisions about what you buy, keep and use on a daily basis.  If you want to declutter your home, starting with your wardrobe brings a swift sense of feeling “refreshed”.

People hoard clothes for the following reasons:

1. You want to keep that item in case it comes back into fashion
2. You want to keep it because you might lose weight and fit into it again
3. You forget you had it in the first place and it has been so long since you went through your wardrobe that you forgot you had it

Making space between your hangers and inside your drawers will have you breathe a sigh of relief every time you enter your wardrobe space to pick an outfit.

Less is more

Adopting an attitude of “less is more” can help declutter the space around you and in turn, what you visually take in. This has a ripple effect on your psyche, the more you declutter the more your headspace feels freer. Becoming minimalist has benefits not only to your physical space and purse, but also to your emotional and mental wellbeing.

On an interesting note, and because the subject of mental health is something we have all been touched with, hoarding has also been linked to depression and anxiety disorder. People who cannot let go of possessions they no longer need have an unhealthy emotional attachment to these items and this sentiment replicates itself throughout their lives.

Here are some ways you can start employing the approach of “less is more”, beginning with decluttering your wardrobe and drawers.

Clean out your wardrobe and drawers at the start of every season

Once you get into the habit of doing this, you'll be looking forward to it every season. At the start of Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer, or around the time the temperature in Adelaide begins to show signs of changing, make a clothing declutter a seasonal ritual.

If you have not worn an item of clothing for over a year, put it in the charity bin so that someone else can enjoy wearing it.

Quality vs quantity

The more you have, the more complicated life becomes. Becoming minimalist is about keeping things simple and choosing quality clothing items over quantity. It is wiser financial management to spend $300 on three shirts than to spend $300 on 5 shirts that will probably need to be replaced sooner than later. Buy less and better quality, enjoy it more and look your best.

Keep space between your hangers

Are your clothes jammed in like sardines in a tin so that you have to wrench them out of the wardrobe? They never look quite fresh enough like this, so if you wardrobe is full to the brim, you probably have too many clothes.

Leave a little bit of space between the hangers in your wardrobe – to keep the bugs out and your clothes unwrinkled and fresh. And every time you open your wardrobe, you will feel better for it.

Write a list and go deliberate shopping

If you are someone who goes out shopping without a list of what you need for the season, you may find yourself coming home with bags of new clothing items that don’t necessarily go with anything else in your wardrobe. So now you have all these clothes you love, but nothing to match - so back to the shops you go to spend more money!

Instead, try deliberate shopping. At the start of the season, do a wardrobe stocktake. Look at what you have and make a list of what you can add to your current wardrobe to spruce it up a little and to continue enjoying some of those favourite pieces that might just need a different top or bottom to bring them to life again.

You will save money and make better use of your existing clothes, which in turn will probably make you feel happier about reigning in the wastage.

Don’t fall for sale and clearance deals

Unless you need it, it is not a good buy. You can fill your wardrobe with supposed bargains, but how often do these bargains sit in your wardrobe hardly worn because you have nothing to match them with – but they were such a good price! – you say.

If you make a list of what you need for the season, and then you head out to the sales, it is even more the sweeter when the bargain comes along and you can tick it off your list!

And if you follow these guidelines, you’ll have less laundry to do too. All in the name of becoming minimalist and removing unnecessary clutter from your life!

Visit a Star Laundromat near you, in one of our many locations around Adelaide

You will find a 24x7 Star Laundromat throughout Adelaide’s metropolitan suburbs – Aberfoyle Park, Blackwood, Munno Para, Para Vista, Athol Park, Hampstead Gardens, Morphett Vale and more. Our laundromats are conveniently located near shopping centres so that you can do your shopping while the washing gets done.

Or if you want to wait, we have free WiFi, free charging stations and your washing can be done in less than an hour in our state of the art washing machine and dryers. Clean, efficient, but gentle on those beloved wardrobe pieces!

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