The Final Round: Sorting Shoes, Bags and Last Season’s “Maybe Box”
If this is your first Apartment Therapy closet cure, then today is your final sorting exercise: the time has come to tackle the so-easy-get-out-of-control area of (dun dun dun) shoes and bags. For those of you who are on Round Two of our Closet Cure (aka graduates of last Fall’s inaugural version) then you will likely have an easier go of it with far fewer shoes and bags and therefore will have time to pop the lid on your “maybe” box from last time around. Whichever part of the assignment poses the most challenge to you, don’t worry, you can get through and knock this out – we’re almost done with the letting go. Let’s stay strong through this final sorting session!
Today, you are going to go through the sorting process (which you know, but can be found here if you want to review) but this time pull out all the shoes (a somewhat terrifying thought for some of us) followed by all the bags.
It’s time to say goodbye to the pinchy, the too small, the too big, the just-make-you-feel-dorky pairs (into the donation bag with them!) Also bid adieu to the wonderful workhorses that you loved a little too much: the holey ones and the ones that are simply too worn out to be revived by the shoe guy (sad, I know, but they’ve gotta go!). And, for those pairs that you are really on the fence about, there is always the “maybe” box.
For today, instead of a dry cleaning bag, you’ll want a shoe repair bag. Taking favorite pairs in to the shoe repair shop to be revived and repaired is totally worth it. It’s an investment, for sure, and can be pricey, but for the pairs that you love and wear, a little preventative attention and needed fixes now can really extend the life of your shoes by years. I take my two favorite pairs of boots in once a year and they come back looking fantastic and feeling better than new (broken in shoes: the best!).
Bags are a similar story, but I’ll add one big note: the bags that you thought were great but just didn’t really get much use out of (aka in good shape, nearly like new) are great candidates to sell or consign or swap – one size fits all, after all – so you may want to consider going that route in this case, even if you didn’t choose to do it for your clothes.
Ok, you all are experts at the sort process by now, so I won’t hold you up any longer. Have an extra cup of coffee (and maybe a cookie or two) and then go for it. Getting rid of shoes and bags is tough BUT they also take up lots of room; keeping your eye on the prize of less clutter and more space should keep you going and no question, you’ll be happy with your results by the end of the day.
For second-time-around Curers only:
Pull out, take down or otherwise unearth your “maybe” box(s) or bag(s) from last fall. You sealed them up and put them away over 6 months ago, so it’s likely that most of the contents can be added directly to your donation box now. But, you never know, there might be a find or two worth putting back into rotation. So, open it up, and give it a good once over. Put what you are now ready to let go of right into this Cure’s donation or sale boxes. If there is something you want to try wearing again, integrate it back into your wardrobe, sending it through the laundry or dry cleaning process first. And, if there are any items that are STILL a maybe, move them to the current maybe box. Voila, that potential Pandora situation wasn’t so scary after all, was it?
Reports on today’s last day of letting go are welcome in the comments, good luck and let us know how you are doing…