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kraftdee

organizing my husband need help

kraftdee
15 years ago

After yrs of begging my husband to let me clean his closet he has finally agreed. I am removing everything and will wash the inside and declutter all the things.

He doesn't get rid of things and doesn't seem to be affected by the accumulation. Now I'm going in while he's gone and going through everything. I'm finding some really good quality sweaters in his size but he hasn't worn them for the 10 years we've been together. Many of them are brand new. He tends to buy classic styles and neutral colors. They're not really dated. I was going to put them in space bags but now I'm wondering if I should even bother. Is it crazy to keep sweaters that haven't been worn in 10 years?

What would you do with them?

Comments (8)

  • rjvt
    15 years ago

    Did he buy these sweaters himself or were they gifts? My DH had piles of sweaters, many unworn (tags still on them), mostly gifts. When I asked what he wanted for Xmas, he kept saying "sweaters". I finally gathered up all the sweaters and went through them, one by one with him. Do you like this one? Why not? Will you ever wear it? We got the pile way down and I found out that he doesn't like textured sweaters, sweaters with certain colors or patterns, and anything with buttons or anything but a crew neck collar. So I put a huge pile in the consignment box to be taken in in the fall. Unfortunately (or fortunately), one day when he was downstairs and all his other sweaters were upstairs, he picked one out of the box and started wearing it (a new one I had given him the previous Xmas, with tags still on it). So that is now back in circulation. The rest of the box is now put away, waiting for fall. Meanwhile, now I know what he likes when he asks for "sweaters", and can tell the rest of the family.

  • brugloverZ9
    15 years ago

    I read your title and misunderstood what your question was going to be...I thought you were going to try and organize the "man" and not his stuff!
    I said to my self...only one thing to say "GOOD LUCK"!!!
    Actually my husband is the same way. When he cleans out his closet, he tries everything on...if it fits he keeps it is not he stores it. It doesn't matter if he will ever wear it again or if it has gone out of style. He will not part with it. Occasionally I will make the decision for him and it just dissapears...when asked, I just say " I don't know where it is" Really I don't. It could be anywhere, but here.
    Sorry I went on and on about my own husband, but I couldn't resist answering your post!
    "Organizing a husband" just does not work...I have 46 years, in a few days, of trying and if it didn't work in this lenght of time, I don't think it ever will!

  • kraftdee
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    LOL brugloverz9 That was funny. And congrats on 46 tears, I mean years! I wrote the post last night at the end of my waking hours and when I opened the forum and saw my question this morning I realized the mistake.
    Thanks to both of you for your help !
    It's quite a challenge. I could open a store off site and sell the stuff. He'd never know. His clothes all look like new so I might have a garage sale and try to sell for $1.00 each. I might make $200 but I don't know if it's worth the trouble. We'll see how it all plays out at the end of the day.

  • brugloverZ9
    15 years ago

    kraftdee...you got me laughing too, on the 46 tears! Much more that that I can assure you! But thank you on your congrats.
    I have a friend whose daughter and 3 children moved in with her following a separation and divorce. They had enough for 2 households and decided to sell off some of it. They had a garage sale and made a few hundred dollars. She said it was so much work and really wasn't worth the time they put into it. Whatever they priced an item for, people would haggle and they would practically give it away.
    I myself would rather avoid the work and donate it to a charity of my choice. I have choosen the Unicorn shop which gives to children and families of emotionally disturbed children. I feel good about giving and my husband feels good about taking it off his taxes. The one problem I run into is that now for a tax deduction, you have to prove what you gave with not only a receipt, but also a photo if you are called upon to prove it. When you sneak stuff out of the house, a picture is not something you want to have. Actually I keep my photos on a file on my computer and will only give them up if we are called upon to prove it. My son gave me that idea! He likes me to get rid of stuff!
    Good luck with which ever way you choose.

  • jannie
    15 years ago

    My daughter has tons of clothes, so much there were piles all over her bedroom floor. She didn't have space to store them all, tho she has a closet, a chest of drawers and an open shelf system along one wall. Her problem is over-buying. She has a job and every single penny extra (after she pays rent and food) she spends on clothes. I told her she must pare down, sort the clothes into piles- underwear, tops, bottoms, and dresses. Hang up the dresses in the closet, pack the best of the underwear, tops, and bottoms into the chest, and throw out or donate everything that doesn't fit in her allotted storage. She gave me 5 large bags to take to the clothing charity pick-up. And her room is now clean, I can find the floor!

  • kraftdee
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Love the stories! I had to take a break from the closet because it was overwhelming to find 1000 pairs of pants barely worn and in perfect condition just sitting there and weigh a whole lot to carry out to the garage. I agree about donating. I didn't know that about the photo so I'm glad you told me. I found many with price tags still on, too. One had a Bullocks tag on it -a store that closed 10 years ago. I'm just glad he gave me permission now to tackle this project. Whew! Fortunately he doesn't know how to use the computer so I'll store the pictures there.
    I've taken out 5 large bags so far with much more to go.
    Now I need to find closet shelving. It's times like these that I wish I had married a military man or an A personality for that matter! just kididng.

  • donnawb
    15 years ago

    I always did it when DH was not home. He never seemed to miss anything, but if I asked him he needed it. I got rid of stuff little by little because he never wore them and it was taking up space.

  • kraftdee
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    dd50 sounds so familiar! I didn't realize that this is socommon.
    We'll I've removed 7 large bags and that was all no brainer stuff. The rest he'll have to decide. I've sorted sizes and styles and l/s s/s. Now I need the shelving.