Closet audit got a little dusty this year

On Sunday, I found myself doing laundry that was probably three years overdue.

Don’t worry, the shirt I’m wearing is laundered and smells quite fresh. My concern was with the clothing I hadn’t worn recently and had put into what we’ll call the “D” stack.

As 2020 bloomed, I looked into a walk-in closet I could barely walk in anymore, full of shelves and books and clothes. So many clothes.

A former coworker who was a big believer in fashion told me, “Every year you should go through your closet and audit it. If you haven’t worn it since the last time you did an audit, it shouldn’t be in your closet anymore.”

I’m not a big believer in fashion, but I believe in walking around. So one by one, I evaluated shirts, pants, sweaters, etc. and played Trash, Donate, Keep or TDK for short.

If I wore it in 2019 and plan to wear it again, K.

If I wore it in 2019 but didn’t want to again, D or K.

If it’s stained or damaged in any significant way, T.

If it doesn’t fit me, but still would work for somebody, D.

The K pile was about what I imagined it would be. The T pile was a little smaller. The D pile was a little more than two giant laundry baskets. One entire side of the closet was freed up, along with around six dozen hangers.

Next, it was time to attack the books that filled two different shelves. I made a “books I enjoyed but am good donating” list, a “books I never read and should donate” list and a 2020 reading list.

Next, it was time for a one-hour sneeze break. If you think the outdoors is dusty, come clean my closet sometime.

As I put together the donation piles, each sneeze reminded me the clothing can’t go to charity as dusty as it currently is. Otherwise, I’m just giving somebody who needs clothes another problem to deal with.

Once I got the free morning, I spent Sunday washing, drying and folding ad nauseam. I had six trash bags of clothes, and with the idle time I had while the clothes washed I knocked out the first entry on my 2020 reading list.

Away went the bags of clothes, the books I’d decided needed new homes and various other closet items. My suddenly half-empty closet soon received the shoe racks that I could only fit in my bedroom before.

It also received a package of sanitizer wipes that I had better start using. I’m aiming for a less dusty audit in 2021.

Kevin Wilson is editor of the Eastern New Mexico News. He can be contacted at 575-763-3431, ext. 320, or by email:

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