Last week, I noticed a large, black garbage bag on the floor in a back corner of my bedroom closet. Opening it, I found seven pairs of my shoes, apparently stashed out of sight by my husband.

At first, I was annoyed with him for having hidden some of my footwear, apparently in an effort to make more room for a stack of his collectibles.

Then, looking at the shoes in the bag, I saw a cute pair of sandals I only seemed to be able to wear on days I would not be doing much walking.

Another pair was comfortable but unfortunately very matronly in appearance. And there were the sparkly silver shoes I had worn on my wedding day 15 years ago. I recall I could hardly wait to take them off as we drove away from the reception.

I realized my hubby must have stuffed the shoes in the corner about a year ago, and since then, I had never gone looking for any of them. Perhaps the fact they had been stored in a garbage bag was, in fact, appropriate.

Most people think of spring or fall as a good time to do a housecleaning task, but, it turns out, a summertime heat wave can bring on a de-cluttering project if you’ve got an air-conditioned house. Before I knew it, I had taken all my clothes out of the closet to give them the does-this-bring-me-joy test.

Keeping clutter under control has always been a problem in my house, as both my husband and I are somewhat careless about putting things away on a daily basis.

Last winter, I read a book called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.”

According to the author, Marie Kondo, everything in your home should bring you joy when you look at it, use it or wear it. If it does not, she suggests getting rid of it. She also offers lots of advice on how to store items efficiently.

The result should be that in addition to having fewer belongings to organize in your home, you feel the magic of being surrounded only by things you love.

I had promised myself I’d begin her step-by-step program to rid my home of ho-hum clutter when I had a free day. So far, I had only managed to follow her suggestion on how to fold and organize my underwear and sock drawer.

Now, as I looked at each item from the closet, I asked myself if I was looking forward to the next opportunity I would have to wear that item. Yes? Keep it. No? Into a garbage bag! This project, which I had put off for so long, was actually fun!

By the time I finished reviewing the contents of my bedroom closet, I had filled two garbage bags with clothing and even more shoes.

Then I moved to the guest room, where a closet contained off-season clothes and one-size-too-small items. I filled three bags there.

It’s a thrill to see my favorite clothes hanging freely in the closets now, not crammed together so tightly that they come out wrinkled.

Organizational experts suggest a number of techniques for controlling clutter. Getting rid of anything you haven’t used in two years, responding to mail immediately instead of putting it aside for another time and sorting items into storage containers or decorative baskets are just a few.

I am finding that the joy-test method is working best for me, as I am thinking not of what I can get rid of, but what brings me happiness. And I am learning the best storage container is not a decorative basket, but a garbage bag in the trunk of the Camry, on its way to Goodwill.

Now that I have completed the joy test with all my clothes, it is time to move on to my books.

After that, the bathroom and kitchen (do I love all those pots and pans?) and my scrapbooking and quilting supplies. It feels like I am not only putting my house in order, but putting my life in order as well.

I guess we can all benefit from the peacefulness of walking into a tidy home. Your lifestyle will determine what de-cluttering method works for you.

One thing that has kept me from starting this project earlier is the realization that, as I reduce my belongings, I will be creating space in the house for my collector husband to fill with more of his thrift store and auction treasures - toys, LP records, coins, baseball cards, framed artwork, to name a few.

But I am hopeful that when he sees me being more selective about my possessions, he will follow suit. I can only hope.

On the other hand, I do know where the shoes he never wears are accumulating, in a box in the hall closet. I am sure I can find a large, black garbage bag for them …

Linda Wojciechowski

associate editor

Catasauqua Press