I Tried the “Front and Center” Rule, and Decluttered My Overflowing Shoe Collection

I have a clothing and shoe problem, which is not helped by the fact that I have about two-and-a-half closets and a nicely sized dresser drawer to shove all of my stuff into. But every storage space has its limits, and all of mine are now overflowing with items I haven’t worn, let alone really looked at, in a few years. 

That’s why my ears perked up when my cousin told me about the rule she follows every time she needs to pare down her closet. Enter: the “front and center” rule. 

My cousin told me that she puts all the clothes she hasn’t worn in a few years in the front of her closet, so that she’d be looking at them every time she opened it and forced to try them on or see if she wanted to wear them. She would do this for about a month at a time and, if she didn’t put any of that clothing on, she’d bin it and donate it somewhere. That “front and center” rule, as I like to call it, made a lot of sense to me, so I gave it a try.

I am notoriously bad at decluttering, so I thought I’d start small with another collection that I have let get overgrown — my shoe collection. I have more than a dozen pairs of shoes, and yet I wear the same three to four pairs of shoes all the time. My shoes seemed like an easy way to dip my toe into something I am bad at (getting rid of stuff) while also not running into any excuses I could make for myself (like, maybe I’ll want to wear that sweater in the winter so I should hold on to it anyways!).

I have three places where I store my shoes, in theory: my outdoor shoe rack (where I store shoes I wear almost every day), an entryway closet (where I store shoes I don’t wear as often as the daily ones), and another closet (where I store heels, as I wear those even less often). I decided to focus on the entryway closet because I have more shoes than space to store them there, and because these seemed like the right middle ground of neglected shoes (not too niche, like a heel I could only wear to a special event, and not worn every day, which would make no difference). Then I put the shoes that I hadn’t worn in some time to the “front and center” of the closet. 

I re-organized my shoes, and decluttered the space. I ended up immediately pulling out a few pairs of shoes that I knew I needed to get rid of and put them in an empty “toss box.” These shoes were either dead from being properly used, had always been a size too small but I had continued to hold on to them for some reason, or, in one case, I tossed a pair of shoes that I wore when I sprained, and then weeks later, subsequently broke, the fifth metatarsal in my left foot. 

Almost instantly, I pulled out a pair of Converse that had been crammed in the back of my shoe rack. I have already worn them several more times in the last month than I have in the last several years. I also tried on some pairs, like a pair of lime green loafers, that were so instantly uncomfortable that I put them in the “toss box.”

There were also shoes I had forgotten that were broken for literal years — a pair of Doc Martens that need a new zipper will now be on their way to the cobbler. If, when fixed, I don’t wear them, then I will donate them, too, but they deserve a fair shot. There were other shoes I’ve tried on and was on the fence about — but I think being on the fence means it’s time to let them go.

In the end, I might not be as successful as my cousin. I don’t see myself throwing out every pair of shoes I don’t wear — I am an expert at making up excuses to hold on to things — but I would still count the experiment as a success, as I got rid of about half of my shoe collection in that closet alone. I’m still in the midst of the experiment. 

For the shoes I didn’t wear but didn’t throw away, I’m making sure I honestly look at every pair and come up with a solid “why” I won’t get rid of them. A pair of Uggs, for example, will stay because it’s no longer the season to wear them anymore. And I have active shoes — like hiking and water shoes and a less beloved pair of Birkenstocks — that I will definitely hold on to for the right season. 

Next, I’ll probably move on to pants. I have so many pairs of pants that don’t fit neatly in my pants drawer and have overflowed into a stack in a corner. If that’s as successful as my shoe declutter, I know I have a winning method to organize. All thanks to my cousin!