Anyone who knows me well is aware of the size of my wardrobe – it’s huge.

Anyone who knows me well enough also knows that I get very attached to my things, especially clothes.

What does this mean? It means I have a problem.

The problem lies in my inability to let go of things, no matter how useless or how infrequent I think of them. I was still holding onto certain clothing items my 13-year-old self had purchased.

At the end of the summer, when it came time to pack my life into boxes and get back to school, I was torn. What clothes do I bring? Which ones do I toss? Packing was an ugly ordeal.

Was I honestly going to wear the treasured clothes from my youth again? No. Regardless I was too emotionally attached to pass them on.

Sitting in a two-foot-high pile of clothing whose future I was contemplating, I found myself frustrated and potentially devastated if I didn’t reach a conclusion soon.

The way I saw it, I had two options. I could give them away to someone who wouldn’t be able to recognize the significant memories that were linked to that particular item. Or I could haul them with me, probably never wear them again  and purchase an additional dresser to fit them all.

However, that’s when I found a solution. If I wasn’t going to part with them and I wasn’t going to wear them, they needed a new life.

 So I cut them up, got out my sewing kit and turned them into pillows for my couch. It was amazing how half an hour with a needle and thread made such a difference.

Suddenly, my favourite summer dress with a hole on the hem had turned into artwork for my living room. It was no longer spending its days folded up at the back of my closet waiting for the unlikely event that I would choose to wear it again.

The dress, along with several other choice items, have now taken pillow form and are proudly on display in my home. An opportunity they never would have had if I had kept them in their useless clothing form.

Use your imagination and find an alternate use for everyday items. It can open up a whole new world for you, your style and your bank balance.