Decluttering Made Easy™: Luxury & Designer Items

At CMFTO, our clients often ask us for suggestions on what to do with items such as jewelry, designer clothing and shoes, luxury accessories, artwork, high-end furnishings, and silver items.

The list could go on and on, but you get the idea. These are the items that we no longer want or need but that also aren’t good candidates for Goodwill, recycling, or tossing in the bin. 

So, what do you do with your unwanted luxury and designer items?

We have several solutions: 

• Share the wealth. We all have friends or family who might enjoy a little surprise treasure. What’s “old” to us can be new and exciting to them. This is the easiest way to address luxury and designer goods, as you know the items will go to a good home and someone who will appreciate it. Instead of buying something new the next time you need a gift, surprise someone with a special necklace, scarf, or even a jacket that they’ve admired.
• Consign. Luxury consignment is now available almost everywhere. Most places have guidelines for the items they’ll accept (including condition, seasonality, and category), so it’s important to check their criteria before making an appointment, if you’re dealing with a bricks and mortar location. At CMFTO, we have two favorite locales in Chicago and Los Angeles that we refer clients to when asked: North Shore Exchange (Chicago) and Ampersand Boutique (LA). Both accept a wide variety of merchandise and support local charities through their work. Alternatively, web-based consignors like The Real Real work with you to sell your designer items.
• Private Buyers. This option is typically reserved for specialty pieces, such as artwork, furnishings, and precious metals or jewelry. Auction houses are a good place to start when dealing with artwork or luxury furnishings. While it may be harder to find a buyer, it’s worth the effort for your rarest pieces.

Now you have some ideas of how to get rid of unwanted luxury and designer items, but how do you decide what goes and what stays? Consider the following guidelines:

• Let go of damaged and/or ill-fitting items. (Damaged jewelry, such as gold, can be sold by weight.)
• Let go of items that no longer serve a purpose in your life. (For example, if you used to go to numerous black-tie events but now live on a ranch in northern California, you probably only need one tux and one or two dresses.)
• Let go of items you simply don’t like anymore. We all go through phases in life, especially when it comes to designer trends. It’s okay to keep one or two pieces, “just in case,” but if you know you’re really not going to like wearing something again, let it go.
• Keep the items that you enjoy, that you use, and that would be impossible to replace. Decluttering is not about living a minimalist life; rather, it’s about maximizing your enjoyment with what you have. If you love your fur coat but only use it once a year, it’s okay to keep it!

We hope we’ve shed some light on decluttering higher-end items. As always, the CMFTO team is here to assist you with any editing, organizing, and/or dealing with all those items you no longer want or need.

All my best,
Claudia