Today we are decluttering your clothes closet, shelves, dressers, and where ever else you keep your clothing. This isn't the most fun or glamorous task but it's necessary to do every once in a while. We know you don't wear everything you own and are probably short on storage space in your home, so let's make some room.
Step 1: Pull everything out of the closet. This is step one in every organization project that we do, whether we are organizing a clothing closet, garage shelving or kitchen cabinet, everything needs to come out.
Step 2: Create three piles - trash, donation, keep. At this point, get rid of the things you know you NEVER wear, don’t drive yourself crazy agonizing over every piece of clothing. We know it’s easy to look at something you never wear and tell yourself you'll need to wear it someday. But don't get sucked into that mindset, be honest with yourself, if you never wear it then donate it, someone else will get good use out of it. We have a foolproof method to help you figure out what you actually wear and what you don’t, that’s coming in step 4. Analyze which items are in good shape and can be donated so someone else can enjoy them, and which ones may be stained, ripped or worn out and probably belong in the trash. Once you’ve split those up, put them in separate bags and label them. Take one to Goodwill or your favorite consignment shop, and take one to your nearest dumpster.
Step 3: Focus on your keep pile. Organize the piles of things going back into your closet into categories. All of your jeans go in one place, sweaters in another, jackets together, etc. This makes it easier to find everything when you’re getting ready. If you want to take it a step further, you can organize within your categories by color, weight, and/or season.
Step 4a: Here’s where the magic happens! When you hang everything back up in your closet, hang each item so that the hanger is backward. After you wear an item, hang it back up but now turn the hanger right side out. After 4 months, 6 months, or a year, take a look in the closet, if an item is still on a backward hanger it’s time to toss it. Face it, if you haven’t worn it in six months you aren’t going to wear it. This is a pretty simple trick, but you have to be diligent about doing it each time you pick something out in order to get accurate results.
Step 4b: More magic, but with your folded clothing. Put a small sticker or piece of blue painters tape on the tag of all of your folded clothing. Each time you wear an item, remove the sticker. At the end of 4 to 6 months, look through your drawers, whatever still has a sticker on it hasn’t been worn in six months and should be donated. Like before, be diligent!
We find that making decisions is one of the most exhausting parts of organizing and for some people, it's just too overwhelming. The methods in steps 4a and 4b take all of the decision making out of the equation. Let us know if you have any questions as you start organizing or if you'd like our in-person help to organize your closet, give us a call.