Summer is a Great Time to Declutter Your Closet

If you find yourself using muscle power to push hangers back so you can fit one more item in to your tightly packed closet or continually searching through a jam-packed closet for the perfect outfit, it may be time to declutter your closet and get organized. An overstuffed, unorganized closet means added stress and frustration. So, let’s explore the ways to declutter and organize your closet, maintain it, and rid yourself of unwanted stress and aggravation.

Step 1 – Purge

While this step is obvious, it is often the most difficult step to make in decluttering and organizing your closet. It is the step that has to come prior to the planning phase. The easiest way to begin is by removing clothes you haven’t worn in a year. If you haven’t worn a garment in that length of time, you can donate it to your favorite charity or church clothes’ closet. Friends or family members might also benefit. If year-old items are still in excellent shape, you might try selling them at a consignment shop to put a little extra cash in your pocket. As you go through this process, you’ll feel as if a weight is being lifted, and in fact, one is being lifted from your closet and your mind!

Once the over a year items are out, go through the clothing that remains and analyze what is left. Try it on, take pictures, do whatever it takes to decide whether you love it. If not, out it goes. Now, if you find something you truly want to keep, but it just isn’t quite right on you, or it needs repair, find a reputable seamstress or tailor and make it wearable and more stylish with a custom fitting, alteration, or repair. Your closet should be thinning at this point, but if there are items you’re still unsure about purging, label them in some way and keep them. If, as the months pass, you still aren’t wearing them, you know what to do!

Step 2 – Plan and Implement

There are lots of ways to plan your closet organization. As you know there are hangers for pants, skirts, shirts, dresses, and so on, as well as tiered hangers and cascading hangers designed to deliver more space. You can also add a second rod in your closet to hold short items like pants and skirts, while your dresses, jackets, and tops reside on the pre-existing top rod. If you don’t have any carpentry skills, tension rods will work. Your scarves can be easily ordered and displayed with a tie hanger or scarf organizer.

Another great organization tool is shelving. Shelves are the ideal choice for sweaters, jeans, and tee shirts. You can even label your shelves, i.e. on your sweater shelf, identify winter sweaters, summer sweaters, or by sleeve length or fabric. Now, what to do with all those shoes? There are several options. If you like keeping your shoes in their boxes, take pictures and attach them to box so you can easily see what is inside. You might also consider adding a shoe hanger organizer or two to keep shoes in their place and in view. Finally, belts often present a storage dilemma. Do you hang them in the closet or is there a better way? You should consider rolling your belts and placing them neatly in a drawer – here they remain easy to find and are never tangled.

Step 3- Maintenance

Now, your closet is at the pinnacle of organization, but your work is not complete. To keep your closet well-organized, you will have to maintain it.  That means hanging up or folding and putting away your clothes – no more dropping them on the floor, laying them across a chair, etc. In as little as five minutes a day, you can make sure your closet stays organized, you can find exactly what you are looking for inside, and your stress level remains decreased.

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