The New Year is the perfect time to get organized around your house. Planning to clear out your closet helps you to check off a resolution early in the year. Plus, you’ll love being prepared for any event that comes your way by having outfits lined up and ready to wear.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by a closet full of clutter, then you can use these tips to figure out everything from how to organize your panties to where to store your winter coat.
1. Break Up the Work Into Smaller Tasks
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The first thing you’ll want to do is avoid getting overwhelmed. Most closets have sections of clothing and other clearly defined areas. Start by only pulling out the items in each section. This prevents you from flooding your room with tons of clothes. When you have a busy schedule, you’ll find it easier to work in short increments.
2. Identify the Items You No Longer Need
Sometimes, it’s easy to identify the clothing you need to toss. You’ll want to eliminate anything you haven’t worn in a year. It’s also important to get rid of any clothing that is faded, dingy or lost its shape.
Shapewear for women tends to last for a long time. But you’ll need to remove any bras, underwear and shapers with loose or broken elastic from your closet. If you have to toss an essential piece, jot the name of the item down. You can replace it once you’ve finished your decluttering.
3. Take Donations Out the Same Day
Cleaning out your closet helps you to feel less anxious and more confident. You can also boost your mental health by knowing your cleaning session can benefit others.
Before you begin your cleanout, identify the best place to take your donations. Then, plan for enough time to take your unwanted items to the collection site. Getting the excess clothing out of your house prevents you from going back on your decisions.
4. Continue To Refine the Clothing You Are Keeping
Once you’ve scaled down your clothing, you’ll likely still have some items you aren’t sure about. Try these items on, and ask yourself if they still fit your body and style. If not, then it’s time to give them a new home. It might be hard, but anything you don’t use regularly is simply taking up space.
5. Consider Storing Seasonal Items Separately
Bulky coats and sweaters can quickly take over a closet. If you tend to find that your summer dresses get lost in the shuffle, then you might need to switch to a seasonal plan. If possible, find another area in your home to store off-season items.
Stashing heavy coats in a guest room closet or the basement frees up more space for the clothes you wear during the current season. When it’s time to swap out seasonal clothing, you can use the time to do a short decluttering session. If you’ve changed sizes since the last time you wore an item, it might be time to donate it. Or, you might notice that a swimsuit or coat has damage you didn’t notice before, so it’s time to replace them.
6. Arrange Clothing Pieces by Type
There are several ways to organize clothing in your closet. Some people sort clothes by color. But one of the easiest ways to quickly find what you need is to organize your clothing into categories, like pants, skirts and shirts.
As you hang your clothing, watch for any categories that seem overfilled. If you have tons of pants or shirts, this could be a sign that you need to continue scaling down this part of your wardrobe.
7. Choose a Method To Organize Your Lingerie
Having an assortment of undergarments means you never have to search long to find the right pair of underwear for a particular skirt or pair of leggings. But you could find that your lingerie drawer gets out of control fast.
You can use several strategies to keep all of your delicates in order. Drawer dividers help prevent jumbled piles that you have to dig through. You can also try storing underwear with their matching bra. Being able to grab what you need at a glance helps you get dressed fast.
8. Explore Additional Storage Solutions
With your clothing and undergarments neatly put away, you’re now ready to tackle the items left behind. Shoe racks are an option that can help you keep those boots, heels and sneakers off the floor. Or, you might opt for a hanging shoe organizer that uses the back of the closet door.
You can also store accessories in special organizers with multiple pockets. For seasonal items, you can use an under-the-bed storage container that is easily stored out of sight. Continue to explore different types of storage options as you clean. Designating a specific spot for each item means you’ll be more likely to put your belongings in their right place.
9. Create a Schedule for Ongoing Decluttering
Cleaning out your closet at least once a year is a great way to keep your clothing organized. For even better results, consider following a schedule for smaller cleanouts throughout the year.
For instance, you might opt to do a quick tidying session each month on a weekend morning. Or, you might want to declutter on the first day of a new month. Being able to walk into a clutter-free closet is worth the extra effort.
10. Replace Worn Out Items
Most likely, you’ve had to throw out several essential items. Make sure to replace any worn-out lingerie and staple wardrobe pieces.
Easily Look Your Best
When you declutter using these tips, you’ll soon have an organized, tidy closet. Getting dressed will be a breeze. You’ll easily find what you want to look your best throughout the upcoming year.
