Closet Confidential - 3 Steps to Getting Your Closet Ready for the Change of Season

Autumn has officially arrived and the crisp, cool mornings have us reaching for sweaters and socks instead of t-shirts and sandals. With the change of season, comes the need to rearrange and swap out the clothes in our closets. Follow these EASY steps to get your wardrobe through the transition.

Step #1
Gather 3-5 large shopping bags or boxes, a post-it pad, and a marker or pen. Label post-its as follows: OUT OF SEASON STORAGE*, DONATE, CLEAN/REPAIR. Stick a post-it on each bag and you are ready to go. I recommend listening to music you enjoy to help keep you happily entertained.

*you may need multiple post-its and bags for this category

Step #2
Go through your closet and pull out the warm weather clothes and shoes that you will not be wearing during the winter. As you remove each of these items, decide which bag it will go into. While most of your items will go in the bags labeled OUT OF SEASON STORAGE, some should not. This is an ideal time to decide what should be donated. How do you make that decision? Donate any items you did not wear this past season, no longer fit or flatter you, are stained or damaged beyond repair, or out of style. What about those items you hold onto year after year for sentimental reasons? You know the jumpsuit (with shoulder pads!) that once looked great on you and you wore on your honeymoon, but today you would never be caught dead wearing in public? My best advice is to take a photo of the sentimental item so you have a pictorial reminder before you donate it. If you have a substantial collection of similar type items that you just cannot part with (favorite old t-shirts, etc.), consider having them made into a quilt or memory blanket. A quick search online will show many companies that provide this service. Here is the bottom line, and if you remember nothing else, just remember this:

OK, so you have completed the hardest part.... weeding out what to keep in storage for next summer, what should be donated, and what needs to be cleaned/repaired. Great Job!! The next part is easy.....sorting!

Step #3
Start by sorting the clothes staying in the closet into categories: long pants, long sleeved shirts, sweaters, jackets, dresses, skirts, belts, scarves, pocketbooks, etc. Once this first round of sorting is completed do a second level of sorting within each category to sort items by color and/ or style. For example, sort out black pants from jeans, white shirts from colored prints, etc. Arranging clothes first by type and then by color helps you to quickly locate just what you need to complete an outfit. An added bonus is now you can see just how many pairs of black pants you own so the next time you go to buy a pair, you have a visual memory of your black pants inventory. I am a fan of The Clutter Diet's Simple Division® Garment Organizers (available on line or at the Container Store) for keeping your hanging clothes easily arranged in categories.

Use this same sorting approach with accessories (i.e. hang all black belts together, keep formal pocketbooks separate from everyday pocketbooks, etc.). Keeping accessories in clear containers allows you to easily identify them.

Here are my last two pieces of advice...

Prime Real Estate: No, I don't mean ocean view, I am referring to the easy to reach, front and center part of your closet....this is prime real estate! Place the clothes you access most often in this area. If you wear suits, ties and pressed shirts 5 out of 7 days a week, these items should be front and center so they are easy to access.

Skinny Hangers:  While I could write for days about the various storage items available on the market for closet storage, an affordable and sensible accessory I recommend to everyone is to invest in skinny hangers. These are thin-profiled, velvet hangers that not only save you a ton of space in your closet, but also help silky clothes from slipping off the hanger.

One more time, here is the quintessential mantra for all closets: