Spring Cleaning: How to Clean Out Your Closet
Get organized and pare down your wardrobe
Written by Catherine Nguyen
When it comes to organization, your closet can easily become the place to hide all your other messes. Your clothes have most likely been stacked onto heaping piles or stuffed into shelves. Not only does it look chaotic, but an untidy closet makes getting dressed a lot more difficult.
It takes a few steps to clean up your closet, but it’s worth the time and investment to organize your wardrobe. Get started on your spring cleaning with some tips on how to clean out your closet.
Access the Damage
The first step to cleaning out your closet is to lay out your options. Start out with small groups instead of your dumping out your entire collection to avoid feeling overwhelmed. With every item, ask yourself two questions: “Does it fit?” and “Do I still wear this?”. If the answer is ‘no’ to either one, then put that piece aside.
This step is critical to decide what to keep or throw out. Be thorough and avoid justifying keeping it for the sake of emotional attachment. By the time you’re done, you should have about three separate piles of the clothes you plan to keep, donate, or throw away.
Store Seasonal Pieces
Now that winter is over, it’s time to put away your heavy duty jackets and anything else you won’t be wearing in the springtime. With the warmer months upon us, there is no reason to keep winter clothes at the forefront of your closet. Pack these pieces in bins or shelves to store away for the following year.
You’ll find yourself with more space, while also gaining a better handle on how to categorize sections within your closet. This will make for a cleaner, sleeker look to the entire appearance of your closet.
Donate
If you don’t find any holes or major damage to your pieces, then consider donating them to an organization like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Not only will you be clearing out your old clothes, but they’ll be going to someone who would greatly benefit from them. Especially if you find yourself struggling to throw away clothing in somewhat decent condition, then donating to a organization can be a rewarding alternative to tossing it out.
Do not donate any clothes that are muddled with stains or plagued with a gnarly smell. Their ragged quality makes them unappealing and less likely to be picked up by consumers at any donation center. Instead, repurpose them into rags. They make for handy cleaners to keep around the house.
Throw Out
If your clothes are beyond repair, faded, ripped up, or no longer fits you anymore, then these all call for the garbage bin. Clothes that don’t flatter you have no place in your closet. With that said, you don’t need to hold onto anything that makes you look shabby, so do yourself a favor and throw them out forever.
Keep
After wrestling with your wardrobe, you’ve finally narrowed down your choices to your final picks. Staple pieces such as a white tees, jeans, and blazers are keepers, as well as shoes that are must-haves for any occasion. Sort through your finals picks and determine the best way to display them in your closet, preferably by separating the business attire from your casual basics.
Organize
The last step to maintaining your newly tidy closet is keeping it organized and staying that way. Invest in using the same hangers for your clothes — to maintain a cohesive look throughout your closet.
In addition, it’s best to arrange everything depending on the type of clothing and different occasion it calls for. Start on one end of your wardrobe by separating your slacks from your jeans. Continue dividing your formal pieces from your casual wear by grouping long-sleeve shirts together, then ending with short-sleeve tops at the last end of your closet. To take it a step further, color-coordinate your closet so you don’t ever have to worry about losing sight on where anything is.
Finally, declutter your accessories by storing them on tie racks, valet trays, or compartmentalizing organizers for your drawers. By doing so, you will prevent your closet from reverting back to a tangled, jumbled up mess.
Keeping the Skeletons Out of Your Closet
Spring cleaning calls for a change in not only your closet, but also in your day-to-day life. You’ll no longer be stuck digging through piles of clothes. It’s always worth the time and investment to simplify your daily routine.
Have you started spring cleaning yet? What’s been the hardest thing to throw out? Let us know in the comments.
Catherine Nguyen
Written by Catherine Nguyen
When it comes to organization, your closet can easily become the place to hide all your other messes. Your clothes have most likely been stacked onto heaping piles or stuffed into shelves. Not only does it look chaotic, but an untidy closet makes getting dressed a lot more difficult.
It takes a few steps to clean up your closet, but it’s worth the time and investment to organize your wardrobe. Get started on your spring cleaning with some tips on how to clean out your closet.
Access the Damage
The first step to cleaning out your closet is to lay out your options. Start out with small groups instead of your dumping out your entire collection to avoid feeling overwhelmed. With every item, ask yourself two questions: “Does it fit?” and “Do I still wear this?”. If the answer is ‘no’ to either one, then put that piece aside.
This step is critical to decide what to keep or throw out. Be thorough and avoid justifying keeping it for the sake of emotional attachment. By the time you’re done, you should have about three separate piles of the clothes you plan to keep, donate, or throw away.
Store Seasonal Pieces
Now that winter is over, it’s time to put away your heavy duty jackets and anything else you won’t be wearing in the springtime. With the warmer months upon us, there is no reason to keep winter clothes at the forefront of your closet. Pack these pieces in bins or shelves to store away for the following year.
You’ll find yourself with more space, while also gaining a better handle on how to categorize sections within your closet. This will make for a cleaner, sleeker look to the entire appearance of your closet.
Donate
If you don’t find any holes or major damage to your pieces, then consider donating them to an organization like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. Not only will you be clearing out your old clothes, but they’ll be going to someone who would greatly benefit from them. Especially if you find yourself struggling to throw away clothing in somewhat decent condition, then donating to a organization can be a rewarding alternative to tossing it out.
Do not donate any clothes that are muddled with stains or plagued with a gnarly smell. Their ragged quality makes them unappealing and less likely to be picked up by consumers at any donation center. Instead, repurpose them into rags. They make for handy cleaners to keep around the house.
Throw Out
If your clothes are beyond repair, faded, ripped up, or no longer fits you anymore, then these all call for the garbage bin. Clothes that don’t flatter you have no place in your closet. With that said, you don’t need to hold onto anything that makes you look shabby, so do yourself a favor and throw them out forever.
Keep
After wrestling with your wardrobe, you’ve finally narrowed down your choices to your final picks. Staple pieces such as a white tees, jeans, and blazers are keepers, as well as shoes that are must-haves for any occasion. Sort through your finals picks and determine the best way to display them in your closet, preferably by separating the business attire from your casual basics.
Organize
The last step to maintaining your newly tidy closet is keeping it organized and staying that way. Invest in using the same hangers for your clothes — to maintain a cohesive look throughout your closet.
In addition, it’s best to arrange everything depending on the type of clothing and different occasion it calls for. Start on one end of your wardrobe by separating your slacks from your jeans. Continue dividing your formal pieces from your casual wear by grouping long-sleeve shirts together, then ending with short-sleeve tops at the last end of your closet. To take it a step further, color-coordinate your closet so you don’t ever have to worry about losing sight on where anything is.
Finally, declutter your accessories by storing them on tie racks, valet trays, or compartmentalizing organizers for your drawers. By doing so, you will prevent your closet from reverting back to a tangled, jumbled up mess.
Keeping the Skeletons Out of Your Closet
Spring cleaning calls for a change in not only your closet, but also in your day-to-day life. You’ll no longer be stuck digging through piles of clothes. It’s always worth the time and investment to simplify your daily routine.
Have you started spring cleaning yet? What’s been the hardest thing to throw out? Let us know in the comments.
Catherine Nguyen
SOURCE: THE GENTLEMANUAL
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