Spring Clean Your (Clothes) Closet

Let’s Be Honest…

Keeping your clothes-closet organized and uncluttered is a challenge for a lot of women. Clothes are personal and can evoke memories, and create a mood (and of course keep you from running around naked!).

When was the last time you grabbed an article of clothing from your closet, put it on, looked in the mirror and thought, “Nah, not loving it”, put it back in the closet and put something else on? Yesterday? Today?? And, have you put that same article of clothing on more than a couple of times and ended up taking it off and putting it back in the closet?

Or what about something you really do like? You put it on, then realize it’s missing a button or has a stain, you take it off (thinking to yourself, I really need to fix that), hang it back in the closet and then forget about it until the next time you repeat the whole process?

If you can relate, perhaps it’s time to do a spring-cleaning on your closet, or even a major overhaul. Not only will you make room for clothes that do make you look and feel good, it will save you time and energy when you’re not changing clothes three or four times trying to find “something to wear”.

Let’s face it, ladies: if you have a closet bursting with clothes and yet you claim to have “nothing to wear”… you’ve (I’ve) got a problem.

Here’s some tips, ideas and suggestions on tackling your closet and getting it whipped in to shape.

Before You Tackle Cleaning Out Your Closet-

Before you start the de-cluttering process you want to be prepared so it will go faster.

Have boxes or bags handy into which you can put discards (consider donating these items to a nonprofit organization-they can always use clothes), repairs (including items that need to be ironed,cleaned, or mended), clothes you want to sell in a garage sale or consignment store, and items that don’t even belong in your closet.

Invest in some good hangers and have them ready before you start. Using wire hangers can put unwanted creases in your pants and disfigure the shoulders of tops. If you can’t afford to purchase hangers right now use clothes pins (cheap at dollar stores) and hang your pants and skirts on them. If a top is sleeveless, a wire hanger isn’t going to hurt it.

Tammy’s Tip ‘o the Day!

Dollar stores and thrift stores are great places to buy inexpensive plastic hangers and whenever you buy a new item (no matter where), always ask the cashier if you can keep the hangers! Some stores will give them to you and some won’t.

This is also a good time to invest in a full-length mirror (if you don’t have one). It doesn’t have to be fancy and you don’t even have to hang it up; just lean it up against a wall if you want. But you really need a mirror that you can actually see yourself from top to bottom in. You can pick one up at Wal-Mart for under $10.00.

Set Aside Time

Chances are your closet didn’t become a mess overnight so it’s going to take some time to get it organized. How long it takes depends on how many clothes you own and how often you weed through it. Your time schedule and personality will also determine how long it takes. But if you “schedule” it into your day, week, or month, you can get it done.

Getting Started

How “ruthless” you are when looking at your clothes and deciding what are keepers is going to depend on a couple of things:

1. Do you have other clothes to wear? Maybe you gained weight, maybe you lost weight, maybe you haven’t shopped since 1995. If the answer is “no”, check out the steals and deals at some of the local thrift stores.
2. Are you really going to wear it? Perhaps you have an article of clothing you bought a year (or more) ago with the tags still hanging on it: you obviously haven’t “needed” it or loved it enough that you’ve actually put it on! It’s too old to return and so why is it still hanging in your closet taking up room?? Would you feel “guilty” if you got rid of it? If so, get past the guilt, donate it to someone who actually wants to wear it and make room for something you’ll actually wear! If you’re holding onto something because it “brings back memories” but the reality is you’ll never wear it again, toss it or put it in a keepsake container and get it out of your closet! The goal here is not “closet scrapbooking”. Make room for a new outfit that you can create some new memories in.
3. Vintage don’t mean nasty, girl. Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. There’s a big difference between “retro” and just plain old clothes that will never be back in fashion again.

Be ruthless, know you’ll feel better without all those clothes you don’t wear being gone. Plus, you’ll be able to pull an outfit together faster if you’re better organized and have clothes you love to choose from. Even better, enlist a friend to help you decide if you’re not for sure or need help to weed through your items.

Little Miss Social Says:

You and a friend could trade helping each other clean out your closets and weed through all those clothes (just make sure it’s a friend whose opinion you trust). Not only will it be a fun bonding moment between friends, but chances are you’ll find something totally stunning that your girlfriend doesn’t even want anymore!!

Pick a Category and Start Weeding Through!

I like to start by hanging my clothes by categories and organized by color. The last time I organized, I pulled all my pants out of the closet and tried on every single pair (I do have a lot of clothes, so this did take me some time). And then I really looked at myself in the mirror to make sure they not only fit me but looked good. Here’s what I ask myself when trying to decide if something’s a “keeper”:

1. Does this fit me well? If it hasn’t fit in a year, toss it. If you’re TRULY planning on a major weight change this year, box it up and store it if you want but still: get it out of your closet-it doesn’t fit you NOW.
2. Do I wear this on a regular basis? Have I even worn it in the past year? If not, toss it. (Again, don’t “toss” it in the trash, “toss” it in the donation pile).
3. Am I comfortable when I wear this? If a sweater’s scratchy or a collar bothers you, or if you’re always pulling on a hem, you’re probably not comfortable when wearing it. And that’s why you avoid it…toss it.
4. Does it make you feel good when you wear it? You know, there are clothes you put on and you feel/look great. They boost your entire day because you’re feeling confident. If not, toss it.
5. If it needs to be “repaired”, can I do it myself? How much would it cost to get a button sewn on, or a skirt hemmed, or to have something taken in, or to get anything dry-cleaned? These days we have to be honest: do I love it enough to spend the time or money to “fix” it? If not, toss it.

Then I did the same with my blouses, skirts, dresses, jackets, etc. After I’ve cleared out all the clothes just taking up space that I don’t want or wear, I hang everything back up by category, color, and sleeve length. Some people like to organize by “work clothes”, “dressy”, “casual”, and so on. The truth is, whatever system works for you and makes it easier to pull an outfit together is the “right” system.

If you are limited in your space, you could always pull seasonal clothes that are out-of-season from your closet and store them under the bed, on higher shelves or in a storage area in/outside the home. Here in Colorado I find that I use sweaters, jackets and even my sweats year round (unlike when I lived in Texas). If you have empty space high above in a closet, adding some shelves will give you extra room to keep folded sweaters, tanks, shorts or your out of season items.

Please Direct Your Attention to Exhibit A…

Here’s some examples of my closet and some everyday items I use to help me keep things organized.

First of all, ladies, please don’t hate me when you see my closet!! Yes, it is an entire room, but reality is all of our children are out of the house, we don’t have a lot of guests staying the night so we don’t need an entire room dedicated for overnight company and… well… I’ve waited 49 years for this! (ha!) Plus, this was NOT expensive to create. I bought all the shelving and bars at Home Depot….and I don’t spend tons of money on my clothes (obviously, I hope that is clear by now) so I can afford more to choose from.

The Necklace Rack

I hang my necklaces from a towel bar. They don’t take up much room, you could hang one up in your closet or on a wall and you can see all your necklaces at once and keep them from getting tangled. You can pick up a towel bar for less than $10.00 at Home Depot and I’ve even seen some at the thrift stores. Check out Wal-Mart or Target also.

Tack ‘Em Up

Because I do have extra room I could hang my belts this way. But I didn’t buy any “fancy” and expensive hooks: I just used clear thumbtacks. I like thumbtacks for lighter items because if we ever decide to do something else in this room, it won’t take much to paint over these small holes. Also, I can adjust the tacks as needed. If you don’t want to poke holes in the wall, 3M company makes adhesive wall hooks that are sturdy and leave no marks on a wall. You could hang things like these up on the back of a door or in your closet.

Rollin’ in the Boots

If you want to keep your boots standing straight and help keep them from getting creases, use an empty paper towel roll or rolled-up magazine….much, much cheaper than the foam inserts they sell for this purpose (saw some on sale for $20.00! That’s more than I spent on some of my boots!)

Rack ‘Em Up!

I got this magazine rack at Goodwill for 29 cents and then never used it. I was about to donate it back when I had an “aha” moment and voila, it became an earring holder!

Paging Imelda Marcos…

Ahem!… well, ummmm… what can I say? I do love my shoes! I picked up these clear shoe-boxes at The Dollar Tree for $1.00 each, yet I was still having a hard time telling one pair from another so I snapped a picture of each pair and taped it to the outside of the box. Now I can immediately see what’s what. (The woman at Walgreen’s, where I had the pictures developed, was so excited when I went to pick up the prints–she thought I was about to sell them on eBay and was already planning on buying some from me!)

Function Over Form

I don’t have a lot of drawer space (I’m NOT complaining, just stating a fact) so I use the clear shoe-boxes to store my bras in. And we had this coffee table that we were going to sell in a garage sale and then I decided to stick it in my “closet”. Works perfectly even though it’s a little bit “beat-up”. I’m the only one that sees it!

A Shoe-Fiend’s Art Gallery

Okay, I think we’ve already established that I have a little thing for shoes. Why do you think I work so hard to save money? To justify a little splurge every once in a while! (There is a method to my bargain-madness…)

We were also going to sell this china cabinet  but  instead I decided to use it for my “good” shoes….it’s my favorite “piece of art” in the room.

Then again, you could buy custom items that are created specifically for your needs. Heck, you can even splurge on a custom installed closet! But, the point is we’re the only people who really see our closets. Do we really need to splurge on a room or space no one sees? Or, perhaps you’ll get some ideas from the pictures above and be able to save some money using everyday items from around the house to help you organize. I know not everyone has this much space (I never had it until recently) but you can use all the ideas, even in limited closet spaces. And once everything in your closet is clean, ready to wear and easy to access, it will take you less time to look fabulous!

And isn’t that what it’s all about, ladies?