Cleaning Out Your Closet.

 When it comes to my wardrobe(and some of yours probably) I know I’m always complaining on how I have nothing to wear, yet I can't seem to get the doors to fully close from how full my closet actually is (I know I’m not alone on this one). Almost every time I step into my closet it takes me hours to find something I like, or settle with because I have so much clothes that I honestly don't even wear let alone like. So since Spring is just around the corner (and because I am fed up with the consistent frustration of feeling unsatisfied with the clothes in my life), I thought it would be the perfect time to give my closet a little face lift and purge the heck out of my clothes and make room for a few new pieces!

    So for those who might be reading this and thinking "Yeah, ok. Easier said than done." you are mistaken! It is actually quite simple to purge those clothes you have in that closet of yours and here's how to do it...

STEP 1. Seasonal Planning.

 Think about what time of the year is coming upon you. Will it be cold? Or will it be warm? 

In my case, the season is/will be changing into a warmer climate.(Even though living in Florida it’s a warm climate all year 'round) OK, so we have settled on a climate, now ask yourself this question. "What do I normally wear in the hotter months?" Now with this question go ahead and make a list of the six main things you would typically go for. 

In my case its:

1.     Skirts

2.     Tank Tops/Crop

3.     Shorts

4.     Dresses

5.     T-shirs/Crop

6.     Yoga Pants/Leggings(Fashion/Comfort)

 Great! So now we have our first outline to what types of clothing we want to have out for the season. Now think about what types of colors you'd normally wear during this season? If you can't think of colors that you would associate with the season, I highly recommend going and looking up  Pantone.

They are the world renowned authority on color and provider of color systems and leading technology for the selection and accurate communication of color across a variety of industries. To sum that up they basically tell you what colors are going to be popular around which ever season. This coming season they are saying to gravitate towards: (list depicts each color) 

Rose Quartz

Peach Echo

Serenity

Snorkel Blue

Buttercup

Limpet Shell

Lilac Gray

Fiesta

Iced Coffee

Green Flash

STEP 2. Sorting & Separating.

  Ok, so we have a list of what we would normally wear and what colors we like. Now it’s time for the second step, entering the closet. I know it seems scary to enter the seemingly endless abyss but it is necessary and we have to conquer our fears. Once you have entered it is time to grab all of the clothes you have hanging or folded, take it off of the racks and shelves then dump (or neatly place, your choice) all of it onto your bed or where ever you think is best to sort through them and well, start!

   

   First be sure to go through and look for all of the things that are on your list of CLOTHING you would typically wear during the season change: Skirts, Tanks, T-shirts, Shorts, Dresses and Yoga Pants (your list might be different from mine). Once you have those items sorted out keep them off to the side for a more in depth sorting. Next with the clothes that you have out that was not on your list, I want you to sort through these by type. By this I mean, Sweaters, jackets, long sleeves, pants, sweats, etc. Once they are all in their own piles, go one by one and try each item on. Evaluate each clothing item by these rules.  

1. Comfort/Flattery: Does the item still fit your body type comfortably?
2. Ruined/Damaged: Does the item have unintentional holes, stains, runs or anything that would deem it damaged? 
3. Recently used: Did you use this item in the past six months?

If you have tried on the items and have answered No to Questions 1 or 3 or Yes to question 2 on any of the pieces then immediately throw it into a "give away" pile. The articles of clothing that passed the three question test, place in on pile. We'll then go through those and pack those way for the next season coming.

STEP 3. Organize. 

 Now that we have gone through our clothes and have them all sorted into our piles of GIVEAWAY, KEEP & OUR LIST. The final step is almost upon us. First things first, we must take that pile of giveaway and actually give it away. There are  few options we have for this part, for those who are just OK with getting rid of the clothing, then search on the maps where the nearest; Goodwill, Salvation Army or Shelter is, they normally take in any kind of donation of clothing.

For those looking to try and make a few dollars off of their clothes, try looking for your nearest Plato's Closet. This company normally takes in clothing that is lightly used/good condition and with a good sum of clothing you could easily make 20-30 bucks.

For the "KEEP" clothing items, I want you to fold these pieces up, and put them away in your closet where you can no longer see them, but if need access to you could easily reach for them. What I like to do is take big storage bags that I can vacuum seal and place my clothing in them so that I can easily slip it under my clothing racks.

Finally, we have reached our "list" clothing pile, this is the list of clothing that almost perfectly matched what items of clothing we wanted and what colors we would normally gravitate towards depending on the season we chose to prepare for. With these pieces I want you to put them away like you would normally place your clothing away but with a twist. I want you to hang your clothing (if possible) but have the hangers placed backwards.

Backwards.

  

Once you have all your clothing hung like the example photo, over the next three months, every time you take an article of clothing from the hanger, when it comes time to hang it back up, place it back with the hanger in its normal position.

Once the three months have come to an end your closet should look something like this...

Some backwards some normal.

 Some are still in the reversed hanger position. These are the articles of clothing that you will take out of your closet and without a hesitation give away (refer back to giveaway pile options above). 

STEP 4. Your New Closet!

YAY! You can now step back from your closet and be confident in your newly organized season appropriate wardrobe! Of course  now that you have all this new space in your closet you can go out and shop for more pieces but when you do just keep in mind what it is you want to wear this season, the colors and the type pf clothing you would normally wear in order to avoid going back into the mess of a closet once again. Though, if you do forget to keep track of your list, then just go through this process again, but in a less extreme way by only doing the reversed hangers.This way you'll be able to weed out clothing that you may have let slip through the cracks. 

I hope everyone has had a fantastic Holiday and amazing start to the New Year!

XoXo,

Eizabeth.