Top Tips on Purging Your Closet

With the days growing colder and the nights growing longer, chances are good that you’ve been gradually taking the light, summery items out of your closet and replacing them with the heavier clothing of fall and winter. When you live in an area that experiences hot summers and cold winters, you have a ready-made excuse to go through and purge your closets at least twice per year. If you’re simply shuffling clothing from one place to another, though, you might be overwhelmed when the time comes to switch your wardrobe; if you purchase new items without getting rid of older items at the same time, you’re bound to have an overstuffed closet on your hands eventually!

Some signs that you need to clean your closet include not being able to see what you have; not being able to wear many of the items in your closet; being afraid to venture into the back corners of your closet for fear of what you may find; and occasionally pulling out an item that hasn’t fit you for five years… and then stuffing it right back in! If any of these sound familiar, you’re overdue for a purge. Here are some great tips on cleaning out your closet:

It can get discouraging to see closet items laying around for days or, worse, weeks on end. It’s best to carve out a weekend day to take everything out of the closet, go through each item, replace the things you’re keeping, store the things you’re storing and donate the items that need new homes.

Do this in front of a mirror. If you have a hard time making decisions, invite a practical friend to come and help you.

This may seem like radical advice, but in almost all cases, if you don’t love it (or at least really like it), you’re not going to wear it. So take a close look: Does the item flatter you? Is it still in fashion? If the answer to either of those is “no,” send it over to the donation pile.

If you have an item with a stain or a tear that hasn’t been repaired, either fix it this weekend or put it in the donation pile. (You can usually donate even torn and stained items to many thrift shops, as they put them to use as rags or sell them by the pound. Call and check first, though.)

You might gain or lose a few pounds, without a doubt, so keeping something a size too big or a size too small for your current shape might make sense. If you are currently a size 10, however, and you have size 4 jeans still hanging in your closet, it’s probably time to evaluate whether you will really ever wear them again.

You shouldn’t necessarily get rid of your wedding gown or the dress that you wore to your daughter’s christening. If you don’t have room in your closet for these things, however, try to find another storage location in your home. You could also take a photo and document it that way.

While you are at it, try to figure out some new combinations for wearing what you already own; this will appear to expand your wardrobe and doesn’t require you to spend any money!

Before you can call yourself finished, you’ll need to actually take the items that you’re donating to the thrift shop. Don’t forget to get your receipt for tax purposes!