Tas’s Trends – Cleaning Out Your Closet

(Photo courtesy of LizMarie_AK on Flickr)

A couple of weeks ago, I sat in front of my closet for a good ten minutes trying to figure out what to wear, when the realization of how much clothing I have hit me. It was time for some spring-cleaning. As I was dealing with this epiphany, I realized that maybe if I got rid of some the clothes that are literally just collecting dust in the back of my closet, I might save myself time in the morning and I’ll have more closet space for new clothes.

I figured that I might not be the only one out there with this problem, so I took some time and decided to not only clean out my closet but to organize it, so I know what I have and where it is. And I am here to share my tips with you.

The first thing I did was look through every article of clothing I had and decide if I wanted to keep it or get rid of it. I am one of those people that will look for a reason to not get rid of something, especially when it comes to my clothes. I think the name for us is pack-rats? After a few hard decisions, a few tears and getting yelled at by my roommate, I had a nice little pile of clothes to be taken away for donation.

When making this decision to get rid of clothing, my best bet is to see what you haven’t worn and what is outdated. I had tops that I wore maybe a year or two ago and I just don’t want to wear them anymore. Another annoying habit that I have is always changing my style, so if my style changes so do my clothes. I would also recommend trying on what you are debating about getting rid of, if it doesn’t fit anymore or fit the right way, get rid of it because chances are you aren’t going to be wearing it anymore.

A really great option to get rid of your clothes is by taking them to a resale shop. What typically happens is that they will buy your clothes from you, so you have a win – win situation, you get rid of your old clothes and get money for it. Whatever they don’t buy from you, just take to your local Salvation Army so it won’t sit in a bag in your closet for another few months (yes, I have done that before too).

After cleaning out my closet came the fun part, organizing it. First thing I did was go to Target and get a few items to help me organize my clothes. I figured that best way to organize my closet was to hang everything that gets more wear out of it, such as cardigans, blazers, button ups, and dressy tops, along with things that get wrinkly very quickly. I decided that any type of bottoms: skirts, jeans, yoga pants etc., would be folded and put up on top of my closet. Also, its getting warmer, and I barely wear jeans.

Another option is that you can find this organizer that hangs from the bar of your closet and it has little cubbies (I have no idea what it’s called but it’s hanging in my closet now) and you can fold all of your bottoms or whatever items of clothing that you wear often and stack them. That way you can see what you have and where it is.

I also bought those big hefty bins and decided to fold and store my clothes that I sometimes wear or barely wear, such as tank tops and t-shirts, things that can be folded and don’t get wrinkly right away. I would recommend getting the ones that are transparent, that way you don’t have to take everything out to see what you put in there.

The last thing I did for my closet was make it virtual. This is a little idea I came up on my own when I realized I couldn’t keep track of my clothes anymore. I would literally forget what I had in my closet. If someone borrowed something from me and wore it, I would compliment it and then be told that it was mine. I have also managed to buy duplicate items of clothing (don’t tell me that hasn’t happened to you). So I decided to put an end to it by taking pictures of every article of clothing I had and keeping it under a folder in my laptop. I organized every item of clothing into folders by name of what they were: tops, jeans, skirts, dresses, etc. This way, if I get stumped on what to wear, instead of tearing apart my closet, I would just look through the pictures and decide. If I plan on going shopping I now know what I have and what I don’t.