Preparing Your Closet for the Upcoming Season

Raise your hand if the thought of decluttering your bedroom closet makes your heart beat a little faster. Or if you feel an instant sense of doom… and confusion. The I-have-no-idea-where-to-start syndrome is real, my friends.

I have a feeling there may be a lot of hands in the air right now. That means you’re not alone.

Here’s the thing—there are plenty of magazine articles and ideas all over about organizing closets. And I’m going to venture that a good many of them can be intimidating and time consuming. And you still won’t know where to start because it all just sounds like a lot of work.

What if we went a different direction and said that giving your closet and wardrobe a spring refresh can actually be fun and not intimidating in the least?

What if the process wouldn’t make you suddenly feel like your to-do list—away from your closet—seemed a lot more important?

It’s possible!

While we are all aware that Marie Kondo caused a cultural upheaval, we can also agree that editing and decluttering your closet regularly is more than just helpful. It saves space. It saves time in the morning. And mainly, it saves you energy.

Removing the items that you do not wear and organizing the items that you do wear will give you a greater sense of peace and calm.

I know we all want more of that.

Now for the kicker: Do you want an even better way to wake your closet for spring? Why not head to the closet with a bottle of wine and a good friend to help you?

Katie and I did just this recently on my own closet. Having a friend alongside for a closet declutter is always a good idea. Your friend keeps you accountable and gives honest opinions.

Plus, Katie is a pro at cutting through the nonsense and telling me what I really don’t need anymore. Just ask our clients. She’s a magician when it comes to purging!

The Step-by-Step Process

What follows is a clear, no-pressure, and most importantly—fun— guide to decluttering your closet.

Touch every single piece of clothing that you own! I like to start by choosing and then remembering one or two things that I love so I can remember that feeling when go through the rest of my items. This feeling is important. It means that piece of clothing sets the bar for all of the other items. Compare other pieces to the ones you really love. It sounds simple, but it really works!
Items that you get this feeling about? Keep them.
Items that you know immediately you do not want can go in one of two places. Your first choice is a black trash bag to be donated. The black trash bag is key because these bags prevent you from seeing the items later and changing your mind. Your second option for items you no longer want to keep? Put those in a pile for consignment. Memphis friends: We love Celery!
The next part of the closet edit is for the items that you aren’t immediately sure if you want to keep or toss. This is the tricky part that can often get time consuming. This is also where a lot of people stop because the work gets a bit more tricky. Don’t give up here! You will be so thankful you stayed the course and worked through the questions. I promise.
For these items, use the following questions to guide your decisions:

Does it fit today? (You can skip this question if you are currently pregnant or postpartum!)
Is it stained, torn, damaged, or worn out? (If yes, toss)
Do I try it on but never wear it? (If yes, donate)
Does it cause me to have negative emotions? (If yes, donate)

While you are answering these questions, continue to add clothes back to your closet (for those pieces you want to keep), put damaged pieces in the black trash bag, and place pieces that still have life left in them, but that you longer want, in bags for consignment.

Katie’s tip: If you can’t remember when you last wore the clothing item, check the dry cleaning tag for a date.

Brooke’s tip: If the blazer you bought six years ago has dust on the shoulders, you need to come to the realization that you are not in fact a blazer person.

You are almost done! Many people stop here and think they’re finished. But we have an added tip that will benefit you down the road and inform your future purchases. Doing this little extra bit now will make a huge difference for you! later on!

Bonus Organization Suggestion

After you’ve finished going through every item in your closet, ask yourself the following questions:

What do I wear all the time? Why?
What outfit do I feel the best in? Why?
What types of clothes do I wear most often (For me, I need elevated work out clothes because organizing is physical but I want to look put together for clients.)
In what areas is my wardrobe lacking?

Now’s the fun part, using your answers to these questions: make a list of items to buy. Taking the time to answer these questions right away will save you time later when you can’t remember exactly what you needed and why you needed it, but you knew that there were pieces needing updates.

And just for fun, I’ll show you the list I made after Katie and I finished my closet refresh:

And that’s it! Spending just an hour or two can be a quick, painless process to prepare your closet for an entire season.

We’d love to hear from you if you give this a try. Or can you offer any tips or suggestions that work for decluttering your closet?

Stay tuned for next week’s blog post, as we share our absolute favorite closet organizing pieces. These are essential go-to items that, coupled with your decluttering, will change your entire closet for the better!

Until next week!

P.S. Speaking of editing: How to edit your children’s art!