Being home the last couple of months has forced me to take a long, hard look at my closet, and to reorganize and optimize my wardrobe! I’ve been cleaning everything out, storing, and deciding what to sell, keep, or donate.  I decided it was the perfect time to update this blog post!  Check out my tips, tricks, and process, and let me know if you have any favorite ways to clean out YOUR closet in the comments below!

1. Be Honest

Stop holding on to the pieces of clothing that you have convinced yourself you’ll wear again…one day…when they fit…and you happen to be on vacation someplace warm…where they will be PERFECTION for that photo opp you have in the back of your mind…

Say it with me: It ain’t gonna happen.

I call those pieces of clothing As If’s because cleaning out my closet reminds me of Cher from ‘Clueless,’ and that is one of my favorite Cher sayings ever. Lol.

My personal rules for the clothes in my closet are that if I haven’t worn it in two years, or if they don’t fit me TODAY, they get put in the Out pile.  I wrote a piece about my journey with positive body image over the years, and one of my biggest promises to myself has been that I will not own any aspirational clothing.  I think this is a terrible idea and only works to make people feel badly about themselves.  No more “My Skinny Jeans”! I think every piece of clothing in your closet should be flattering on your body and make you feel good about yourself.

While cleaning out your closet, try on EVERYTHING, look at yourself in the mirror, and be honest with yourself about how you really feel wearing it.  If the result is less than great, that article of clothing doesn’t deserve you! Additionally, if I’ve held on to something because I’m absolutely positive I’m going to wear it one day, I think that a two year maximum grace period on that is more than fair.

If you haven’t worn something in two years, do you even really like it? Let’s be real.

2. Think About Your Closet as a Curated Wardrobe

I think it’s important to view your closet as a curated wardrobe for your lifestyle, and not as individual pieces you might like.  I’m sure you like ALL those jeans you have, but how many pairs of dark denim skinny jeans do you really need? I know you think they’re all different, but they’re really not.

Instead, go through the jeans and look at it like a collection: 1 perfect pair of boyfriend jeans, 1 perfect pair of distressed denim, 1 perfect pair of dark denim skinnies, 1 perfect pair of wide-leg denim, 1 perfect pair of mid-wash highrise button fly, 1 perfect pair of grey jeans, etc.

If you’re having a hard time deciding on which items to keep, try them on again, and take pictures.  You might be surprised by which ones actually look better on you from all angles.

Also, start paying attention to what you don’t have in your closet.  Are you missing the perfect pair of black pants, or a pretty silk bow blouse, or a classic trench? Start making a list (I use the notes section of my phone for this) of classic pieces that you can invest in little by little.

3. Make Piles

I split up my “Out” clothing into three categories with three separate piles: Store, Sell, and Donate.

Store Pile:

The clothes that aren’t right for my closet any longer, but also items that I don’t want to fully get rid of go into the Store pile!  For example, any important dresses that I have pictures in (such as, what I wore for both of my children’s baptisms) or maybe just incredible designer pieces that I want to keep for Marlowe one day, these all go in the Store pile! Then I put the finished pile in space saver bags and clothing bins with mothballs or cedar planks so that when they’re placed in storage, that they won’t get damaged or eaten by moths!

Sell Pile:

Then I take the leftover clothes that are like-new, but still not right for me anymore (like a top that I loved when I bought it but I soon realized wasn’t that flattering, or maybe it’s the overflow from my denim addiction – whatever the case) and I put it in the Sell pile!

If you have gently worn clothing with good labels, you’d be surprised how many people would gladly take some of your unwanted items off your hands!  I wrote a whole post about how much I love Thredup for this. I also love selling sites like Poshmark and TheRealReal. TheRealReal, in particular, is great for designer items, and you can even sell jewelry, bags, and furniture! I’ve also purchased great pieces on that site as well! Another plus to many selling sites is that you can also buy clothes with your consignment earnings! Keep in mind that clothing and shoes that are like-new, with designer labels, and in-season will usually get you the highest commission when selling.

Then, after selling your items, you can put the money you earned towards the pieces you determined you were missing in the closet curation in Step 2!

Donate Pile:

More worn-in clothing tends to best to donate. My policy is to throw away anything with a rip or stain on it – but if there are great pieces that probably won’t sell by consignment, I put bags together to drive them to Goodwill! I like knowing that these clothes that are no longer right for my closet will find themselves a much needed new home.  I also love donating kids clothes, since I find my kids grow out of things so quickly!

4. Store Out-of-Season Items

Make sure you use space-saver bags, packing cubes, or bins to store clothing and shoes that are out-of-season.  It’s nice to see exactly what you’re working with for the weather you’ve got – instead of sifting through sweaters and flannels in July! Throw some mothballs or cedar planks in your storage containers to ensure that your clothing stays hole-free while it’s put away!

5. Get Organized

Now that you’ve cleaned out your closet, it’s time to make sure that everything remaining is well-organized! I like to organize my closet by item type, style, and finally color.

First, I put all the clothing items together by item type: dresses with dresses, pants with pants, skirts with skirts, and so on.  Then, I go into each item type and organize them by style. The styles that you choose to organize your closet by will vary depending on the item type.

For example, with dresses, I first organize them by length (short vs. long), and then I organize each length by dress code (casual vs. cocktail). Then I go back in one final time and organize each dress code in each dress length by color.

Then I repeat this same process across all the item categories in my closet!  I find that once my clothing is organized in this way, it makes surveying the closet as I’m getting dressed SO easy, and I always know where to find everything! It also makes me take note once again of any holes in my wardrobe as a whole.  I can tell in a glance if I’m missing a great, simple camisole top, or an LBD.  I can also tell the areas where I might be getting a bit TOO excited.  Once, when I did this cleanout I noticed that I somehow had waaaaay too many striped tops, and I was able to make a mental note to fill in other areas of my wardrobe instead.

Here are my favorite closet organization products…