It’s that time of year again! The weather is changing, and it’s time to put away those summer clothes and pull out your sweaters. Why not take this chance to do a full closet makeover, fashion editor-style? There’s nothing quite like an organized closet—and let’s face it, we all dress a lot nicer when we can actually find our clothes! Whether you want to do a full Marie Kondo style cleaning or a quick refresh, here are our top tips on how to organize and clean your closet, so getting dressed in the morning can truly spark joy.
TAKE EVERYTHING OUT
This part can get a bit overwhelming, so make sure you put on your favorite music first! Take all of your clothing out of your closet and lay it out. This will help you take stock of what you already own. You may find some forgotten clothing in the back of your closet that is perfect for this upcoming season!
DIVIDE IT UP
Divide your clothes into categories. Conventional wisdom suggests splitting them into groups such as “tops”, “pants”, and “dresses”, but you may find you prefer to split clothes by “work”, “casual”, and “going out”--whatever makes the most sense to you!
DOES THIS SPARK JOY?
Now for the tricky part—deciding what to keep! Organizational expert Marie Kondo recommends using joy as a decision maker. Pick up each article of clothing and ask yourself: does this spark joy for me? If so, keep it! If not, put it aside, as it no longer is serving a purpose in your closet. Other good questions to ask include “Does it fit?” and “Have I worn this in the past year?”. If it doesn’t fit or you can’t remember the last time you wore it, it’s time for it to go.
DO A DEEP CLEAN
Sifting through clothes can be surprisingly emotional, so let’s take a bit of a break and give your closet itself a scrub! Take advantage of the empty closet and give it a good vacuum, dusting, and maybe even a mop with our Oxi Booster Pods.
GIFT, SELL, DONATE, RECYCLE
You should now have a pile of clothes that are ready to move on to their new home! When getting rid of old clothing, you have a few options. (Notice that “throw away” is not on our list—we want to keep fabric out of landfills!) If an article of clothing is in good condition, you have several options. Maybe that shirt hanging in your closet isn’t really your style anymore, but would look great on a friend of yours. Consider giving it to them! Want to make a bit of money cleaning out your closet? Thrifting marketplaces such as Depop, Poshmark, and Thredup allow you to sell your clothes online—or you can bring them to a local thrift store! If you’re not looking to sell your clothes, consider donating them to a local organization or mutual aid group. Just remember that donations are not an alternative to recycling. Items that are dirty, torn, or stained are a better fit for a recycling center or other nonprofit that takes clothing items and turns them into rags or new post-consumer materials. If you wouldn’t find it to be good enough to gift, reconsider making it someone else’s problem.
HANG IT UP!
Time to put your new, carefully curated wardrobe back! Marie Kondo emphasizes making sure that your items are lovingly sorted, folded, and stored so that they can be accessed in the way that makes sense to you – and take up less room in your closet. Feel free to get creative! Maybe you want to arrange items by type, or maybe by color? The best organized closet is the one that makes sense to you—so go forth, have fun, and enjoy your newly cleaned, intentionally curated clothes!