5 Tips For Cleaning Out Your Closet

Cleaning out your closet is always a hassle. Whether you’re just trying to make more space or are trying to list your home as one of the Austin houses for sale, you’re likely to run into some difficulties. Many people don’t even know where to start when it comes to cleaning a closet, and they struggle with figuring out what to throw away and what to keep. Thankfully, there are some tried and true methods that will make cleaning out your closet that much easier. These methods can allow you to easily decide what to put back in storage and what to get rid of, providing you with lots more space. So what’s the secret to effectively getting rid of closet clutter? Here are five tips for simple ways to downsize your closet.

6 Months Rule

The first thing you should know about cleaning out your closet is the six months rule. This is a simple rule to follow and can make cleaning out your closet a lot easier. Essentially the rule states that if you haven’t used or needed a clothing item in the last six months, then you’re likely never going to wear it again. Seasonal items like coats and beanies can be excluded from this rule, but the rule holds steady for other articles of clothing. Having a set guideline like this can be a huge help, you don’t have to strictly prescribe to a 6 month rule, especially if you’re not one to go out a lot, but having some kind of cutoff point is one of many simple ways to downsize your closet. It allows you to quickly decide what items you should keep and what you should get rid of without dancing round the fact that you need to have a clearout. In addition, this rule helps prevent you from hoarding clothing items that you “may wear again,” but in reality never will wear again.

Form 3 Piles

When clearing out your closet, you should place all of your clothing items in three different piles labeled keep, donate, and throw away. The keep pile is reserved for clothes that you want to keep in your closet, your favourite clothes or frequently used clothes. The donate pile are clothes that are in good condition and are still nice, you just no longer wear them, or they aren’t your style. The clothes in this pile may not be worn by you anymore, but they are too nice to throw away, and someone will surely get second-hand use out of them. Finally, the throw away pile consists of stained, damaged, or torn clothes that will likely never see use by anyone again. Organising your clothes into three separate categories makes the organisation process much easier, and can allow you to easily track your clothes. 

Organise By Colour and Size

When you put the clothes you’re keeping back into your closet, you should organize them according to colour and size. Some people may think that cleaning out your closet is just getting rid of unwanted items, but organisation should also be involved. When you organize your closet by color and size, you make it much easier to find specific clothing items and match outfits. Down the road, picking out clothes will be so much easier if you organise your closet in this way. 

Focus on More Than Clothes

If you’re like most people, then you likely have a lot more than clothes cluttering up your closet. You may have storage bins and boxes crowding your closet floor, as well as many other miscellaneous items. Although cleaning out your clothes is the most important part of cleaning a closet, don’t neglect the other items. Apply the same principles you use towards cleaning out your clothes to these miscellaneous items, discarding what you no longer need. Cleaning out your closet is a long task, so you might as well clean the entire thing and see it all the way through.

Wait Before Throwing Away/Donating

Even when applying the six months rule, you should still wait a few weeks before donating or selling your clothes in your second pile. If you donate your clothes immediately after sorting them, then you may make a few decisions that you regret. When you take some time to think about everything, you may end up having a change of heart and want to keep that clothing item. However, you shouldn’t use this excuse to keep all of the clothes in the pile, which would defeat the purpose of cleaning out your closet. However, there’s nothing wrong with saving a clothing item or two after thinking about it a little more.

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