Five Simple Tips to Declutter Your Closet

if you woke up this morning and thought “i have nothing to wear,” then this post is for you. chances are you have plenty to wear. it’s just hidden.

the life changing magic of tidying up by marie kondo changed my life. no really, i’m so serious. i love organizing, but have been doing it all wrong.

here’s an example: my linen closet was a wreck. it’s narrow and deep with a weird shelf built into the second row. i was finally sick of it being disorganized and started looking for storage systems. thankfully, i stumbled across the life changing magic of tidying up before sacrificing my first born child at the container store.

with marie kondo’s advice in mind, i took everything out the closet and quickly realized i didn’t need 2/3 of the shit i was about to spend hundreds of dollars to neatly store. i had raggedy towels and wash cloths that were at least a decade old, expired medicine and other randomness that needed to either be recycled or trashed.

if you have a closet full of clothes and “nothing to wear,” then it’s time to declutter. here are my five tips with a twist of the konmarie method.

1. organize by item, not room

   most people have clothes in multiple parts of their house. the coat closet, storage bins and hallway storage are all places clothes go to die. mentally register every place you store clothing for step number two.

2. take every single item out of your closet

   go on a hunting expedition and take every single item out of the spaces they’ve been stored. yes, i mean EVERYTHING. if you skip this step, you’ll be facing another morning of a closet full of clothes with nothing to wear.

3. does it spark joy?

   after you sort everything into categories (pants, shirts, dresses, etc.) ask yourself, “does this spark joy?” if the answer isn’t immediately yes, then place it in a donate, sell or throwaway pile. this step is critical because it removes the clutter and reveals the true number of items you truly love. what’s the purpose of a closet full of clothes when only 1/3 of them are your size or style? stop using trendy items you’d never wear or pieces that no longer fit as a safety blanket. if it’s not serving you, then let it go.

4. thank it for serving you

   when we buy and keep items with more intention, then every single piece of clothing should have a significance. for example, the little black dress you wear on date night, your favorite white button up that goes with everything or the cozy t-shirt you got on spring break. this doesn’t mean we need a spiritual bond with our underwear. however, being selective about what you allow into your life helps curb the hoarding impulse that got you into this mess in the first place. once you determine it’s time to move on, thank each item for serving you, a way to symbolize appreciation.

5. organize by item or cascade

   now it’s time to put things that spark joy back into your closet. my favorite method is to place similar items together and to fold pants over hangers, leaving skirts hanging upright. another method is to cascade the items with the shortest on the left and longest on the right. whatever you chose, the goal is to make your newly decluttered closet as organized and easily accessible as possible.

i hope these tips save you time getting dressed and inspire you to fall back in love with special items in your wardrobe. stay tuned for a series on wardrobe essentials and building a capsule wardrobe.