Remove Everything
Make your bed so you’ll have a large, flat surface to put your clothes on. You can leave clothes on the hangers when you lay them in piles on your bed. If you have drawers or shelves with folded clothes in your closet, remove those and stack them on the bed or the floor, as well.
Remove shoes, coats, purses, belts, ties, and scarves. If you have other items like keepsakes or sentimental items stored in the closet on shelves, in boxes, or on the floor, remove them. If something doesn’t belong there, put it where it belongs instead of back into the closet, if possible.
Clean the Empty Closet
While the closet is bare, dust the surfaces, wipe down shelves, and sweep or vacuum the floor. You’ll be putting things into the closet as you sort them, so start with a fresh and clean closet that’s ready to be organized.
Take measurements while the closet is empty to help you later if you need to buy storage bins or a shelving system.
Sort Your Clothes
Start with your hanging clothes since those usually take up the most room, then move to folded clothing, shoes, and accessories. Hold up each piece of clothing and ask yourself these questions:
- Have I worn it lately?
- Does it fit?
- Do I like the way it looks on me?
- Is it torn, stained, or damaged?
If you haven’t worn something in your closet in the last year, ask yourself why you’re keeping it. Unless it’s seasonal, like a Christmas sweater, you probably don’t like it enough to wear it. Let it go.
If you’re not sure whether something fits, try it on. Donate or give away ill-fitting clothing if it’s in good shape, or throw it away if not. Get rid of clothing that’s too small, unflattering, or out of style to make room for fashionable clothing that you love.
Throw out anything stained, bleached, torn, or otherwise damaged. Ugly ties you got as gifts, scarves or belts that you don’t wear because they’re out of style, shoes that hurt your feet, and purses you haven’t used in years should go, too.
Organize
After you’ve sorted everything, the only items left should be those you wear and want to keep. Put these away and decide whether you need to purchase any containers, hooks, or shelves to help keep your closet neat.
If you can limit your closet to those items, you should do so and store anything else you pulled out of the closet in a more appropriate place.
The more items you keep off the floor and the fewer items you see at once, the neater your closet will appear. Keep your clothing, shoes, and accessories corralled and handy by using things like bins and baskets, shoeboxes, a shoe rack, or hooks for accessories.