Change of Season Brings Another Closet Clean Out

Now that fall is here, it is time to go through my closet again. In addition to removing the summer clothes, I have the chore of getting rid of clothes that are too big. Since the beginning of the year I have miraculously been able to stick to eating well and have lost 20 pounds. I haven’t done as well with my commitment to exercise. Now that the weather is cooling off, maybe I can start that goal again.

One thing that will effect my closet organization is the show What Not to Wear on TLC. I have watched it enough to have a better idea of the things I should not wear and some pieces I need to add to my wardrobe.

Remember from the post on Cleaning Out Your Closet, everything must be tried on when cleaning out your closet. I wrote this before becoming a fan of Stacy and Clinton's "Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That's Right for Your Body". They endorse the same method, so I must be on to something.

I have the The Lucky Shopping Manual: Building and Improving Your Wardrobe Piece by Piece on its way from Amazon.com. I’m hoping to use it to choose some key wardrobe pieces and build my closet wisely over time.

I anticipate donating the clothes that are still descent, reviewing a few unfortunate purchases, and tossing out the raggedy clothes that would cause a homeless person to offer to buy me lunch. I am struggling, however, with how to organize my closet.

Monica Ricci wrote a post a while back after having a wardrobe consultant come and help her with her closet. I think I will be down to few clothes I should actually hold on to so I probably won’t need a consultant. What I learned from the post was the idea of hanging items in groups. Instead of like-with-like, the consultant encouraged Monica to hang clothes together that have the potential of making complete outfits.

A reader from Unclutterer advocates for the like-with-like model. She goes further than I do and organizes by length and color. I’m pretty pleased with myself when the laundry is clean and hung up in a reasonable fashion. My goal for organization has always been to be able to quickly find something that I know I have. This leaves me thinking I will probably put like items together.

Posted October 2, 2007, filed in It's That Time, Clutter Control Products, Organizeit Projects