4 Tips for Easy Fall Closet Cleaning

While Spring Cleaning is typically thought of as being the most appropriate time to clean out your closet each year, it makes sense that the beginning of the cool season also calls for a closet makeover. It’s time to pack up the sundresses and pull out last year’s cardigans. Here are some helpful tips to make your fall closet cleaning easy and breezy.

1. Remove everything. This sounds like the obvious first step, but there’s more to it than throwing everything into a pile on the bed. After you remove old clothing and storage containers, clean the inside of the closet thoroughly, including the floor and baseboards. Start sorting your summer clothes into piles for things you want to keep for next year and what items you can donate. You can also make a third pile for really worn-out clothing that needs to be thrown away.

2. Sort, label, store. The easiest way to do this is by sorting next year’s items into sorted shelves at the top of your closet. If you want to save space by stashing away your seasonal accessories, use plastic bins that can easily slide under your bed and out of the way. You should also label bins based on the type of clothing items stored in them. Labels for t-shirts, blouses, shorts, and tank tops will save you some hassle next summer!

3. Take inventory, make decisions, store. Before you start stocking your closet with sweaters and pants, you need to do some more sorting. Make piles for clothing that doesn’t fit anymore or is too worn out to wear this year. Prepare yourself to say goodbye to shoes, accessories, and coats that you never wear. These items contribute the most to closet clutter, so narrowing your supply down to what you actually wear will save you a lot of extra space for your next shopping spree. Keeping your shoes in pairs and off the floor will make them more accessible and easier to match with outfits.

4. Prepare for next summer. If you are too attached to your summer clothes and can’t fit everything into bins, consider organizing a spare closet to reflect how you visualize your bedroom closet for next year. Then, when the weather gets warm again, you can skip step 3 on this list and save some extra time. Simply move your items from one closet to the other and repeat step 1 for your old Fall wardrobe!