Organization | Spark In Bloom

If you are anything like me then your closet somehow becomes a place to hoard things you forgot you even owned. I knew I wanted to cut down on what I own, but I didn’t want to make this a stressful process. Some guides on how to clean out your closet are very strict in what you can and cannot do. I didn’t want my method to be like that. Instead I wanted an option that would allow me to re-evaluate again in a couple of months without regretting getting rid of any items that I might have wanted to keep.

How to Clean Out Your Closet Part 1:

Take everything out of your closet. When I say everything I mean it. Take out every single item that is in there, even if it is not clothing. By doing this you will start with a blank slate and evaluate everything that is taking up space.
Clean your closet. As you put back items in your closet it will be nice to know that you are putting it into a clean and sanitized area. If you don’t have a clean area then it will be difficult to maintain the quality of many of your clothing items.
Rearrange furniture (if you have any). Taking everything out of your closet will also allow you to re-imagine your space. Maybe there is a new method of organization that will be more efficient for you. Think about what you currently do not like about your closet and see if there is a way to fix it.
Now that your closet is clean and ready to accept new items it is time to sort them into piles. I used the following six piles as my guidelines:
1. Keep: items that still fit and you have actually worn more than a handful of times.
2. Maybe: items that fit but you do not wear often.
3. Storage: items that hold significant memories or meaning to you but that you do not wear.
4. Donate: items that will be given away.
5. Trash: items of poor quality that are not suitable for wearing.
6. Wash: any items that need to be cleaned before being being sorted into a pile. The only items that do not go here are trash items. Also, you decide if you want to put donated items here before you give them away. Personally, I do wash the clothes before I donate them.
Tips/Rules
1. If a clothing item does not fit you then DO NOT put it in the keep or maybe piles. Only put it in the storage pile if there is a significant meaning to it. Otherwise put it into the donate or trash piles.
2. Do not abuse the wash pile by putting items there that you don’t want to deal with until later.
3. Be really picky with your storage items. I suggest getting a specific sized box to put set number of items in.
Now that you have sorted your items do the following
1. Organize your keep items in your closet to your method of organization. I put mine by type of item (jackets, sweaters, t-shirts, etc.) then sort them by color.
2. Put your maybe items into a box and keep it in your closet. Since these are maybe items you will have easy access to the clothing in here just in case you may want to use it. By keeping it in the box also forces you to only use these items when you think about it naturally.
3. Put your storage items in a storage unit outside of your closet. There is no reason for storage items to take up space in your personal closet. Just make sure the storage unit you choose is still easily accessible for the moments you want to look back at these items.
4. Put all donated items into bags or boxes and donate them ASAP. Remember, these are the items that were holding you back so get rid of them quickly.
5. Throw away your trash pile.
6. Launder your wash pile. Repeat step four for the freshly washed items.