How to Clean Out Your Closet [Step by Step Guide]

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Do you have too many clothes that don’t reflect your personal style? Do you have too many clothes, period? It’s clean out closet time.

Do I need to Clean Out My Closet?

YES! A cleaned out closet is necessary to reduce waste, hone your personal style and love your clothes.

It’s our responsibility as ethical consumers to not hoard clothes. We don’t need 4 of the same shirt or those pants from 3 years ago that never quite fit.

Those items could have better homes in someone else’s closet. Or be better used as household rags.

In other words, they no longer belong in your closet. They simply take up space there. (And remind you of your hoarding problem.)

By keeping items in your closet that you don’t even wear anymore, you’re blocking your style potential.

Do the clothes from a few years ago really still reflect your style? Be honest.

The goal is to LOVE what you wear. Not tolerate it or feel meh about it.

We want you to write love letters to your closet. And that old ”trendy” item you no longer wear doesn’t inspire that kind of affection.

A closet clean out is necessary. It should happen at least once a season.

And the best part is it only gets easier! The first time you clean out your closet it will be somewhat time-consuming.

Only because this is potentially the first time you’ve ever sorted your clothes intentionally. And had to find new places to store your clothes. And had to find new homes for some clothes.

But, as you stay consistent with your closet clean out, it will get easier. There will be fewer items you want to get rid of. There will be less items you’re unsure of.

Because the more you refine your closet, the more you define your style. You will have that much more control and understanding over your clothes.

A cleaned out closet is more than just a task in organization. It’s an exercise in style reflection.

We could all benefit from getting to know our styles a little better. Why not pair that treat with a little housekeeping?

How to Clean Out Your Closet

If you’ve been following Style Files, you know we touched on this in an earlier post – How to Find Your Personal Style Courtesy of The Curated Closet [PART TWO]. Here, we’ll dive deeper.

The first step in cleaning out your closet is to get organized.

You’ll need to identify 1-2 places in your house where you can store clothes other than your closet. These places are reserved for “keepsakes” and ”off-season storage”. More on both in a little bit.

You’ll need 6 bins or areas you can place clothes. Label these bins or areas: ”donations / to sell”, “keepsakes”, ”trial separation”, ”get tailored”, ”get repaired”, ”off-season storage”.

I sort clothes on my bedroom floor — Me sorting during my first closet clean out! I used Post Its to label piles since I didn’t have bins, and they worked great!

Donations / to sell: This bin is for clothes that you don’t need or want. Place clothes here that are not salvageable in terms of repair or style. Clothes in this bin may be good for other purposes like rags.

Keepsakes: This bin is for garments that only act as memorabilia. Place clothes here that have sentimental value, but you have no intention of wearing again. One of the designated areas you chose for storing clothes earlier was intended for this label.

Trial Separation: This bin is for clothes you’re on the fence about keeping. Keep it somewhere you won’t see it unless you seek it. If you don’t reach into this bin for 2 weeks, donate/sell everything in it.

Get Tailored + Get Repaired: These bins are self-explanatory. Place clothes here that are worth the extra investment of getting professional help. Only keep clothes that reflect your personal style and make you feel confident.

Now you’re ready to clean out!

How to Sort Your Clothes

Firstly, you need to stay in season. Any clothing item or shoe that would be worn in a season other than the one you’re currently in, must be moved to the Off-Season Storage area.

Those clothes will then be transferred to the 1-2 areas you designated earlier. Where they’ll stay until you swap them out for this season’s clothes and so on.

The goal is to maximize your time and closet’s space. To do so, you need to keep immediately irrelevant clothes separate from relevant ones.

Also, it’s easy to write off a shirt or shoes that don’t make sense to your life right now. We need to stay focused on the current season to make the most realistic decisions.

Now that your clothes only reflect the appropriate season, the real sorting begins.

Look through all your clothes carefully. For each item, consider how well it reflects your personal style. How it makes you feel when you wear it. Reflect on the last time you wore it – how long ago? If it needs altering, consider whether that investment would be worth it.

Then place it in one of your 5 bins or areas: Donations/To Sell, Keepsakes, Trial Separation, Get Tailored or Get Repaired.

What if I’m not Sure About Getting Rid of Something?

I get it, parting with clothes is an emotional task. It’s hard to be confident you’re making the right decision.

If you’re on the fence about a garment, you can do a couple things.

First, you can place it in your Trial Separation bin/area. Use it as intended; put your clothes here for 2 weeks. If during that time you never reach for them, donate/sell everything in there.

Or you can do the opposite and give these clothes more attention. Hang these garments on the most visible part of your closet.

Make as many outfits with them as you can over a 2 week period. Then reflect on the outfits. Did you like them? Did pairing them with different things change your mind?

How either of those experiments go determines whether you should keep those clothes or get rid of them.

The Aftermath

Congrats! Anything that wasn’t sorted into one of your bins or areas belongs in your closet.

Now you know exactly what you’re looking for in your clothes to guide you on the rest of your personal style journey.

I suggest you clean out your closet once a season. Don’t worry, it won’t be nearly as time-consuming the more you do it.

The goal is the more you do it, the more refined both your personal style and closet get. Thus the less there is to edit!

This Post’s Inspiration

This in-depth closet clean out instruction comes on the heels of reading the marvel that is The Curated Closet by Anuschka Rees. The book is a guide to finding your personal style.

It walks you through finding your style inspiration, building a wardrobe around it and tips for maintaining it.

I used that book as a guide for my How to Find Your Personal Style series. And I highly suggest you grab it for your own reading pleasure!