by Susanne Myers

Spring is on its way making it a great time to take a few hours to clean out your closet.  You will be glad you did when it is finally time to dig out those t-shirts and shorts.

Try to have all your clothes washed and in your closet before you start, so you have a good idea of what you actually own at this point.  Wear some comfortable clothes and turn on some upbeat music.  Grab a couple of rags and all-purpose cleaner to wipe off shelves and rods in your closet along with a couple of large trash bags and a few empty laundry baskets.

Start out by sorting everything into three piles:

1. Throw away

2. Give away

3. Keep

Make these piles outside of your closet.  With the closet empty, take some time to wipe off all the shelves, rods, and large clothes hangers.  Sweep or vacuum the floor as well so your closet will be clean and ready to reorganize.

Take a look at your three piles.  If you are anything like me, the throw away and give away piles are probably pretty small and almost everything in your closet ends up in the keep pile.

Time to go over the pile again!  Here are a few “rules” to help you figure out what is worth keeping:

If you have not worn something in 9-12 months it is probably not worth hanging on to. You may like the looks of a particular sweater, but end up not wearing it because it itches.  Or you found a blouse you love, but have not been able to find anything to go with it.  If you do not have a very good reason to keep it, give it away or toss it.

Do you have a pair of pants or a dress that is several sizes too small, but you keep telling yourself that you will fit in it one of these days?  I know this is hard, but be honest with yourself.  Are you going to lose enough weight in the near future to fit in it? If you think you will, give yourself 6 months to fit into those clothes.  Put them in a bag with a dated note.  Set yourself an email reminder, or keep a note on your fridge to check back 6 months from now.  If the clothes still do not fit, toss them or give them away.

Look over your keep pile again.  Do you notice several similar items?  Do you have 6 pairs of black dress slacks, 3 pink sweaters, etc.?  Do you really need 6 pairs of black pants?  Pick 2 or 3 of your favorites, or the ones that are in best shape and toss the rest.  Do the same with the sweaters.  Pick one to keep.

Don’t forget to look through your socks and undergarments as well.  Get rid of anything you would not want to be seen in. Spend a few dollars on some new items if you do not have much left when you are done.

Now it is time to put your keepers back in the closet.  Take a few minutes to figure out what goes where best.  Divide your clothes by season and keep them together accordingly.  It will make it easy to switch your spring and summer items to the back of the closet in the fall.

A few last tips for those of us tempted to pull stuff back out of the do-not-keep piles.  If you are planning on using some items as rags, go ahead and cut them up now.  You can keep them in a plastic bag or small box in your cleaning supply closet.

Remove the bags to be thrown away or given to charity as soon as possible.  The longer they sit around the house , the more tempted you will be to dig something back out.

It is that easy!  With a little luck you will have enough room in your closet to actually see what you have. You may even find clothes you forgot you had.