Closet organizing is a seasonal adventure. In the autumn months, it is time to let your summer wardrobe fall by the wayside. As warm weather approaches, you can let your summer clothes spring to the forefront.

 

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Take advantage of the seasonal climate changes to get your closet organized. It is the perfect time to take inventory, clear the clutter and get organized for cooler and often busier months.

• Begin with your summer clothing. Because summer is still fresh in our memory, it should be easy for you to determine what you did not wear this year. If you have summer clothing that you never put on from April until September, maybe it is time to let it go. Purge out anything you did not wear.
• Examine your remaining summer clothing to see that it is in good shape - without stains, tears or missing buttons. If you store clothes away with stains, the stains may be so set that they are unlikely to clean. Likewise, if you store an item with a broken zipper or missing button, you’re less likely to repair it. This is a great time to fix it or drop it off at an alterations shop since you won’t need it for months.
• Your goal should be to store your current season clothing in the most convenient location. In a large closet, you can move your summer to the back and the cold weather clothing to the front. In a small closet, you may need to move your summer clothing to another closet in another room or to storage boxes.
• Once your summer clothing is put away, begin on your winter wardrobe. Sort the clothing by use: work, dressy, casual, exercise and so forth.
• Divide the categories into types of clothing, for example, putting all slacks together and all turtlenecks together.
• Within each category, make outfits with the clothing. Begin with your bottoms, using your pants and skirts. Check to see if each has a mate for an outfit. For example, if you have brown plaid pants hanging, check to see if you have tops or sweaters that go with them. Follow up by skimming through your sweaters and tops to see if there are any without bottoms to match.
• Create a fall shopping list based on your outfit needs.
• As you match up outfits, keep an eye out for anything that needs washing, dry cleaning, mending or ironing. The goal is to make sure every item in your closet is ready to wear.
  
• Stow your summer shoes and move your winter shoes to the front of the closet or shoe area. Check to see if any of them need to be cleaned. Turn them over and examine the soles to see if they need to go to the shoe repair shop or if you need a new pair.
• Clean out summer handbags. Items left in the bags can damage them so you’ll want to remove items like loose gum, which could turn sticky, or ink pens that might leak. You can use bubble wrap to stuff them and help them retain their shape.
• Check your winter handbags to see if they are clean inside and out. A bit of leather cleaner or suede brush can restore a purse for another season’s use.
• Your final task is to remove the clothing you set aside because you no longer wear it. You might take it to a consignment shop, donate to a charity shop or have a garage sale. The important thing is to continue your organizing by removing the old clothing from your home.

©Lea Schneider, professional organizer

 

About Lea Schneider

Professional Organizer Lea Schneider’s organizing advice has appeared in Woman’s Day, Natural Health and Better Homes and Gardens Kids’ Rooms magazines. She is the Grand Prize Winner of the Rolodex Office Makeover Challenge. Her team of professional organizers, at Organize Right Now, provides organizing assistance through her Organize Online program. She is the author of Growing Up Organized: A Mom-to-Mom Guide. Learn more at www.organizerightnow.com.