How to Clean Your Closet in Five Easy Steps
So you want to clean your closet but have no idea where to start? Recently walked into your closet only to immediately walk back out because “it wasn’t worth it”? My closet seemed to always be turning into a clothes-strewn mess, but I finally spent an evening getting out of my wardrobe nightmare (not the malfunction kind, just the kind where I am trying to cram 40 shirts into an already crammed cubbyhole) and I plan on keeping it pretty neat from now on. I knew it was time to declutter when I could no longer find one pair of jeans that fit out of 15 pairs I owned.
I was ready for a clean, organized closet. Here’s how I did it:
Step 1: Assess the Situation
The first thing you have to do is figure out where you are. Here is my closet before cleaning and organizing. WARNING: Graphic photos below! Not for the OCD neat freak at heart.
- I just realized you can’t even tell I have 4 cubbies on the right. It looks like the closet is vomiting.
- Those hangers are out of control!
- That’s not a fisheye lens, that’s sheer laundry volume.
Step 2: Empty the Entire Closet
I think it's the lighting...my closet is not really this green.
Totally Empty! What Do I Do Now?
Step 3: Cry
Stop crying, Van der Geek!
Oh my God. What have you done?! Do you realize how long it’s going to take to put everything back? It’s 9 PM on a Friday night! OK, breathe. You can do this. You just have to start somewhere. Let’s start somewhere easy and simple, like shoes.
Step 4: Start Putting Things Back in Separate Sections
It’s doesn’t matter how you want to organize things, just as long you know the system and you’ll stick with it. No coming home and stuffing clothes into any random spot. Here are some different ways to organize your clothes, shoes and accessories:
- By colors of the rainbow (like Andrea)
- By category (blazers, jackets, tops, pants, skirts)
- By mood (how does this shirt make you feel?)
- By price (Saks clothes in the front, Goodwill clothes towards the end)
- By size/quantity/ease of use of pockets (cargo pants in the front, leather leggings towards the end)
- By rating of 1-5 how likely this outfit will be be seen in the next Miley Cyrus video (cutoff shorts and dirty tank tops in the front, everything else towards the end)
I just went with the boring old category organization route. I used the cubbyholes for stuff I use a lot, like purses, belts and workout clothes. I also replaced all of my multi-colored hangers with uniform white hangers. Yes, I stuffed all the extra hangers onto my boyfriend’s side of the closet. Who’s gonna stop me?!
Step 5: Donate, Toss and Recycle What’s No Longer Being Used
As you put things into their newly designated permanent homes (that you will never, ever defile by placing the wrong thing in a section again), you should also be separating the stuff you no longer wear or use. Was it hard for me to say goodbye to tees that reminded me of college and size 25 designer jeans I can no longer fit one leg into? Not really. I’m so over stuff and I was happy to get rid of five garbage bags of it to Goodwill! I thought about selling some of the fancy stuff on eBay, but I would rather have someone find it for cheap at a Goodwill store. It feels like a little bit of good karma to get rid of years of accumulated stuff and send it down an unknown, but hopefully happy path.
Enough talk! Who’s ready to see some pictures??
The “After” Pictures
I have cubbies again!
Still crowded, but more like one big happy family than an angry dysfunctional one.
Shoes go up top so my dog won't chew them.
You're welcome for the free advertising, LA Fitness!
I still have a lot of clothes. But now I can see what I have and I’ve once again found a bunch of stuff I’d thought I’d lost months ago, which I’m excited to wear again. It feels great to walk into a closet and see things I can wear. I miss the fun of getting new clothes, but having a new closet is making a lot of the temptation to buy new things fade away.
Have you done a declutter or cleanout recently? Please feel free to share a link to your organizing and cleaning posts below! If you have other tips on how to keep your closets organized, please let me know!
That looks so good! I always feel the “what have you done” feeling when I clean out my closet but it feels so amazing to have it done.
Great job. I love the after photos.
I watch two episodes of “Hoarders” and then throw everything out!
Nice closet! In my case I’d be crying because my wife would knee me in the stomach for emptying “her” closet, haha! We definitely have a bunch of stuff that we haven’t worn in a while. Maybe I can gently bring up a closet cleaning…..
I like Bax’s idea… a couple of episode of Hoarders might do the trick…
Hahaha, Bax cracked me up! Hoarders as a motivational tool and always keep you on the alert from accidentally acquiring 86 cats in your home…
I’m going to be doing this this weekend, but I don’t have nearly as much stuff! wow lol
very good tips!
I need to bushwack the jungle that is our walk-in closet. I think I hoard clothing because I always think “I can sell this for a quarter at a garage sale.”
I don’t even wear many of my clothes. I like JD Roth’s idea: hang everything on hangars backwards. After you wear it once, hang it the right way. After a year, anything that is still hanging backwards is donated.
I think most people have a little bit of hoarder in them. Most of us feel the need to keep stuff just in case we might need to years down the road. That stuff just gets in the way and clutters our lives. Maybe I’ll use this as motivation to clear out our closet since we have to move at the end of the month anyway.
There’s actually a whole pack of us doing this right now as a result of Carla hosting a double challenge month: http://halfdozendaily.typepad.com/my-half-dozen-daily/february-challenge-2012-1.html
So far this month I’ve gutted and cleaned out my bedroom, closet, and living room. Next up are the boxes in my basement *shudder*
http://diggingoutandup.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/double-challenge-month-update-1/
http://diggingoutandup.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/double-challenge-month-weekly-update-3/
I got rid of about 25% of my closet after this last cleaning and it felt GREAT. But there are definitely some things I held on to which I haven’t worn in years, like this “Endless Surf” t-shirt I have that I just love. I’ll never throw it away. I compromise with myself, get rid of 90% of the stuff that’s just cluttering my life, but keep 10% of it for a little while longer. Usually by the next round of cleaning, in six months or so, I’m emotionally ready to get rid of whatever I was holding on to.
I cleaned out my closet a couple years ago. Every 6 months or so (generally mid winter and mid summer) I go through it again and throw out anything I haven’t worn. (However, just because my closet is organized, that doesn’t mean anything else in that room is.)
I also have a goal of anytime I bring in a new pair of pants, I have to throw a pair out (with the recent exception of when I decided I really needed a 2nd pair of jeans) and for any new tops, 2 old tops have to go.
My goal is to not have anything in my closet that doesn’t fit, isn’t comfortable, or that I hate how I look in it.
Great progress.. Keep it up.
I recently donated about half of my wardrobe.
It was a great feeling to lighten my load, and made the closet much more accessible.
wow really great job. You should see how long it takes us to clean and organize our closet, prob lasts two weekends.
I’m a neat freak and I started to hyperventilate after looking at the first picture
I’ve calmed down now and think you did an amazing job!!
I organize my closet first by suits, then pants, and shirts. (I’ll admit I break it down even more than that, but I’ll just leave it at that for now!)
A useful tip you may want to try: whenever I buy a new piece of clothing, I have to get rid of an old one. This helps me to stay clutter free and honest with myself because there are items that I really don’t wear but keep just because.
Lastly: I thought you remodeled the closet. I didn’t realize that there were cubbies on the left side. I had to re-read the captions hahaha!!
Hahaha, MoneySmart. I realized that too when I looked at the first picture. It was pretty bad at that point. You know you have to clean when you can’t see the form of the closet anymore.
I like the buy one, get rid of 1/2/3 rule. For now, I’m not buying so I don’t have to get rid of anything else yet!
Wow! This is looking good. But do you call this easy? I feel exhausted only looking at the pictures. However, I am going to have a go at this one this coming Saturday – do you think one day is enough?
I organize by color…I learned this working in retail. It is really easy to find things. I go from dark to light.
The before picture is gonna give me nightmares, but the after looks so nice. Just have to keep it that way now. Fortunately I’m a guy so I don’t have the same problem, in fact my closet looks kinda bare.
I’m with Maria@moneyprinciple. Just reading the post and looking at the pics has me exhausted. I was thinking about cleaning out my closet this week end but now I’m too tired. Thanks for giving me yet another reason to procrastinate such a wretched task.
Keeping it clean is definitely part of the challenge. But that is so much easier when it already looks nice and you just need to maintain!
The Dawson Cry picture is internet GOLD!
Great article, new to the site but I will be back!
Glad you liked it…we’ve referenced Dawson before…you’ll have to comb through the site to find it! Hope you join us again soon
Great Job! Now come over and do my closet.
Ha! I’m an OCD neat freak and after that first photo I was thinking “Oh no, where is this going?”. But it all worked out great!
I just recently organized my closet (like I do 3 times a year) and I must say I went through all your steps as well. I knew it was getting bad when I didn’t even want to walk in there anymore. I started just leaving my folded clothes on my chair in my room to avoid the dreaded closet.
Thankfully, after crying and clearing everything out, my closet is all organized and peaceful again. I bought some new portable cubbies from Ikea for $38. Totally worth it. I even have a place for my belts!
The cubbies are great. Actually my boyfriend’s side of the closet is larger than mine and has no cubbies, which is why I took this side. But good to know you can buy them on the cheap at IKEA!
Ahhhh, that must feel so good! I did something quite similar a month ago. Spring cleaning I guess. Loved dumping everything! I hate folding clothes though, probably b/c I’m not good at it.
Where do you live that allows you to have so many bikinis?? Don’t tell me Hawaii!
Nicely done! I love when people post before and after pictures. It feels good isn’t it to clean and re-organize? When I did the same to my closet, I almost felt… liberated! Have fun in Miami. Love that place.
Wow, nicely done!
Wow, I am amazed that you emptied the ENTIRE closet. Your article inspired me to take a look at my closet. Spring cleaning is coming up, you know!
@Financial Samurai-Los Angeles. My bikini collection is from my former life in the Caribbean
@After College Money: It’s the only way to go! I know myself, if I don’t dump everything out of the closet, it will be a half-assed attempt and no one wants that!
The pictures really make this post – especially Van Der “Geek” as you call him! Love it! My husband and I both had to clean out our closets over the past few weeks as we prepared to put our house on the market. While we didn’t completely empty it, we did try on EVERY PIECE OF CLOTHING WE OWNED. We each took four trash bags full out of our closets (we have his and hers – and no, we don’t live in a luxurious house; our closets are probably the BEST part of this house!) – two went to charity, one went to trash, and one is going to a consignment store!
[...] Steps to a cleaner, straighter, more organized, less cluttered closet at American Debt Project. [...]
[...] similar line, our friend at American Debt Project offered five easy steps to clean your closet. All with pictures! Apart from making me think of Eminem, reading these steps made me feel so tired [...]
[...] American Debt Project gives us five easy steps to cleaning out our closets. Lean, efficiency, and organization are important in keeping both our homes and finances in order. [...]
I decluttered quite a bit as a part of My Half Dozen Daily’s february challenge but after seing Bridget’s post I realised I could definitely reduce the number of items even more…
[...] How to Clean Out Your Closet in Five Easy Steps — When cleaning out your closet, you must completely empty your closet out. [American Debt Project] [...]
good work! I wish you lived in my city so I could figure out where to get those deals