Like any reasonably sane person (what I am about to tell you is unhinged), I completely clean out my closet twice a year. Top to bottom, completely empty, everything from outerwear to underwear and everything in between.

The way I clean out my closet requires an entire weekend, ideally a long weekend. I start by washing my bedding so that I have a clean and relatively cat hair free-surface to put all my clean clothes on. I also try and have all my clothes clean, so that I know I am truly going through all my clothes (although I don’t know if this step is completely necessary, because if it’s in your dirty laundry you know you’ve worn it recently). Then in the morning after I’ve made my bed I start pulling everything out. My biggest piles are pants/jeans, shirts, and dresses, so I try to start with them so that I can have the most space for those piles. From there I move to coats, skirts, shorts, sweaters, activewear, and then cold weather accessories (hats, scarves, gloves, etc.), and then I pull out all my shoes and set them on the floor in my main room and then put all my bags (including tote bags) on the couch for last. I also get my off-season clothes out of storage and anything I set aside last time. Now that everything is out of the closet and dresser I take the vacuum to my closet, I vacuum off the top shelf and into the corners and the floor. Then I mop the walls and floor with hot water and powdered tide. I also vacuum out my dresser drawers.

Then it’s time for a coffee and snack break.

Then the actual sorting starts. I don’t try everything on, only items I am uncertain about. Now, not everything in my closet fits, like most women I hang on to items that I am sentimentally attached to, even if it doesn’t fit. So I pick up every item one by one and say yes, no, or maybe like anyone cleaning out their closet. The yes’s go right back into their spot, the no’s get sorted into either sell, donate, or dispose of and the maybes get put into another pile.

Once all the yes’s and no’s are sorted into their respective piles then it’s time for another break because realistically it’s probably like 9pm at this point. The next day is for the maybes.

At this point, we are trying everything on. We are trying tops with different bottoms to see how many outfits we can make, sitting in bottoms to see if they are comfortable sitting and standing, and just generally seeing if they fit. From there, clearly, they go into yes, no, or I put them in a box to see if I miss the piece.

Then, finally, we have a refreshed closet and a list of items that I think are missing from my closet. This list is generated from two places, a list of trends that I am intrigued by for the season, and things that when I am trying to put outfits together from my closet I notice I am missing. The second half of that group is generally things like black tights, t-shirts, tank tops, or camisoles as layering pieces, a black turtleneck, a strapless bra or sticky boobs, you get the picture. That list makes my shopping list for the season.

Happy cleaning,

Laura