Commissionable links are used in this post.
If you are feeling in a rut with the way your closet looks, take a weekend and do a complete cleanout, like I did! Not only did I rediscover lots of things I had forgotten about, but I also realized just how many items that needed to go! My criteria for keeping something in my closet were based on two things:
- Fit
- Quality and wear of the fabric
Simple yet time-consuming to try everything on. I really didn’t want to cut any corners this time because I knew I had been holding onto some unnecessary things for far too long. Okay, this is actually a little embarrassing, but here we go!
By the way, I recently wrote about my organizing hacks for makeup and jewelry! You can read it here.
Method for Closet Cleanout
Before 
After
As you can probably tell, I’m not fancy. I don’t have a walk-in closet and I don’t have lots of space or tons of shoes and bags. But there’s still no excuse for the way I was treating my clothes. My shoes were literally in a large pile just tossed around. To address this, I did the following:
- I first removed all my hanging clothes and laid them across my bed. This was to make sure I went through each and every piece.
- I used my two criteria to decide if I needed to keep it or let it go.
- I rearranged my hanging items somewhat by season and by color, keeping my most favorite things with the easiest access.
Shoes
Next, I seriously needed to sort through my shoes and figure out a better way to organize them. I openly admit that I needed to be better about giving them proper care.
- I unloaded all the shoes from the floor of the closet to see just exactly what I was working with.
- I opened up these handy (cheap!) wire shoe racks that I found at Target.
- I rearranged my shoes by season, keeping smaller sandals easily accessible at the bottom.
Click Play on the video below!
Overall, I am very happy with my closet! As I said, I let go of several things I realized did not fit correctly anymore. Some things I had been holding onto “just in case” but really never wore them. I now feel like I can open my closet and choose something that feels new from the things I already have.
Dresser Drawers
For my dresser, I followed the same routine, I went drawer by drawer and unloaded everything onto the bed. This was time-consuming because there were several things I needed to try on to decide if they should stay or go. It was worth it, though! I also used a simple folding method to minimize the space utilized; mainly taken from my memory of the Marie Kondo method.
Once again, I will show some embarrassing Before and Afters. These are probably my favorite! It feels so nice to actually have empty space in some of my drawers.
Messy athletic wear ?? 
Organized athletic wear
Messy shirts 
Organized (these are just “extra” keepsake shirts from high school and college!
For my “unmentionables” drawer, I was so happy I found these retractable drawer organizers. These are a lifesaver and all my things have a perfect place. No more messy socks all over the place!
How I fold my jeans
Watch this short video to see how I fold my jeans for maximum space saving!
Click play on the video below!
Denim jeans haphazardly thrown in any and every drawer 
Organized denim
If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to just take it one drawer at a time. I cleaned out my closet one day, and my dresser drawers the next. It was time-consuming but I am so much lighter for it. I feel confident that what I saved from this cleanout can be worn with intention rather than just taking up space for months on end. To wrap up, a couple things I had to come to terms with:
- I was holding onto way too many things that no longer fit properly.
- I was holding onto too many things unnecessarily for “nostalgia.”
I encourage you to take a few small steps to reorganize and declutter the spaces in your home. Your mind will thank you for it and you may rediscover some old favorites that still have plenty of life left in them.
xo,Laura