Winnow & Spruce Organizing: Seasonal Switch

Hello Friends,

I have blogged before on the benefits and how to's of clearing out a clothes closet, here, and here.

Today with Spring weather finally hitting here in Northwest Wisconsin, I thought I'd run through switching out our clothes closets for the seasons.

Living here in this cold climate means we have a lot of clothes. If you live in an older home like I do, there isn't much closet space. If you've ever wondered why? Here is the answer! If you're not like me, it's not what you think. Fascinating.

So the end result is there isn't enough space to store all our clothing for all the seasons. Most people, unless they have beautiful walk-in closets, use plastic totes to store off-season clothing. Some people store these in different areas of their home, depending on how large the off-season clothing storage closet is and if it all fits in there. Sometimes clothes end up being stored in different closets. When it comes time to switch seasons, often clothes are misplaced, lost or forgotten about.

The struggle is real.

Recently I read this article/video where an organizing expert opens up his apartment and uses it as a classroom to teach organizing skills. I love this idea, but I wonder would people really pay to come see my apartment? Leave a comment below.

Until that decision is made, here is a peek into my system for switching out my clothes and a glimpse of how I organize my closet. I hope it inspires you!

I live in a small 450 square foot 2 bedroom apartment so I have 3 closets. This is my extra closet.

I store my off-season clothes and summer items, such as beach towels in these fabric bins that are no longer available - sorry! I love them because I can neatly store 4 on the top shelf of the extra closet. They fit exactly! Always measure first.

First, pull the in-season clothes in my case fall/winter out of the bedroom closet and decide if you'll wear it again next season? Does it still fit? Is it in good repair? Does it need laundering? Does your partner enjoy seeing you in it?

Sort into piles.

I keep a donation bag handy behind my bedroom door as it's easy to try something on, decide it needs to go and put it directly in the bag.

Roll up the clothes you decide to keep and store in your bins. Rolling keeps the wrinkles at bay.

I decided to label my totes this year as sometimes I will steal back a sweater in the summertime.

Then it's on to the shoes! You know the drill and the rules. Keep what you love!

My special occasion and off-season shoes fit perfectly in a tote! Joy.

I added a special touch. If beauty is important to you, consider taking photos of your shoes and affixing to your shoe boxes. It looks so high-end and makes me smile whenever I peek in my closet.

Now the big reveal! After

Before

So drab and boring before...all those neutral, dark colors for autumn and winter.

Now refreshed for spring and summer, bright, happy colors!

Why yes, my dresser is in my closet!

As you can see, I have WAY too many clothes for this space. Last year I inherited a huge box of clothing that I am deciding if I will wear or not - the items I kept are slightly crammed as shown. I plan to winnow this down by at least 1/3 in the next couple of months as I create new outfits and see if the new items are a fit for me and my preferences.

Buy these velvet hangers. Your slippery, strappy clothing will stay hung.

The felt boxes in this closet - well most of them anyway - are from Ikea and they are my absolute favorites for storing folded clothing aka Marie Kondo style.

The newly labeled totes are back on their shelf.