The weather will soon cool down, and as the season changes you'll need to bring out or buy new fall and winter clothing. There's one problem - there might not be enough room in your closet, so a purge is definitely in order. But, sometimes this isn't easy to do, especially when you're invested or attached to some of the clothes you own, or you're overwhelmed by the whole idea of cleaning up and organizing.
Below are five easy steps to take in order to successfully nail the task:
1. Start by dividing your clothes into piles or categories. Segregate the ones that you will want to keep, donate or throw away. "My criterion for deciding to keep an item is that we should feel a thrill of joy when we touch it," said author Marie Kondo, according to GQ. "Items that we can't bring ourselves to discard even when they don't inspire joy are a real problem," added the author of "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing," which is available at Amazon. For items you no longer need, you can sell them online on sites like ebay or Craigslist.
4. Start going over the pile of clothes you want to keep and organize it again into categories or groups - tops, bottoms, house clothes, sleep wear, underwear, etc. If you can enlist a friend to help you out as you organize, then it will be more fun to go through the laborious task. (And you'll have someone to tell you, "Seriously? Just toss it," when you're having a hard time letting go.)
5. Keep a list (an inventory) of your clothes and accessories. Revisit it in a few months or the next season and either start using, giving or throwing away what you haven't used in a while.
