Going through my closet always makes me feel a little guilty. I have all these clothes that I don’t wear and/or don’t like. It’s time to get rid of them! By having a capsule wardrobe I will have easier choices to make when getting dressed in the morning and I will make fewer spontaneous purchases of clothes I can’t make multiple outfits out of. Going forward I will make more of an effort to buy less clothes than I am getting rid of.

Step 1: Gather

The very first thing I do when decluttering my spring and summer clothes is to gather them all into one huge pile. Then I pick up each clothing piece and make a QUICK decision to sort it into one of three new piles (Keep, Maybe, or Declutter).

Now is not the time to hem and haw. Go fast. Your “Maybe” pile will probably be the largest.

Set the “Declutter” pile to one side. You do not need to do the next steps with those clothing items.

Take the clothing from the “Keep” and “Maybe” piles and go category by category sorting them into more specific stacks to go through.

For example, you’ll see in the picture directly below that I have my spring/summer shorts and pants separated into colored pants, white pants, white skirts, jean skirts, white shorts, bright shorts, denim shorts, dark shorts, athletic shorts, and printed shorts. This makes it easier for me to see how many of each category I have.

Step 2: Ask Questions

As you go through your more specific piles ask the following questions for your “maybe” items (see picture below).

Tip: You might want to try on a number of items to see if they fit!

Step 3: Decide

After trying on clothes and asking yourself the questions shown above, hopefully it is easy to make a final decision about each clothing item.

Are you going to keep it, sell it, donate it, give it away, or does it need to be thrown in the trash (or go to a textile recycling site)!

Tip: For the clothes you are keeping, I would highly recommend you take an inventory of your seasonal wardrobe using this helpful Spring and Summer Clothing Checklist to keep track of what you still need. This way you can wait for sales and make better purchasing decisions in the future.

I hope you join me next week for our next Declutter Challenge category.

Go back to Declutter Challenge Week 9: Children’s Spring and Summer Clothing.