How to organize and store your wardrobe by season

Smart strategies for organizing your wardrobe by season

The changing seasons are great opportunities for you to take stock of your wardrobe. Not only is it a smart idea to store away clothes that won’t be worn for another six months or more, but it can also be helpful to clean and organize your closet and dresser. This way, the clothes that are available are weather-appropriate and attractively organized.

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Here’s how to get started:

Edit and declutter

Before you start organizing, it’s a good time to go through your clothes with a critical eye and cull the herd. If you’ve never done this, you may be surprised by the amount of clothing you haven’t worn in ages. You might want to create three separate piles:

• Things you’ll donate
• Things you’ll keep
• Things that are worn beyond repair that should be thrown away

Don’t just limit this edit to your clothes; look at shoes, socks, swimwear, and coats, too. By taking the time to edit and declutter your wardrobe, you’ll be left with things you’ll actually wear and your closet will be less cluttered, so finding your favorite sweater will be easy.

Separate by season

Your second step is to look at the pile of things you’re going to keep and think about when you wear each item of clothing. While many items, like jeans and T-shirts, can be worn year-round, other pieces of clothing are specific to certain seasons and holidays.

If you’re heading into the warmer months of the year, set aside your heavier coats and lined boots, as well as your thick sweaters or fleece-lined pants. While you might be tempted to take all your winter wear and throw it in some kind of storage container, you may want to keep a few of those pieces at the ready for chilly nights.

Conversely, if hot weather is at an end and you’re swapping out your clothes for cozier pieces, you may still want to keep a swimsuit, sandals, and a pair of shorts at the ready for your next vacation.

If you have items that are for specific holidays, you may want to set those to the side as well so that they don’t end up in regular rotation with your everyday clothes.

Invest in seasonal wardrobe storage

Storing out-of-season clothes in cardboard boxes is a terrible idea because these boxes can break down or let in water and insects. Your best bet for storing clothes or accessories for other seasons is using a plastic container with a lid. At first, it might seem like a good idea to get something airtight, but this is incorrect. Storage boxes that allow for air circulation help to prevent mold and mildew. Garment bags are a good idea too, especially for things like suits, dresses, and long coats. These will protect your items while keeping them out of sight when you don’t need them.

Think about where your extra clothes will be stored when they’re not in regular rotation. Attics and basements are not ideal because the humidity and temperature can fluctuate wildly and affect the quality of your clothes.

Take inventory

At this point, it may be wise to truly take stock of what clothes you’ve kept and what you have on hand. Having a list of what you own can keep you from going on a wild goose chase over something you forgot that you donated.

Go through all the clothes you’re keeping, and don’t forget about your coats, shoes, and swimwear. Create an inventory with separate lists for seasons and varieties. This way, you know what coats or shoes you have at your immediate disposal, as well as what clothes are currently packed away for a different season. In fact, each storage box should have a list of its inventory somewhere that you can easily find something when you’re looking for it.

If you share a closet with a partner, this task affects both of you. Work together to create an inventory of clothing you’re keeping, as well as what’s being packed away and where it is. Collaborate on a series of notes that you can both access and edit in Microsoft OneNote.

The process of getting rid of unworn clothing and storing out-of-season pieces away should free up a ton of space in your closet. When the seasons change and you need to swap out your wardrobe, return to your inventories and update them accordingly. You should be able to organize all your year-round and seasonally appropriate pieces with ease and see all your options at once.