I long for a little sunshine and warm weather in the dead of winter as I layer up with sweaters and cozy clothing. When the weather starts to turn warm; however, I am not content. I become restless. Spring is a time of growth, new life, awakenings, rebirth, and I look at my clothes with some irritation… Haven’t I already worn this 9 million times? Isn’t that sweater going to be too warm? Don’t I have anything new and interesting to wear?
As these before pictures show, I select and discard more outfits during a season change which results in my closet looking like a tornado has struck. But the cure isn’t more clothing YET; the cure is re-arranging and de-cluttering my closet.
pants together, shirts together and jackets & sweaters together.
Of the many ways to organize a closet, my favorite for quite a while has been to arrange clothing by color, dark to light in the winter, and then switching to light to dark for spring and summer. But even that seemed mundane and old this time so I thought I would try something new as I worked on cleaning up and clearing out.
This time I arranged clothing according to outfits. By each skirt or pair of pants, I hung shirts and/or jackets or sweaters that would make an ensemble and the following photos are the results of my new organization plan which will hopefully allow for faster selection of satisfactory outfits when the weather requires flexibility and layering.
See Mom, I do know how to clean up after myself:)
The other part of spring tidying that I enjoy is to gather clothing that I no longer need and donate them to our local thrift store. If something hasn’t been worn for a long time, or if it doesn’t fit with my style or make me feel good anymore, then it is time to let it go to someone else who just might be looking for something just like that item. Call it karma or consecration or serendipity if you like, but the beauty is that when I give up what doesn’t work for me, someone else benefits, and when you do the same thing, I might find exactly what I’ve been searching for to complete an outfit.
So if you’re feeling dissatisfied with your wardrobe lately, maybe it’s time to clean out your closet. I know I feel better and have more room for new thrift store treasures after a good spring cleaning.
