The top 5 tricks to organizing seasonal clothing

Living in a small space is like travelling with just a carry on – too many clothes, not enough space.  Other than getting rid of half your clothes, is there a solution? Of course!  This would be a pretty short article otherwise.  My advice?  Start by organizing seasonal clothing in your closet. 

By living 300 square feet (or less) for the last 10 years, I have learned the importance of organizing seasonal clothing.  It not only maximizes the space in your closet, but the clothes you have are all relevant to the season.  No more digging through sweaters to find tee shirts in the summer.  In this article, I will break down my Top 5 tricks to organizing seasonal clothing to create more space in your closet. 

BREAKING DOWN YOUR WARDROBE BY SEASON

Depending on where you live, you may have the luxury of a year-round wardrobe.  Coming from Canada, unfortunately that is not the case.  In a climate with distinct seasons, organizing seasonal clothing is integral to maximize the storage opportunities when living in a small space.  The first step of the process will be to break down your climate needs. Are Autumn & Winter pieces one and the same?  Perhaps Spring & Summer are similar in temperature where you are.  Based on your location (and how much space you have to work with), decide how often you will be switching your seasonal clothing throughout the year.

ORGANIZING SEASONAL CLOTHING STARTS WITH A MESS

This is where organizing seasonal clothes gets messy (and you may start cursing the project all together).  Take everything out of your closet & organize your items into the seasons you have chosen.  Everything.  Make one pile for each season.

While everything is out, give the space a good clean to start fresh.  Vacuum the floors, dust the shelves, throw away any broken hangers and clean the mirrors.  Closets can get pretty dusty & gross.  Take the opportunity while you’re organizing seasonal clothing to refresh the space.

YEAR ROUND / CROSS-SEASONAL ITEMS

There will be cross-seasonal pieces in your wardrobe that you may keep in your closet year-round.  The items of clothing you wear regardless of the season can have a pile of their own.  I tend to keep tee-shirts in my wardrobe year-round for layering, as well as active wear and jeans.

SEASONAL CLOTHING GETS ORGANIZED

Go through your items and remove any pieces that you don’t wear, don’t fit or need repair.  Designate these items to donation, sell, or to take a tailor and make sure you action those tasks soon.

Once you have finished organizing seasonal clothing, it’s time to start putting it all away.  Start with your cross seasonal items that will be in your closet year-round.  Put everything away neatly and organize your closet in a way that makes sense to you. 

When you’re organizing seasonal clothing in your closet, decided if you will be keeping outerwear in the same closet as your clothing, or if you have a separate area for coats/shoes/etc.  If it’s in the same space, designate an area for all outerwear to go together.

Once you have put your year-round items and your outer wear in your closet, it’s time to add the current season’s items.  When organizing seasonal clothing, I like to work from left to right when hanging clothes and go from shirts to dresses to pants.  I like to fold my sweaters and casual clothes, with fancier attire hanging up.  That way I know that for dressier occasions, I need something that hangs, and for casual days, it’s all folded.  Come up with a system that you’re happy with – whether its colour coded, itemized or with a work vs play style of organization

I’VE GOT EXTRA SPACE … NOW WHAT?

One season down, now what to do with the rest?  If you’re lucky enough to have enough space, you, add in another season that has similar styles or pieces as   your current season – spring & summer for example.  If you can fit two seasons into your space, go for it!  It will be organizing seasonal clothing less frequently throughout the year, will mean less to store and you may even find some pieces you can creatively wear in another season (hello Summer dress with tights and a sweater in Autumn!)

It’s time to congratulate yourself.  You’ve just maximized your closet space by organizing seasonal clothing.  With just the clothes that are relevant to just this season in your closet, you have not only maximized your space, but you have also simplified your morning routine.  Win win!

Ready to get started? Download the 5 Step Checklist to Organizing Seasonal Clothing

Be sure to read my follow up post, The Best methods of storing clothes seasonally, to learn how to store your clothes, and share some of my favourite products to do so.

Download my FREE e-book How to Organize your closet … in a day!  Since you’ve already taken everything out, why not organize it all before you put it back in?

Haven’t done a closet refresh in a while?  Then it’s time to read my article The Best Top 5 Quick & Simple Small Closet Hacks