It’s Spring Cleaning Time!

Spring signifies a new beginning.  Let’s open your closet, clean out all the old stuff that no longer serves you, and set up a new closet for the new you in 2020 together!! A simple and beautifully organized closet is stress-relieving.  I know, organizing your closet may seem like an arduous task.  Yet once it’s done, I promise that you will feel ever so happy, proud, and appreciative of yourself for accomplishing this mission impossible!!  Closet detox is a great wayto see what you have bought in the past, rethink your purchases, and plan what to buy from the upcoming sales (oops!)    Let’s get to it!!!

 

Step 1: Play some music


Make sure to put your favorite tunes on.

 

We cannot do anything well if we do not enjoy the process.  Let’s relax and get comfortable by playing your favorite playlist in the background. Some soft pop music may be a nice choice too.  If the music is not helping you to relax, a glass of white wine may do the trick.

(Caution: do not drink any red wine, tea, or coffee next to your closet because we do not want to risk staining your clothes.)

 

Step 2: Get 4 Large boxes or bins.  You can use large plastic bags if needed.

 

To prevent the room looking crazy, messy, or unnerving during the process, let’s get 4 large brown boxes or plastic bins, and label each box:

  • Keep-Spring/ Summer
  • Keep- Fall/ Winter
  • Store away

As we take out clothes and accessories one-by-one, you can toss them into the right boxes accordingly and prevent your room from looking like a war-zone.  You can also get some shoe bags or reused small plastic bags ready to wrap your shoes before you toss them into the boxes.

 

Step 3: Ask yourself questions and separate clothes by categories

Let’s start from your favorite items or clothes that you wear most often!  Ask yourself:

  • Does it fit me?
  • When was the last time I wore it?
  • Will I wear it again?
  • What season do I usually wear this piece?

If your answers for all of the questions above are YES/ This year/ Spring, you can happily toss the cloth into 1) Keep- S/S box.

 

You can reference the “Closet Cleanse” map created by Stitch Fix below and easily identify which dresses/ tops/ blouses/ pants/ skirts/ belts/ shoes/ bags go to which boxes.

There are only 4 questions MAX to answer for each item.  All questions are fact-based (Yes/ No), so it should be easy to answer.  In case you cannot immediately decide where some pieces belong, you can set them aside, and revisit at the end of the process. 

 

Step 4: Empty the closet, fold clothes, and store boxes away

WE ARE HALFWAY THERE!! After you successfully separate your clothings into boxes, let’s take out the hangers, fold all the clothes, and neatly store the clothes into the right boxes, except Box 1) Keep S/S, which we will keep in the closet.

Here are some pictures and tips on how to fold clothes from Reader’s Digest.  For more information and videos, feel free to explore “How to fold your clothes the Marie Kondo way”by Cosmopolitan.  Marie Kondo has written four books on organising, which have collectively sold millions of copies around the world.  She was also listed as one of Time’s “100 most influential people” in 2015.

 


 

 

Step 5: Organize and beautify your closet

The key to making our closet look magazine-perfect is to hang your clothes by COLOR– from light to dark.  As you put your clothes back onto the racks, hang all your white tops, white jackets and white bottoms next to each other, and do the same thing with colorful clothes and black clothes.

If you have printed garments, you can group them by the dominant color, which is the color that leaves you the most impression. For example, the flower printed dress below will look good in front of the navy group and next to other lighter colored clothes.  The salt-and-pepper plaid dress below can be placed among your grey-color group or in front of your black-color group.

Depending on your closet space, you can place same-colored shoes and bags near your clothes.  Otherwise, lay them out on available surfaces from light to dark color as well.

 

Step 6: Finishing touch! Beautifying the closet

Lastly, you can save a small table-top space in your closet to keep jewelry boxes,a pot of plants, or a vase for seasonal flowers. Colorful perfume bottles are also great decorations and can add a finishing touch to your looks every morning. (Note: only keep one that you use most often on this table top, and store the rest away.)

Now you can dress up and enjoy the fruit of your labor every morning.  The scent, the colors, and the cleanliness of your closet will welcome you in the morning, and remind you how amazing you are in creating this picturesque wardrobe. You Go Girl!!!