Decluttering closets is a special kind of battlefield, one where even the strongest soldier falls, and is laid to rest in a pile of polyester. The closet is one of the spaces that you’ll find yourself decluttering over and over again, as clothes have a tendency to magically appear in your shopping cart and at your front door. This is not abnormal, as we try to keep up with seasons, trends, fluctuating sizes, it’s hard to declutter the clothes closet once and be done.

I find the closet to be even harder to organize than the kitchen, because the closet is far more emotional, even if we don‘t realize it. The closet is where aspirational clutter lives rent free. I still have the dress I wore to my engagement party over 12 years ago. It doesn’t fit me, hasn’t in a while. But still I have it, because it’s my special dress. What if in 10 years my daughter wants to wear it to a school dance? Okay, we can rationalize keeping one or two special but non-functional outfits, but when half our closet is filled with excuses, that’s when we have to step back and realize that the most common issue isn’t disorganization, but overinventory.

Clothes carry more baggage than almost anything else we own. Guilt from what we spent. Nostalgia from who we used to be. Hope for a version of ourselves that wears heels on weekdays or white jeans without fear. And when all of that lives together on one overcrowded, slightly bowing rod, the result isn’t abundance, it’s noise.

Fact is, you can’t organize clutter. This is why closets are the constant problem child that we keep going back to, hoping to fix for the last and hopefully final time, only to end up back in the same situation we were a year ago. This post isn’t about buying better bins or color-coding your hangers. It’s about clearing the mental clutter that lives between the shirts you wear on repeat and the ones you keep “just in case.” Because when a closet is organized invisibly, when it only holds what actually supports your life right now, it stops demanding attention and starts doing its job quietly in the background.

A structured closet is the key to not having semi-worn clothes draped over the corner arm chair, to not having 3 pending clean laundry hampers waiting to be put away (this is a personal call out to me), or turning your closet floor into “a secondary shelf”. The first step to get there is to declutter. However, that task can feel overwhelming when you make decisions based on emotions, and it’s hard to decide what, if anything, to let go.

I have a few tricks that I use when helping others declutter their closet, and have seen massive changes since I’ve begun implementing them in my own spaces. My hope is that at least one of these tips will resonate with you, and inspire you to take the first steps to creating a structured closet.

Declutter by Role, Not by Category

Our instinct when sorting through our clothes, is to do so by category. On the surface it makes sense: Keep this many tops, this many dresses, this many cardigans. Decluttering in this way might help pare down what we have, but it doesn’t mean that an item you’re keeping has earned its space in your closet. Rather than decide by category, decide based on the role the clothing plays in your life. For example: This shirt is for daily life, this shirt is for when I go into the office, this dress is a special occasion dress, this jumpsuit needs tailoring or else I can’t wear it, this outfit I love, but I never wear it. It might make sense for your work life, or even daily life, to have four different kinds of black shirts in your closet. You might own just one ballgown, but if you’ve never worn it, and don’t have the kind of lifestyle that will give you options to wear it, then it makes more sense to keep all four black shirts, and ditch the ballgown. This way of decluttering changes your mindset from “Do I Like This?” to “Does This Piece Earn Its Space Now?”. Word of wisdom here, it’s important to be realistic about your life, and the clothes you require to live it. Yes I’m sure the ball gown is spectacular, and you look like a princess in it. But girl, be honest, are you wearing that out somewhere that’s NOT a costume party? Do you live the kind of life where balls and operas and grand galas happen once a month for you? Most likely not, and that’s okay. Love your life, and dress accordingly for it.

The “If It Were in a Store” Test

Unsure about an item? Not willing to commit to more drastic ways of decluttering, like if you can’t decide to keep it or not within 5 seconds, get rid of it? That’s okay, there’s a calmer, more thoughtful method that lets you rationally think through your decision to keep or go, and leave you less likely to feel like you made a mistake 2 weeks from now.

Hold up an item, on the hanger, in front of you so you can see it in its entirety. Pretend you are in a store, seeing this item for the first time. Ask yourself, “would I buy this now, at full price, to wear today?” Remove the ownership bias, and any previous feelings you might have had about the outfit when you first obtained it. Maybe 5 years ago it was your favorite sweater. Maybe it was the scarf you were wearing when you wised up and dumped that no good son of a b…uh, you get my drift. It served you well then, but does it function for who you are now? Would you spend your hard earned money buying this item today, at full price?

We hold onto things we think we’re sentimental about, when in reality we grow and evolve over time, and it’s only natural that our style changes with us. What suited us in the past might not suit us now, and that’s OKAY. It’s not a waste, it served us well when we needed it. And now we can move on to bigger and better things.

Prime Real Estate

Don’t overlook the fact that the hanging bar in your closet is prime real estate, and in this economy, it might be the only real estate we can get. Don’t waste the bar on seasonal overflow, or the occasional outfit. That bar should be used for what you actively reach for day in and out. You might think, “I can put these T-shirts away elsewhere, as I know I always reach for them, but if I hang this top up and see it then I’m more likely to wear it.” If what you are wearing every day are the T-shirts, those go on the bar. You will not be pleased when every single day you are digging through your overflow clothing storage for a favorite item. Instead, put the special occasion outfit away elsewhere, so if and when the time comes to wear it, you only have to dig for it that one time.

If you need to constantly see something to make sure you wear it on a daily basis, it’s not at the forefront of your mind, and maybe it’s not something that adds value to your wardrobe. It might be super trendy and make you look like a runway model, but if you have to force yourself to remember to wear it, it might not fit who you are at this time. Removing these kinds of items from the bar and storing elsewhere is a great way to see what you really do wear. If you put something away but find you’re constantly digging for it to wear it, it has earned a spot on the bar.

Forget How It Looks On Instagram

Now I’m the first to admit that I love me a Pinterest worthy walk in closet. The glitz, the glamour, the fashion, give me all the Cher Horowitz vibes please. However, when it comes to practicality, this will not solve your problems. It will look great, sure, but hiding the frustrations behind color coding outfits and matching hangers doesn’t remove the issues. It’s like putting a bandaid on when really you need stitches.

Even in a walk in closet, put aesthetics second, and functionality first. Perfect your inventory, because a closet bursting at the seams with unworn clothing doesn’t do you any good. Remember, you can’t organize clutter. Think about how you reach for your clothing on a daily basis. Are you a big T-shirt and jeans kind of gal, with a collection of quality shirts for every occasion? Stacking your T-shirts might seem like the best idea, save the hanging bar for things that need to be hung, but when all your shirts are stacked, it’s hard to see which shirt you’re grabbing, and you’ll find yourself taking the pile apart every day just to get the right shirt. Hanging your T-shirts means you can easily and quickly swipe through your options, finding the one you’re looking for with minimal effort, and minimal mess.

Don’t waste precious space displaying jewelry and sunglasses that you never wear, just because it looks great for a photo. Store the lesser worn stuff away, even if it’s beautiful. Don’t make things harder on yourself by not having a place to put your favorite everyday tote bag because you decided to display your evening bag you bought to match that ball gown you never wear. It’s not about making your closet look beautiful, it’s about making it function. Most closets are behind closed doors, and act as support for the rest of the room. The primary bedroom closet holds up the bedroom so that clothes aren’t strewn about on side chairs and ottomans, or cluttering up your dresser, making your bedroom look a funky hot mess. If you care more about the form than the function of the closet, the rest of your bedroom will suffer.

One In, One Out, But Make It Realistic

We all know the phrase, one thing in means one thing out. This way not only are we making sure there is space for our new item, but we also get to make sure the new item is valued, since we have to remove a current item to make the space for it. That might be a cute top at a great price, but do you like it enough to get rid of one of the tops you already have? This leads us to the part of the phrase that’s somewhat implied but not really acted on. For the one in one out rule, you need to keep it within the same category. If you buy a new trench coat, and get rid of a tank top, it’s not really going to help keep your wardrobe in check. That’s how I ended up with a closet full of sweaters and 2 T-shirts. Not realistic for my needs, and most likely, not realistic for yours. If you bring in a new trench coat, then one thing from the coat category should be moved out. An older trench coat, and spring jacket, even a bomber jacket. This keeps your coats pared down to what you actually wear, and refrain from cramming your closet space with your clothing collection.

The system works, but it only works if you follow it consistently. If more things come in than are taken out, you’re just cluttering your space right back up again with items not frequently used. Think about it this way. If you buy 4 new dresses, and only get rid of 1 old dress, you’re not gaining an extra 3 days to wear your new items. You’ll still have the same amount of days in the year as you always did, only now you have less time to wear your clothes. Did you really pay all that money and valuable closet real estate just to wear a new item once, because you have too many other new things to cycle wearing? Stay honest. If it’s not worth getting rid of something you already have to acquire it, it probably isn’t worth buying in the first place.

*A little tip from Heather: With the money you save on not buying new items, if you don’t want to get rid of anything you already own, you can invest in a garment rental service, like Rent the Runway, which will literally let you temporarily bring in a new outfit to wear once, twice, or twenty times, and then send back when you’re done. This way you can try wearing the trendier items, or more formal items, that might not make sense to invest your actual money and closet space on.

Your Closet Is A Reflection Of The You Of Today

As a self nominated queen of fluctuating sizes, I understand only too well the instinct to hold onto a dress that you fit into 5 years ago, but don’t fit into now, but maybe ONE DAY!!! One Day you will fit into it again, and then of course you will wear the heck out of it. In fact, wouldn’t I be saving money by holding onto the dress, so if I do become that size again, I don’t have to go out and then buy a new dress in that new size?

Oh my darlings, it just doesn’t work like that. It took me a lot of time and therapy to come to terms that to best function for my daily life, my closet needs to be an accurate representation of who I am at this moment. Not who I was 5 years ago, or who I hope to be in a year from now. If there is clothing in your closet not in your actual size of today, it’s time to bid them farewell. There is no need to waste closet real estate on items you can’t even wear, just on the off chance that one day you can wear it. It also implies that you’re saving your value for a “better” you. This is all wrong. The you of today IS the best you, and you should be celebrated as who you are, not who you once were because you think that size was more appealing to other people. You deserve a space to store the clothes you actually wear, clothes that fit who you are now, and wear them with pride.

Now this doesn’t only apply to body and clothing size. This can also be seasonal, work related, or trend related. Maybe you still fit into that peplum tank top that you wore with jeans, heels, and the required sock bun. But, despite Gen Z’s efforts, this look is dated and not something millennials are running to wear again. It’s okay to let it go. And let’s say you got a huge promotion at work, the same job you’ve been at for 8 years. You went from underappreciated assistant to executive with an office. Even if you still fit into the clothes you were wearing 8 years ago, don’t you think you might need to update your attire to match the position you have now? Maybe, like me, when you moved into your first home you were a younger newlywed with no kids and a lot of life lessons waiting to be learned. Fast forward, and not only have you changed over time, your tastes have changed to reflect this person you’ve become. Maybe that cardigan still fits, and maybe when you first moved in you wore it all the time, but it’s okay to allow yourself to grow and change in your style preferences.

The same way you’re allowed to evolve your interior decor style over time, sometimes even with drastic changes (I’ve seen people go from traditional to modern, farmhouse to glam, and even coastal to mid-century modern over long spaces of time), you are allowed to change your preferences for what you wear every day. Allow yourself the growth, it’s only natural.

The Payoff

Imagine a morning where you can easily find exactly the items you’re looking for in order to create the outfit you’ve been envisioning wearing since your head hit the pillow the night before. No digging through bins or storage bags, no emptying drawers in frantic searching, no clothes flying and landing on every other piece of furniture. That super amazing new outfit you invested money to buy and closet space to hold? You can quickly grab it, wear it, and love it, and make it something of true value, rather than something you have tucked away, half forgotten about, crumpled in a storage bag because there’s no room for it in your closet.

Imagine getting to wear each and everything you have hanging in your closet, because you’ve established that what’s there is worthy of the space, and perhaps you don’t need that cute new sweater you saw in the shop on the way to work, because you love and wear what you already have. No more I have nothing to wear spirals, because when you can wear, and often wear, is displayed right before your eyes.

Imagine deciding what to wear faster because you’re not sifting through a crowd of “maybes” and “I don’t actually love that”, but instead you’re choosing gold every time you reach into the closet. Everything in there has earned its right to be there, so you can’t go wrong with anything you pick (of course, please take into account the occasion for which you are dressing, hopefully that goes without saying).

You don’t have to imagine it, you can actually create this for yourself. Be upfront about who you are and what your needs are, and then tailor your closet to accommodate that person. Remove the noise from the you of the past, and allow your present self to be catered toward. You don’t have to wait for things to change into something, or back to how it was, in order to live the beautiful life you deserve. Don’t put off making yourself shine today just because you’re hoping to be a different you tomorrow. If you take the emotion out of the closet, you can clear the blockades preventing you from creating true invisible organization, allowing both you, and your space to shine. Staying on top of your closet space will help you stop future clutter before it starts, setting you up to succeed every time you open those doors.