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Cleaning out your closet may seem like a daunting task, with a seemingly never-ending pile of clothes and accessories and no time or energy to sift through everything, however this doesn’t have to be a stressful process. We listed 5 tips below to help ease you through the process and successfully declutter your closets:

1. Remove every item to take inventory: the first step in any closet clean-out should be taking everything out and gathering it all into one area so you can take inventory and see all the items you own. If you store your clothing in different areas, this step includes: grabbing everything that’s hanging, sitting in your bins and drawers, and even the items in your laundry hamper.

2. Separate items into different piles: once all your items are out, it’s time to decide what you want to keep or declutter. It’s crucial to be realistic and honest with yourself during this process. This is the time to declutter items you no longer wear due to them not fitting comfortably, or they’re outdated and don’t fit your style, or items that need to be altered (but you’ll likely never end up taking them to a tailor).

Organizing your items into these 3 separate piles is ideal:

• Keep: this pile should contain items you love and wear regularly
• Donate/Resell: this pile should contain items that are still in great condition, but you no longer wear. To ease feelings of guilt or wastefulness, you could either donate these items to charity organizations or give them to loved ones who’ll bring new life to these clothing pieces. You could also try reselling the items online or to secondhand stores to recoup some of the money you had initially spent purchasing it.
• Discard: this pile should contain items such as used undergarments, or items with holes or stains beyond repair 

3. Try the 6-month method: if you’re unsure about an item, place it in storage and keep it for a few weeks or months to reevaluate at another time. If you find that you haven’t worn the item after a few months (with the exception of seasonal clothing), it’s a safe bet you could let it go from your closet without any feelings of regret.

4. Categorize by function and season: during the sorting process it may also help to organize all your clothing by season so that you can visualize your wardrobe according to whether you’ll wear some pieces in the summertime versus the wintertime. Doing this will allow you to see if you own too many items in a single category, such as too many T-shirts or wooly sweaters, and realize it’s ok to declutter some of these items.

5. Invest in slim hangers and organizers: the last step is placing everything neatly back into your closet and simple ways to stay organized and optimize your closet space include using items such as: slim non-slip hangers, shelf dividers, drawer inserts, and stackable storage bins. The goal is to be able to see everything and be able to find specific items with ease so that you could get the most wear out of all your clothing.