Closets full? Running out of space? Developing an attachment to items that never appear to be used? Is it time to deal with the contents? Where to start?

One system that helps sort through a closet's contents more than once a year is to put away clothes that have gone past their season. If it is winter in a cold climate, the capris do not need to be hanging up taking valuable space. Try the following approach for storing excess out of season clothes (repeat every 3-6 months):

• Acquire a large plastic tote with a snap on lid to keep things as dry as possible
• Go through the current contents of your closet searching for items out of season
• Pull out and try on these items
• If they no longer fit, but are still desired put them in the tote
• If they are no longer appealing put them in a pile for Goodwill or eBay
• When the next season rolls around, hang up the items in the tote
• Note: Ensure that their hangers are facing in the opposite direction to everything else in the closet.
• When you next pull out the tote, you can check if the items hanging up are still facing the wrong direction.
• If they are, send the piece to Goodwill or sell it on eBay.

Repeating this process over time will lighten up any closet and keep only current, desired items on hand.

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