Ahhhh …. October is not even a week away! Finally! Time for sweater weather, mums on the porch, and everything pumpkin: cookies, muffins, coffee, and décor!
October also means — according to our monthly task list — it’s time to tackle the closets!
If you are a faithful reader of our blog, you know this chore gets dropped on the schedule both in April and in October. Two reasons for this, my friend:
- Most of us have more than one closet.
- What it takes to get there is what it takes to stay there.
The first time we tackle each closet, it is time-consuming, a little painful, and perhaps even tearful! But the second time around should (hopefully) be much easier. Check out last year’s post, Winning the Battle with Cluttered Closets. For that type of in-depth cleaning, we recommend setting aside a large chunk of time and trying (if possible) to do it all in one day. 
Today, let’s look at alternatives to last year’s full purge and consider some ideas for completing this task in smaller segments of time. Rather than devoting one complete day to your closets, you might be able to schedule a clean-out in three or four 20-minute increments.
Before you begin, prepare labeled containers or baskets for items to Put Away, Throw Away, or Give Away, as mentioned in last October’s post (we’ve created convenient printable labels in various sizes, that you can download to help with your task … find them here).
Here are some ideas to divide and conquer that closet efficiently and effectively:
- Top-down approach.
- Pull everything off the top shelf. Discard trash, evaluate items tossed up there out of the way for usefulness, and analyze what you want to keep and what can be released. Dust the shelf and return the “keepers.”
- Pull off one-half of hanging items. If you have a double rod in your closet, do the top rod one day and the bottom rod another day.
- Save the floor for last. Pull everything out of the closet and sort into the appropriate containers. Vacuum the floor and dust the baseboards in the closet. Return items in an orderly manner.
- Category approach.
- Pull out all the tops (blouses, shirts, tees, etc.) and sort them by short- sleeved, long-sleeved, color, etc. Ask yourself, “How many short-sleeved shirts do I need?” If you answered 8 and you counted 18, might be time to share the surplus.
- Repeat for slacks, dresses, jeans, shoes, etc.
- Discard items that are torn, give away items no longer worn, and make a pile of those needing a repair. Take a few minutes to clean the shelves, floor, and baseboards, then hang or put away all the remaining articles of clothing.
- Quadrant approach
- Eyeball your closet and divide into quadrants. Each section may include a combination of shelves, cubbies, hanging space, and floor.
- Pull everything out of one quadrant. Make decisions. Sort into bins. Dust shelves, sweep or vacuum the floor, wipe down the baseboards. Then put everything away.
- Repeat with each quadrant.
Some additional ideas for closet maintenance:
- Invest in slim hangers like these to maximize space. Not only do they allow you to hang more items on the closet rod — if you’ve never used them, you will be shocked at the difference they make! — but the velvet keeps clothing from slipping off the hanger (and ending up wrinkled or, worse yet, in a pile on the floor).
- Another alternative: think about using color-coded hangers. Tops on red hangers, skirts on blue, etc. This can help you know when it’s time to cull your closets; if your husband decided he needs no more than a half-dozen sweatshirts, allot six hangers in the designated color. And if you keep clothing in more than one size — let’s say, you’ve got a favorite style of jeans or dress pants in two sizes because your waistline fluctuates a bit — you might even consider assigning a different color to each size, to quickly tell them apart.
- As you hang up each item after your closet clean-out, put the hanger on the rod backwards. When you wear an item and later return it to the closet, turn the hanger around the correct way. The next time you are ready to purge the closet, the still-backward hangers will indicate which clothes haven’t been worn in months … easily identifying your first candidates for the Give Away bin!
- Measure your closet cubbies and shelves, and consider investing in baskets, bins, or crates to maximize space and keep items corralled and tidy. Be sure to label!
- If you have limited closet space, consider rotating your clothes out seasonally. Large bins with lids can be stored in an attic or basement when not in use. You could also consider shallow under-the-bed boxes for seasonal items.
Don’t forget to train your children in organizing and maintaining a closet, as well. Resist the temptation to just send them out to play so you can do this for them. Even a very young child can help out by putting items into bins as you sort them. (You can also talk to them about sharing God’s provision — and blessing children in other families — by donating the clothes they’ve outgrown.) As they get older, you can involve them in each step of purging their closets of unused items. Training them now will not only save you time in the long run, it will prepare them for life.
October is a great time to tackle our closets, as the holidays will come shortly thereafter. Before making our Christmas wish list, it will be helpful to take note of what we already have.
Happy Fall … and Happy Closet Organization!
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October 2019 BLANK ‘Do It’ List
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