How to Clean Out Your Closet for a Style Reset

I've attempted it. Many, MANY times before. It usually ends up with me throwing away one or two ratty old tshirts. Not this time. Wow.

Yeah, so this is my closet! (I wish;)

I was getting super frustrated. I'd barely been able to squeeze my clothes into my closet when I'd do laundry, and yet I still felt like I barely had enough options to get me through the week. My winter clothes were still in there, and it had been a long time since I went through and pulled out old stuff. There were also a lot of things that needed mending. 

I did a little surfing for new ideas on how to tackle the task, since nothing had really worked for me before. I came across this fantastic article! I gave it a try, with a few edits. First (I think due to my frustration) I very brutally got rid of things. Bags of things. I realized I am pretty sentimentally attached to clothes. Not like I remember specific things associated with them, more like, "Ohhhhhh, but what if I want to wear this someday? And I reach in my closet and it's not there???" Not this time. I got rid of clothes I haven't worn that I've been toting around for years. I pulled out the pile of mending and put it in a separate area. I threw away a bunch of old stuff that no one would want (why did I have it?) and the rest I took to Plato's and the DI:)

It's a little ridiculous to see all the clothes exploded all over my room. But WOW, putting things back in my closet was so Feng Shui. Everything was neat and organized. There were no longer "zones" on the shelves, I can see every article of clothing. I know what I own. My "what-if-I-paint-or-mow-the-lawn-or-build-a-house" pile of ratty clothes was down to about one set. Win. 

When I started putting away my clothes, I didn't even have to do the step in the article that said to choose colors. It was kind of done for me already:) I was a little surprised. Turns out, my wardrobe is currently consisting of coral, blue and light neutrals. I failed at the no shopping rule in the article, I admit. I did buy a few new things from Plato's and the mall. I've just learned in my lifetime that when you find an article of clothing that sings on you-- buy it. If at all possible. Because there are way too many times when you want to find things, but can't.

The backwards hanger trick is good for making sure you wear all the clothes in your closet

Now I feel that everything in my closet is wearable. And my closet is super navigable. It's like those word problems in math, where half the stuff in there is just meant to distract you from what's important. The first step is to eliminate those superfluous distractions and get to the usable stuff. I feel like everything is semi-coordinated now, like I can mix and match with ease, without having to think about it much because most everything "goes" with each other. When I was shopping, I was able to think of my wardrobe and what would go with the things I have. And shopping within my colors of choice made it so much easier.:)