Spring is officially here, and all of the clutter piled from winter is beginning to show itself.
Since we are transitioning from winter to spring, cleaning doesn’t just require tidying up — it requires switching to cooler clothes and organizing these clothes so you know where to find them.
Instead of stressing out about the piles of sweaters, boots and scarfs surrounding your floor, let me give you a few simple steps to help you clean up and change seasons in no time.
Step 1: Pick everything up
The best way to overwhelm yourself is to walk into your room and find clothes everywhere on the floor. On the other hand, the easiest way to de-stress yourself is to pick everything up off the floor, and sort through it on the bed. Laying your clothes neatly on the bed so you can look through them piece by piece is way easier and less stressful than having clothes strung out all over your floor.
Step 2: Decide what stays and what goes
Since we have now changed seasons, go through each piece of clothing individually and decide if it is winter or spring. If it’s spring, put it to the side to sort through later, and if it’s winter, put it in a bin to store until next winter. If you can’t decide what season it belongs to, see if you could picture yourself wearing it while doing your typical spring activities.
Step 3: Hang or fold
Once you’ve decided what is staying for spring and what is going to be put away for next November, you need to determine if each article hangs in the closest or is folded and put in a drawer. Usually, I hang my nicer pieces in my closet and fold my more casual looks to go in my drawers. For example, blouses and dresses will hang, while T-shirts and pants or shorts will go neatly in a drawer. Wherever you decide to put your different types of clothes, make sure you group them correctly — put your shorts in a separate drawer than your pants or skirts, and so on. Also, be sure to separate dresses and shirts in the closet to prevent confusion.
Step 4: It’s up to you
Now that your clothes are separated and put away, you can either leave it because you’re lucky you even made it this far, or if you’re like me, you want to go further in organizing what you’ve just sorted through. To really reduce stress, try organizing your hanging clothes by type. For example, in my closet I have my dresses to the left, short sleeves in the middle and long sleeves furthest to the right. In my drawers, I have my nice shorts separate from my lounge and active shorts, and same with pants. It may seem petty, but it comes in handy when trying to decide what to wear based on activity and temperature.
Having a clean closet is the best way to start off the new season feeling fresh and organized, so use these steps to get your closet in good shape.
Anne can be reached at intrigue@ThePlainsman.com.
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