Declutter Your Home: Clothing Tips

In my house, clothing is a thorn in my side when it comes to keeping things organized. I have three children and between the four of us, we have a large amount of clothing rotating between closets, dressers, hampers, washing machine, dryers and laundry baskets. Keeping all of the clothing organized and put away so it doesn't clutter up the house is a challenge. Here are a few of the tricks I use to keep things in order.

Sorting Clothes in the Closet
One of the best tricks I've ever learned for sorting clothes is to tag every hanger in your closet. If you're like me, you've got several clothing items hanging in the closet that you never wear but you hate to get rid of, because, well, you might wear them someday. A good rule of thumb is that if you haven't worn it in a year, you're just not going to wear it.

I have used index card to create a tag for each hanger. Cut a hole in the index card for slipping over the hanger. Write the date on each card then put it on the hanger. As you wear an item, remove the tag. When you're ready to sort and get rid of clothing, anything that still has a tag on it - say six months or a year later - get rid of it.

This trick can help you sort and get rid of clothing to declutter and make room in your closet. Trust me, this is painless and the cards with the date are visual reminders that you really haven't worn the clothes in a long time, so it's okay to let them go.

Limiting Clothing Numbers
It is easy to become overwhelmed with clothing. I keep dressy outfits, casual clothing, summer clothing, winter clothing, favorite pieces, and more. When you have a household that includes kids, you end up with a lot of clothing.

One of the best ways I have found to keep clothing under control and in some sort of order is to limit how much clothing everyone has. It is not necessary for each person in the home to have a dozen or more pairs of socks (in my house that would mean 48 or more socks floating around!), several pairs of jeans, a few dozen t-shirts and more.

Limit each family member to a specific, realistic, number of clothing items. Adequate numbers should be based upon needs (school, work, dressy occasions, etc.). Keeping clothing to a minimal number will require extra laundry, but the laundry won't be as monumental as it would be with dozens of pieces of clothing for each household member.

Organize Closets by Color
One method of keeping track of clothing and keeping a closet in order is to organize by color. I do this in my closet and it makes it easier to find what I am looking for as well as keep the closet neat and orderly.

I group clothing by colors which makes it easier to visually organize the space. While this isn't a huge step toward cutting the clutter, it does help me keep things in order.

Store Off-Season Clothing
With limited space and a desire to declutter, storing off-season clothing is a requirement in my house. When the seasons change and the consistent temperatures follow, my household packs up the off-season clothing into plastic bins and puts them away. The clothing for the current season gets unpacked and put away into dresser drawers. I try to keep a marked bin for each household member then stack them neatly in the storage room.

Use a few of these tips to keep your clothing from overwhelming you and causing clutter in your home.