If your closet is overloaded with tons of coats, boots, sandals, swimsuits, sweaters, thermal layers, and all the rest of the every day wear, maybe it’s time to think about your closet a little differently.
Try to think of some of your items seasonally rather than simply belonging in your closet. Not every item needs to be in your closet all at once!
Unless you live somewhere where the temperature is all the same throughout the year, then you likely have all kinds of different clothing items or even outerwear in your closets. If you know you don’t swim through the winter, then why have you bathing suits taking up prime real estate? Stash them in a clothing keeper bag and stuff them under the bed where you won’t need it until summer. You could do the same with shorts! You may still want access to your t-shirts for layering your clothing, but think hard about what you really need during whatever season. You can save yourself a lot of closet-overwhelm simply by taking out what you really don’t need as the seasons change.
Same during the summer months. Do you really need access to your long johns or thick fleece sweaters in the summer? Switch out your bathing suits for the winter clothing so that your closet is more peaceful as you decide what to wear.
In the front hall closet, try switching out winter coats for light sweaters in the summer – everyone will then have easy access to a quick to grab sweater for those cooler mornings or evenings. Same for boots and shoes. Move your winter boots from a prime winter spot to an out of the way summer spot, and vice versa for sandals or running shoes.
It may seem like you are doubling up your storage space, but it doesn’t mean you need to have ample storage somewhere in the house for yet another bin of shoes! Think smart! Let’s think about kids’ boots vs. kids’ summer shoes for a moment… Your kids probably have space for shoes somewhere by the front door. They also likely have bedroom closets. So, store their winter boots up in their closet during the summer and move them to the front door area for the winter. You don’t need to scour the house for more storage space! Just use the spaces you have more effectively. Same for snow suits. Unless your kids’ closets are full to the brim, there may just be space up in their rooms for their snow suits in the summer so they don’t take up space in the front hall closet!
Seasonally switching things also makes it seem like your stuff is new again. You will have a new, potentially more objective eye for deciding whether or not the stuff is worth storing, or keeping, or if you’d be better off saying goodbye to some of your items!
As the spring comes, try thinking about your winter stuff and where else it could go for the spring and summer!
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