How to do a Closet Purge

The first time I did a closet purge, I kind of cheated. As you’ll see below, the first step is empty your closet and drawers – a little daunting of a task. I cheated because we moved from LA to Sacramento, so my closet was emptied out of necessity otherwise.

I didn’t plan to do a closet purge either. Every time I’ve ever moved, I’ve found that I naturally find things to give away while packing up (and, yes, while unpacking). And when we moved into our 1920 bungalow house with small closets, I felt the need to downsize even more.

And you know what? It was SUCH a great experience – mostly because of how fulfilled I am with my current (actually smaller) wardrobe. I have exactly the things I need and want – nothing more and not really anything less at this point. I know my style and shop with so much more intention now.

So if the closet purge process seems overwhelming before or during the process, keep your eye on the prize (and maybe have a snack)!

Closet Purge

To do your closet purge fully and adequately, set some time aside to do it. You aren’t going to knock it out in an hour. It will take at least a few hours, up to a day perhaps. You do you with the timing. Knock it all out at once, or spread it out over a weekend. Just know your space will be in disarray until you’re done!

Before you start, pick the space where your give aways and your maybes will go. And if you can, get the boxes or bags ready to save time and steps later!

1. Empty your closet, shelves, and drawers.
2. Organize items
3. Divide into Keeping, Maybe, and Giveaway
4. Store “Keeping” Properly
5. Bag or box up “maybes” to store
6. Donate giveaway clothes
7. Set reminder for maybes

1. Empty your closet, shelves, and drawers

This is the part that seems daunting to me. And you might think you don’t really need to do it, but trust me – it’s MANDATORY. Why? The truth is, it’s easy to forget about pieces or just miss how much you have of one thing or another.

And you know what? Let’s clear the air here and now. When I did my big closet purge years ago – I realized I didn’t need 6 black sweatshirts. Nor did I need so many pieces of work appropriate outerwear. I work from home, for myself. I love some good professional outerwear, but I don’t need a closet full. So there’s no judgement here. It’s all fruitful progress.

One thing to note here is that if you plan to spend more than one day ‘purging,’ plan some spaces besides just your bed to sort. Otherwise you’ll have to face the (stacked clothes and shoes) music come bedtime!

2. Organize items

This is the step where you realize what you like to buy (probably too many of). Looking at you, black sweatshirts! The piles or stacks you have will vary on your wardrobe. Loosely, this could look something like pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, leggings, tanks, tops, sweaters, jackets, etc.

Depending on the size of your closet, however, these might further be broken down into work or leisure “sub-piles” if you will.

And during this whole step, start adding to the maybe and giveaway stacks – save yourself time and space. This is the time for the easy decisions to be made. If you need to think about it, put it in your organized stacks and decide once you have everything out!

3. Divide into Keeping, Maybe, and Giveaway

Ok. And now assess. What is going to stay? What is going to go? And what could you maybe giveaway but aren’t committed to yet?

A few rules I follow:

• if it doesn’t fit perfectly NOW, it goes
• if you haven’t worn it in at least one season – it goes
• if you really have nowhere to wear it – it goes

This is a hard step. There might be a number of things you LOVE in your closet but you just don’t wear. I LOVE dresses but don’t wear them as much as jeans, so I don’t need so many.

You have to be honest with yourself about how much you wear something – not how much you wish you wore something. When faced with my six black sweatshirts, I knew I probably only need 2, but which ones should I give away? I picked out 1 or 2 easily, but then came the remaining ones. I felt a little lost and conflicted. Ultimately it came down to what fit best and had the most life FOR ME left in it!

One of the things I see on the internet is “how many clothes should I have?” I find that no two of us have the same needs, so there’s really not good universal answer. If you aren’t actively wearing your clothes, you need less.

If you feel you have quite a few clothes but are often overwhelmed by deciding what to wear – you need less. This one feels counterintuitive, but it’s true. Too many choices gives decision fatigue. Since paring down my closet, I know my style and feel like I always have something to wear!

Completing your closet purge is the first step to knowing your style!

4. Store “Keeping” Properly

Ok. The final step – putting away the keeping items. Please note, this is still an opportunity to remove some items – the giving away part of this process is never done!

Since we have small closets, I’ve had to embrace winter clothes storage and summer clothes storage. AND I LOVE IT! It makes my closet feel less cluttered and when I go to swap out my clothes, it’s like a shopping spree. There’s something about pulling out an item I already love but haven’t seen or even thought of in months.

Even if you don’t have a tiny closet, I’d recommend this approach.

5. Bag or box up “maybes” to store

There’s definitely going to be a maybe pile – and that’s totally fine! I’m a fan of these, though they should be small – maybe one bag or box. Put them somewhere out of sight and set a reminder on a calendar to check on them in 2 or 3 months. Whatever you haven’t pulled out of the bag can then be given away.

6. Donate/Recycle giveaway clothes

On the day/weekend of your closet purge, organize your items to remove from your home (and do it very soon). A few things to note.

SELLING VS DONATING: You’ll not that I don’t say anything about selling clothes. If that’s something you like to do, then go ahead. I’ve thought about doing it, but usually I want a quick return and selling clothes online isn’t usually a quick turnaround. If you want to take items to a resale store that offers quick decisions, that’s totally fine. And then I always say they can donate the items they don’t want.

DONATING/RECYCLING/TRASH: I’m a big fan of donating items to local secondhand stores – you donate wherever you like (get the tax receipt too)! You can also list items on Facebook (for free) on Marketplace or in your local Buy Nothing Group (see my Buy Nothing Group review and tips).

One thing to be aware is not donating items that really aren’t in good enough shape for a new owner. Don’t waste time and resources donating items that are done living their lives! But you don’t have to throw them in the trash. Read here about where to recycle clothes and what to do with old underwear and bras!!

7. Celebrate Appropriately!

One of the things I head people say is that they did a closet purge, so now they can go shopping! Which rather defeats the purpose of the downsizing.

One great aspect of creating a curated wardrobe is that you see where your holes are (but not for some time after the purge), so then you can shop with intention and buy quality clothes, hopefully, made with sustainable clothing materials.

If you need a bit of guidance at finding those holes, I’ve created basic seasonal capsule wardrobe lists. They aren’t absolute and finite (again, all our needs and styles are different), but they’ll be a good basis for you!

Capsule Wardrobe Lists