New Year’s Resolution: 7 Tips To Audit Your Closet
Our signature Closet Audit is the most popular service during the month of January. Getting your closet organized and humming is a great way to kick off the new year, and it can inspire organization in other areas of your home and life.
We look at it as a style challenge as well, one that encourages our clients to get more value out of their wardrobes, shop smart, and be aware of what they own. The goal is to think of your closet as a mini-boutique and display as much of your clothing, shoes, and accessories as possible. We want the daily process of getting dressed to be easy and joyful.
Here are some tips to get you started.
1. Don’t overcommit.
Schedule your closet review in multiple hour-long “appointments.” For example, you can schedule by clothing category: tops one morning, bottoms and layering pieces another, so on and so forth. When our clients have attempted to go through their own closets themselves in one fell swoop it becomes overwhelming after about an hour. They throw their hands up, shove all clothing back in, and are left with a closet that is in a worse state than when they started.
2. Pull out all your clothes for the category that you are reviewing — both warm and cold seasons.
The seasonal swap is a common way to deal with a wardrobe that doesn’t fit in one closet space. We do the seasonal swap for many clients but encourage, if possible, to have all clothing out in one closet. Yes. All of it. What this does is enable you to see what you have at all times. Clothing in storage and more than one location often leads to overbuying because you forget what you have. Having it all in one closet forces you to be realistic about your space, shop for only what you need, and purchase more versatile, transitional clothing you can wear year-round.
3. Use the worn/stained, dated, doesn’t fit rule.
Look at each piece of clothing. If it fits in any of those categories, set aside to donate or consign.
4. Hang “keep” pieces back into your closet according to clothing category, light to dark.
For example, sleeveless tops light to dark, quarter length-sleeve tops light to dark, skirts, light to dark, dresses by sleeve length light to dark. This system makes it easier to create outfits, see what you have, and identify what you are missing. Plus, it’s not difficult to maintain!
5. Fold all your sweaters.
I am a stickler for this one! Too many times I have found warped, stretched sweaters hanging in a client’s closet that just kill any outfit. Even they are hung for short periods of time, they will stretch. Part of our job is to make sure the clothing that you love lasts you for years to come. Shelve your sweaters three per stack in your closet according to sweater type (vee, crew, cardigan, etc.).
6. Display as much as possible.
We encourage taking shoes out of hanging cubbies on the back of doors, scarves out of those multi-scarf contraptions, pants and skirts off waterfall hangers. Again, it helps to see what you own as much as possible and these space-saving devices often mask and hide what is in your closet. Hang your scarves like they are clothing pieces, put one skirt/pair of pants per hanger, line shoes up on your floor or on shelves, line up bags on shelves by size.
7. Install DIY hooks for easy-access to jewelry.
Most people have go-to necklaces or jewelry pieces they wear everyday. Instead of gathering them all on an accessory tree that turns into a jumbled mess of chains and jewels, try installing a hook on a wall in your closet. Hang no more than two necklaces per hook.
Here’s to a happy closet in 2018, and if you still are struggling after trying it on your own, you know were to find us!
- About the company
DC Style Factory is a personal shopping and styling service for men and women looking to add polish and individuality to their wardrobes. We believe personal style is for anyone who wants it — regardless of age, size or budget.
