7 Closet Decluttering Tips for Minimal Decision Free Closet

I want you to get your time back for the things that really matter, not standing in front of a closet full of clothes and decisions. I want you to be able to get dressed quickly in the morning, easily finding something to wear that you feel good about! Keep reading for my quick and easy closet decluttering tips!

Saving Your Daily Energy

Let’s eliminate the draining task of deciding what to wear each morning. In this post, we’ll explore seven decluttering tips tailored for moms to create a decision-free closet.

One of the most valuable decisions you can make as a mom is to reduce the number of decisions you have to make on fairly insignificant things. With more time, you can save your attention and energy for the big decisions. Let’s start with your closet!

7 Closet Decluttering Tips:

Clear off your bed, so you have a clean working space
Take all your clothes out of your closet
Ask yourself: Do I like this piece of clothing? Does it look good on me? Do I feel good in this?
If YES, fold the item and place in a neat pile on your bed
If NO, throw in a pile on the floor (we will tackle that pile later)
Sort the folded clothes on your bed
Handle the pile on your floor

The Closet Decluttering Steps:

1. Clear Off Your Bed So You Have a Clean Working Space

The first step to creating a decluttered closet is creating a clean working space. Make your bed, so you have plenty of room to organize your clothes. I also encourage you to clean some space around your bed for your discarded clothes.

2. Take All Your Clothes Out of Your Closet

Pull all of your clothes out of your closet and take them off the hangers. Only take out your everyday or weekend clothes. Leave out your workout clothes, Pjs, paint clothes and super fancy outfits. Our goal is to get dressed as quickly as possible in the morning.

While you will find me in lounge clothes some days, those are NOT my best days. My best days come when I put on “regular” clothes and feel like a functioning human. So if you are not putting on regular clothes, give this organization method a shot. Having a couple of comfortable outfits that make you feel good hanging in your closet will increase your likelihood of getting dressed in the morning.

3. Ask Yourself: Do I Like This Piece of Clothing? Does It Look Good on Me? Do I Feel Good in This?

If you answer “no” to any of these questions, throw those clothes on the ground! Other items you can get rid of are pieces that are just worn out, stained, out of season or currently don’t fit. We will come back to this pile, so hang tight.

4. If YES, Fold the Item and Place in a Neat Pile on Your Bed

Once you’ve said YES, go ahead and stack like items together by category, so you can come back and see if you have 20 graphic tees or 15 pairs of the same pants.

*FUN TIP: Take a picture of all of your piles from above. Look at your stacks: What colors do you notice? Do any piles seem too big? Sometimes we notice more from a picture. You can look back at your picture when you go shopping to remind yourself of what you already have and to choose colors that coordinate with your current wardrobe.

5. If NO, Throw in a Pile on the Floor (We Will Tackle that Pile Later)

Having a “no” pile gets you one step closer to a decluttered closet. You don’t need to make any decision about what to do with those clothes just yet; you are simply taking them out of the decision process.

One reason people shut down when they are decluttering is because there are simply too many decisions. So let’s pull all of our energy in one direction and tackle the clothes on the bed first.

6. Sort the Folded Clothes on Your Bed

Now that you have all of your clothes beautifully laid out on the bed, it is time to sort and cull down our inventory. If you have 325 choices for creating an outfit, the weight of that decision making process is going to be similar to going on a date and having 325 menu item choices; you are going to feel overwhelmed. You need fewer options to make good decisions.

Culling the Clothes You Like:

An easy way to sort and cull out what is on the bed is to look for duplicates, stained items, ratty or extra worn items, and items that just aren’t flattering. Add these pieces to the pile on the floor.

Secondly, ask yourself if there is anything you included simply because you spent a lot of money on the item. We have all made shopping mistakes, but we don’t want to open our closet and see a piece that screams failure or invokes shame because we got sold by good marketing or made an impulsive decision. If you don’t like it or aren’t going to wear it, consider just setting yourself free and putting that piece on the floor.

If you still have an abundance of items, try eliminating busy patterns because they are more challenging to mix and match with. Keep the ones you really love, but consider eliminating the others.

Other items to consider moving out of your closet are ones that are hard to keep from being wrinkled or take a lot of extra upkeep (hello, dry clean only).

7. Handle the Pile on Your Floor

Before you tackle that pile on the floor, but your “keep” items back on the hanger. I am a really big fan of these hangers. While they are a bit of an investment, they are no-slip, aesthetically pleasing and are a huge space-saver in your closet. Consider donating the rest of your plastic hangers and just go all in with these.

Once all our YES clothes are in the closet, smooth out the bed for a fresh palette and movce the pile of clothes from the floor onto the bed.

Sorting the Clothes that do Not Stay in Our Closet

Grab small bags or boxes for each category that we are going to sort these clothes into. Here are the categories:

Trash:
- I know throwing away your clothes may feel painful, but if you wouldn’t buy it at a thrift store, or if it’s covered in stains or holes, it’s time to toss it.
Donate:
- Donating is a great way to give your clothes new life. Consider donating to places that support causes you believe in.
Sell OR Give to a Friend or Sister:
- Sometimes selling clothes can feel like a waste of time, but if you have really nice clothes that are in great shape, you will have a great return on your investment. You can also let your sister or friends search through your clothes; even though you may be done with the item, someone else may love it!
Save for Later:
- Putting aside a few items in storage is a great option for outfits from a different season in your life, such as pregnancy, breastfeeding or post-pregnancy. If you love the items and plan to wear them later, save them in a “later bin”.
Not Sure:
- You can also use the later bin for items you are undecided on. All the decisions of decluttering can become overwhelming, so saving it for another time with fresh eyes really helps.
Emotional Items or Bad Buys
- Remind yourself: you are not your things, but if you can’t let it go just yet…put the item in the later bin.

“Later Bin”:

Having a later bin is key to eliminating clothes that shouldn’t be a part of your daily decision. Put your later bin in an area that’s easily accessible but not in your room. A basement or guest closet would be a great spot for this bin. Make sure it is labeled with “[Your Name]’s Later Bin.”

Video of Decluttering Closet Tips:

Tell Me Your Top Decluttering Tips Below:

I would love to hear your top decluttering tips and the questions you ask yourself when you are deciding whether to keep your clothes or any other item in your home. Tell me in the comments section below.

Please share this post with another friend that you know would love to start decluttering, so she can get ready quickly and get her time and energy back. Sharing is caring!