Tips for rotating seasonal clothes

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Organizing Tip: Autumn clothing rotation

So, Autumn is here, and with it comes the colder weather. It's time to break out the fall/winter clothes, and pack away the summer clothing. Here are a few tips for managing that process.

First, if you haven't ever rotated your clothing (ie: your closets and drawers are always filled with the entire year's worth of clothing,) you may want to give clothing rotation a try. It will free up so much space in your closets and drawers and allow easy access to the only the items you need for that season.

Some tips:

1. Decide where you will store your out-of-season clothing. Clothing stores best in a room-temperature, dry place, so an extra closet somewhere within the home is ideal. If not, consider the attic or basement, however high temperatures and/or humidity can negatively affect your clothing, so if you can avoid those areas, then do so. Another option is to put out-of-season clothing way up high on shelves in your closet, at the far end of your closet out of the way, in containers under the bed, or in drawers/closet of your guest room.

2. Get some containers: If you're storing your garments in a place other than your existing closet, then get some medium to large size Rubbermaid/Sterilite bins (or similar). Plastic containers work well for storing your items and keeping them protected. Not too big though, or they wont be manageable to carry. Also consider a portable covered garment rack for storing out-of-season hanging clothing.

3. Start gathering up all your summer clothing: Pull out all your summer clothes from closets and drawers.

4. Purge: Get rid of anything that is stained or damaged beyond repair, items that don't fit, or not your style anymore (be ruthless! You don't want to go thru the effort of storing something that you don't really want anymore!). Trash or donate unwanted items.

5. Clean: Before storing, make sure the items are clean.

6. Keep a couple of summer outifts accessible: Since weather can be unpredictable, keep a couple of warm-weather outfits in your closet for the time-being. (Remember, the past couple of Halloweens have had temperatures in the 70's and 80's!)

7. Store & Label: Put your items into their storage containers, and LABEL the contents clearly, then put the containers away in their storage space. If it's just an area or shelves of a closet, label that area 'Off-Season-Clothes', so there's no chance of mixing them up with the current season's clothing.

8. Take your fall/winter clothes out of storage: If you previously had stored these items, take them out now, and put them away in your closets and drawers, again, evaluating their usability before putting them away.

9. Enjoy!

Linda English
Organizing With EASE, LLC
201-638-9593 http://www.orgwithease.com/ orgwithease@aol.com