
Last updated on February 7th, 2025
If you have limited closet space, the best thing you can do is rotate your wardrobe. In other words, you’ll have your winter clothes and your summer clothes, and during one season, the set of clothes you’re not wearing will be stored away, meaning you only have to find space for the appropriate seasonal garments.
This is a great idea in theory, but it can get complicated in practice, especially if you leave everything until the last minute. With that in mind, here are some useful tips to help you organize your closet for the summer so you can be prepared and ready to enjoy the warmer weather and longer days in style.
Thin Out Your Winter Clothes
If you take all your winter clothes out of your closet and drawers, this is the ideal opportunity to thin out your collection. This is why it’s best to take your time over this, and ensure you set aside a few hours to do the job; if you rush, you’ll miss things and end up having to store items you’ll never wear. These will take up potentially precious space, and cause you problems.
Go through each item you own from your winter clothing collection and determine whether or not you want to keep it. If you are sure you will wear it next winter, put it in a pile to be stored away. If you’re not going to wear it, or even if you’re unsure, it’s time to remove it. This can be done in a few different ways. For example, you might sell the items through an app or website or at a garage sale. You could donate items to charity (although they should be in good condition if you want to do this, so check them all and wash them before you donate them). Or, if the clothes are very old and worn, stained, or otherwise damaged, you can throw them out, recycle them, or use them as cleaning rags around the house.
In other words, you’ll have your winter clothes and your summer clothes, and during one season, the set of clothes you’re not wearing will be stored away, meaning you only have to find space for the appropriate seasonal garments.
Once you have determined what to do with your old winter clothes, anything you choose to keep can be boxed up and stored. If you have space at the top of your closet, this could be a good place to put them. A basement or attic will also work, as long as the clothes are protected from the elements. Or, if you have a lot of clothes to store, you might need to rent a storage locker. Remember, when you do the same sort out and change around from your summer to your winter wardrobe, you can use the same storage places for your summer clothes, so make sure you choose somewhere that has enough space.
Organize By Clothing Type
The next thing to do is replace your winter clothes with your summer ones. Now that you have removed your wintery items, this should mean you have an empty – or almost empty – closet to put the summer things into. The same is true of your chest of drawers. The only things that need to stay are items that can be worn throughout the year, like a thin cardigan or dresses.
When you start to put your previously stored summer clothes into your closet and drawers, make sure you stay organized by hanging or storing them by clothing type. This means that whenever you want something, you’ll easily be able to find it. You can put your tops together, your pants together, even your men’s shorts and accessories together. Match things up by type rather than by color – which is another popular idea – as it will ensure you always know exactly what you have in your closet.
Buy More
As you just did with your winter clothes, it’s likely (and advised) that you dispose of any summer clothes you no longer need when you pack them away at the end of the season. When you unpack them again, this might mean you have far fewer garments than you would like or need.
At this point, knowing what you are lacking, you can go shopping and purchase what you need. You won’t overbuy because you can make a list, and you can top up your summer wardrobe with the most up-to-date clothing rather than wearing styles that are years out of date.
If you want to save money, you can do this at the end of the summer season, as the items will often be on sale. However, you do run the risk of buying things that won’t fit next year or that won’t be in fashion, so you’ll need to weigh up the pros and cons.