With the start of the new year, I did a major new years closet declutter in January and ended up filling more than a dozen trash bags with clothes to donate! They say a cluttered home often leads to a cluttered mind. Clutter is a reflection of your habits, mindset, and overall life so I believe our environment is closely tied to who we are. I realized I just have too much stuff! I had to ask myself, "When was the last time you wore this?" My goal is to have a closet that feels open, airy, and allows me to move around with ease. Decluttering creates space for the things that truly matter. I want to own less. While it may feel like you're losing something when you declutter, those unused items aren't adding value—they're actually taking up both mental and physical space.
For 2025, I want to feel lighter and more focused. I followed the 1% rule which says that change does not need to be huge to be meaningful, just strive to do 1% of work each day - power of compounding effort. Every day I tried to do small things consistently. I learned that the longer that you hold on to items, the more that they lose their value, hence the quicker you donate things, the more likely someone will be able to find use in it. No one wants your clothes from the Limited that closed in 2018.
You don't need a miscellaneous items box because you will never go into it. If something doesn't have a designated spot in your home, then get rid of it. Instead put stuff in a "maybe pile" and in a month you will feel more comfortable getting rid of it. Don't have perfection paralysis, meaning you're scared to start, perfection is temporary, but good enough lasts longer. Decluttering doesn't mean to reorder, it means to trash all the extra stuff you don't use. Create more negative space so your home feels more open.
I'll be sharing all the clever closet organization finds I’ve discovered to help me along this journey.
One important lesson I've learned is to never store clothing in plastic bags, particularly those made from PVC. Plastic bags trap moisture, which can lead to mildew or yellowing of fabrics that transfers quickly to your clothes. For long-term storage, it's also best to avoid vacuum-sealed bags. While they’re great for saving space, the lack of air can damage natural fibers like wool and silk by compressing them, ruining their shape and fit. That’s why I made sure all the garment bags I use are made from canvas or mesh on at least one side.
Everything I bought on Amazon and my observation is everything was overpriced! Other than the container store, there are few places to shop for closet organization.
Oversized Moving Bags with Reinforced Handles, Heavy-Duty Storage Tote for Clothes
In my kitchen I use scented trash bags so I bought unscented trash bags for my donations but they were so thin and fragile when full of clothes so I thought these bags would be good for temporary storage of clothes that I want to donate. The extra large storage bags are strong and sturdy and provide a 24 gallon storage volume. The load capacity of each storage bag is 50 lb and has heavy duty carrying handles. It's made from waterproof plastic, the same as IKEA blue jumbo bags, but I wanted something more aesthetic.
I bought both of these to compare as I've run out of space in my shoe closet. With these you can admire your shoes at a glance as if they were on display at a boutique. This puts one from the pair in front and one behind, so that you are able to see twice as many at once. These arrived broken as amazon didn't take care to ship it properly and the box was almost open so I had to order a replacement.
Adjustable Shoe Rack Space Saving
These seem less fragile but you see them since they are white verses the previous were translucent.
These have to be assembled. I used them to store my turtlenecks and tank tops. I had a special tank top hanger but it was so heavy holding all the tank tops at once and just hard to use. I felt my turtlenecks got misshapen hanging on a hanger.
I have a bunch of black canvas bins on the top shelf of my closet that are "mystery boxes" but now that I have organized each box by theme I want to label them and didn't think a sticker would work. I came up with cute titles: Mermaid Mode and Itsy-Bitsy Swim for the two swimsuit boxes.
5 Compartment Hanging Closet Storage Organizer Tray, Divided Sections
I got this to hold my lululemon belt bags, it hangs from the top shelf of my shoe closet.
I had another belt hanger in the past, but my belts always got tangled up or fell down so I wanted to try another model.
I'm going to use this horizontal, reminds me of a fancy custom built-in closet system. This requires assembly.
Trying on every sweater I own - 100.
I already use this for my sweaters, but I wanted something larger. Here’s a picture of my closet, but I realized that storing sweaters on the top shelf makes them less accessible, so I’m repurposing the space. I think it’s important to keep everything within easy reach in your closet—I don’t want to have to use a step stool to grab things I need to use regularly.
This channel has a lot of great folding videos that I utilized!
Matte Gold Aluminum Pants Hangers
I just like the look of these and they are strong enough to hold heavier pants. I hang my clothes in rainbow order which I thought everyone did but my mom's housekeeper just rearranged her closet for her by color and my mom was so excited as she'd never thought of that before.
These aren't thin space savers like the black velvet ones I primarily use, however I bought them because they have that luxury look and really elevate my closet. They are super light weight so I wouldn't put a coat on it. They are too slippery to hang a skirt or pants on it, they are only for shirts. They sound like a wind chime when they tap each other without clothing on them.
This is for all my delicate cocktail dresses that I prefer not to hang in my closet but still want to protect while they’re stored in a bin.
Related posts:
6 Easy Ways to Declutter Your Home
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