Dirty Trick #1 for Keeping Your Home Clean: Come out of the closet, kill clutter where it lives.

If you’re going to create a more organized home the closet is the place to start. Closets are almost always in need of purging and organizing and it can take several adjustments before you get a system that you like and can maintain.

• Take everything out. You want to see (and then vac) bare floor.
• Make honest goals. Do you have a walk in closet with room for 100 pairs of shoes? Is your closet so packed that you can’t stuff in one more hanger? Is the floor of the closet a heap of clutter? Make a goal to donate, sell, or throw out 1/3 or 1/2.
• Sort as you go: toss, keep, mend, donate.
• Play music while you work, dance, or have a friend hang out while you work.
• If you haven’t used it or worn it in the last 6 months (10 months for seasonal) toss it. You don’t need it.
• If you don’t LOVE it lose it. If it doesn’t look good on you, doesn’t fit (try it all on NOW), has stains or holes, or is just plain out of style TOSS or DONATE it.
• Shoes that are not in good condition should be tossed.
• Evict squatters. Your punch bowl, bowling ball, the book you meant to read, and old baby toys don’t belong. Evict them. If there’s room to add additional items later we’ll do it then.
• Still fashion, still in good shape but you don’t wear it? Give it to a friend. (I have a fabulous pair of Victoria Secret heels that my best friend who lives in a warmer-always-open-toed-shoe-season state will be getting in the mail! I love them but they’re a half and inch too tall for this baby toting mama.)
• Don’t allow emotional attachments to clothes (with the exception of your wedding dress and the sweet little onsies you brought your babies home in). Even those items belong somewhere other than your bedroom closet.
• Don’t save clothes for someday. Live in the now. Close saved for “when I lose weight” aren’t going to help you lose weight in the closet. Sell them and put the money on the fridge in an envelope with your goal weight. When you get there treat your self to new and fashionable clothes.
• Make a plan before you put things back into the closet. (See trick #2)

The great thing about cleaning out closets is that you may actually be making room for additional storage in the process. Stick to your goals and reward yourself when you’re finished removing everything. Once you’ve tackled the closets de-cluttering and organizing everything else will seem like a breeze!