How many of us have wished that a friend would secretly sign us up for a wardrobe revamp reality show in hopes of getting thousands (upon thousands) of dollars worth of clothing and ultimately a clean, more organized closet? Personally, I’d pretend to dress like a Cyclops circus clown if it meant having my closet organized.

But yea, that's probably never going to happen. However!  We can still get immaculate closets with a bit of effort, dedication and attitude. Here’s how:

Step 1
Remove every single item from your closet (Yes – Every. Single. Item.) To help make this process less painful, act as though Oprah Winfrey is a mere two doors away searching for the messiest bedroom in America so she can award that person with a ‘complete closet MAAAKE-OOOVER!’

Step 2
Stop waiting by the door and head back to the horrid mess you created in your room. It’s time to start organizing.

Step 3
After you stop staring at the huge piles of clothes and accessories that have exploded across your room, blink, close your gaping mouth and pick up an item. Start separating your clothes into categories: pants, dresses/skirts, shirts, jackets (this includes cardigans) and accessories (shoes, belts, purses, etc)

Step 4
Now that your disaster has become a slightly more organized disaster, start try-outs for each category. Pick up a bit of an attitude – these old ratty clothes aren’t good enough for you anymore! Toss the clothes aside like you’d toss bad caviar at a snooty waiter. If the clothes don’t fit, have holes, are out of style or just don’t represent your personality anymore, get rid of them! Don’t reminisce about days and sales of yore – no matter what the price tag or the memory (third-base), discard of it. Do the same with your accessories.

Step 5
Purchase a closet worth of velvet hangers with non-slip bars. The velvet will prevent your clothes from slipping off and the bars are perfect for hanging matching skirts or pants with a top. Hang all of your Fall items either on one end of your closet, or in a separate closet if possible. Put your Spring clothing back into the closet neatly, keeping each respective category separate from the others. Accessories can be organized with a soft shelf unit for purses, shoe boxes for…shoes, and multi-use hangers for belts and scarves.

I recommend:

IKEA KOMPLEMENT Multi-use hanger, $7.99 


IKEA KOMPLEMENT Shoe Boxes, $9.99/4 pack 

Keep in mind that you shouldn’t just throw your old clothes away, unless they are literally falling apart and can no longer be recognized as clothing. There are plenty of drop-off bins for charities that would gladly take your clothes – just make sure everything you’re donating is clean. And if you’re low on cash and want to make some easy money, take the higher-end items to a consignment store to be sold.

78% of people who read this article will be motivated to overhaul their closets this upcoming weekend. Look for the other 22% on “Survivor-Spring Cleaning”—airing Wednesday nights at 7pm EST.

by Marayna Dickinson

UPDATE From the Editor:
Old Navy has just informed us they will be running a Clean Out Your Closet promotion in Canada from April 26 - May 2nd.  Bring in your clean gently used baby clothing donations and get 10% off your new purchases for Women, Men, Children and Baby.