Hang on (to your hangers): Help is on the way to make your closet work for you

Your closet should reflect your life now, so here's how to start to put away the past: 

1. Weed or purge the clothes that you don't wear. Can't decide what to keep or let go? Here are some easy strategies to try:
   • Put your clothes into the categories of Friends/Acquaintances/Strangers.* Keep the friends, the clothes you wear all the time. Get rid of the strangers, the clothes you haven't worn this millennium. Then address the acquaintances, the ones you may see once in a while. How big is this pile - can you let some more go?
   • Another method to find how much of your closet you really wear is to place all your hangers facing the same way. Every time you wear an item, move the hanger the opposite way. After two months, take a look and see how many hangers are exactly how you left them. These are the things you may be able to let go.
2. Pack up the clothes you've purged to donate to your charity of choice.
   
3. Now sort the clothes you are keeping. As you put the clothes back in your closet, group them into simple categories such as work, casual, and dressy. Within these categories, keep like items together: shirts together, pants together, etc.
4. To keep your newly-organized clothes off the floor, consider adding accessories like belt hooks, open bins for small items, or a shoe rack. Choose containers you like and you'll use them!

Step back and take a look. I bet you not only have more room in your closet, you will probably have an easier time finding what you need.

Clothes represent who we are, but many of us hold on to clothes that better represent who we were. Take a look at the clothes from your past and see what room you can make in your closet, and in your life.