Spring Cleaning: Reclaiming the Closet in 3 Easy Steps

Though spring may seem far away as Toronto continues to trudge through -30 degree weather, April is just around the corner. While we’re all hibernating at home, this is the ideal time to get prepped for some much needed spring cleaning. After the holiday season and boxing day sales, your closet is likely overflowing with old clothing, gifts you never intend to wear, and items that you completely forgot you owned. Now is the perfect time to start thinking about sorting through this problematic area and finding ways to maintain this level of organization throughout the rest of the year. Fortunately, there are a number of handy apps designed to help you organize, purge, and redesign your closet this season. We’ve compiled a list of the best smartphone apps so you can have the tools you need to kick off your spring cleaning right at your fingertips.

Via closetapp.com

Step 1: Organize

The first step in organizing your closet is to assess the value of each item inside it. Though it might be tempting to set aside a few hours on a Saturday and get this job done in one go, you might get overzealous and throw away some useful items or fail to see that you never really wear that sweater or have nothing to go with those pants. Instead, spend some time thinking carefully about your closet and what items inside are truly valuable. Fortunately, there are a number of apps designed to help you organize and assess which items are truly useful to your wardrobe, and which pieces are simply collecting dust.

Closet+ is by far the most popular closet organizing application for your mobile phone. Marketed as the “Swiss Army knife of style assistants,” this app allows you to upload shots of every item in your wardrobe to help you keep track of when items were last worn, what they cost, and how much value you are getting out of each piece. Use this app to get a sense of which items are part of your day-to-day wardrobe, and which ones are just creating excess clutter in the closet. The app is also great for creating packing lists before a trip and the calendar feature can help you plan a week’s worth of outfits ahead of time.

Via stylebookapp.com

Stylebook is another great app for tracking clothing usage. This tool is designed to help you get the most out of what you already have in your closet, while helping you choose new pieces that will integrate into your wardrobe. Like Closet+, the worn history log and cost-per-wear features will help you to assess which pieces are getting the most use and which ones are collecting dust.

If getting clothing back into the closet after laundry day is the main issue, perhaps it’s time to reorganize the way you approach your closet space. The handy HabitRPG is a habit building app for your computer or mobile that treats life like a game and builds habits by making them fun. The game reinforces positive behavior and the completion of daily tasks by rewarding your avatar with points and gold. As you gain points, players unlock different aspects of the game, increase stats, and level up. This addictive game will have you setting aside time to fold laundry and put away items that formerly cluttered your floor.

Via habitrpg.com

Step 2: Purge

Once you’ve determined the value of the clothing in your closet and reorganized, it’s time to purge the items that aren’t making it into your day-to-day wardrobe. For the cash-strapped this can be an opportunity to make some money. Apps like Twice, a secondhand e-commerce store, function like a virtual thrift store and help you get rid of your excess clothing, shoes, and handbags while making a few dollars. Simply request a Selling Kit or label, fill it up with your unwanted gently used clothing, and ship it to Twice. Here, staff will assess the contents in the package, make you an offer, and pay you instantly. Then, they’ll put your clothing up for sale in the Twice marketplace. Not only is this a great way to make some money off of the clothing that no longer fits into your wardrobe, but it also keeps clothing out of landfills and reduces waste!

Via materialwrld.com

The Material Wrld app functions in a similar way, exchanging used clothing for gift cards. Use the Material Wrld mail-in kit to send your excess clothing to merchandisers who review the items and send you an itemized offer. If you’re pleased with the offers you can accept and select gift cards from their retail partners. However, the best part of this app is the option to donate your clothing to Dress for Success, a not-for profit organization that helps disadvantaged women dress for job interviews.

If your issue isn’t excess clothing but storage, there are also a number of great apps that help those living in smaller apartments and condos organize and store excess items. Cubiq is a great tool for those living in the city with limited closet and storage space. Use this application to store seasonal items and clothing that ultimately end up cluttering your household for half of the year. This “personal concierge” service makes storage simple by delivering durable cubes for item storage, picking up the cubes after you’ve filled them, and giving you immediate access to these items via their smartphone application. Stored items are never far from reach with their next-day delivery system. The Makespace app is also a great tool for those who can’t bear to give away items, or simply need to make some more room. Like the Cubiq app, Makespace picks up excess items, stores it, and redelivers when you’re ready.

Via cubiq.me

Step 3: Revamp

After the difficulty of organizing and the pain of purging those unused items, its time to put a system in place to help keep the closet organized for more than just a few weeks. To avoid slipping back into bad habits it might be time to reconsider how you store your items. This might mean adding some shelving, using more efficient hangers, or finding creative ways to display your items.

If you need some inspiration, take a look at the Houzz website and app, It features millions of photos uploaded by designers that can be saved to your personal idea books for quick reference. Simply typing in the word “closet” will result in over 50,000 photos and hundreds of unique ideas. If the task is too big for you to tackle alone, Houzz can also help you connect with professionals according to your location and the type of service you need. The goal is to make home organization less overwhelming and more productive.

Via inhabitat.com

If you’re pretty handy and feel up to taking on the task yourself, there are some great DIY apps that will make your job a little bit easier and cut down on expenses like tools. The iHandy Carpenter is a great resource and contains a ruler, protractor and leveler all in one app. Make sure your shelves are level with this handy iPhone app, or try out the free version- iHandy Level. For those looking to purchase some organizational hardware, the Photo Measures app is a great way to keep the measurements of your closet on hand while shopping and making decisions about products. Simply take a picture of your closet and enter the measurements on screen.

Keeping out the clutter

If apps aren't your thing, there are also a few websites out there aimed at helping you cut down on unnecessary junk. We recently wrote about the benefits of trying Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus’ Minimalist challenge, and their website is full of tips on how to truly assess the value of your items and cut down on household clutter. In the same vein, Cary and Kyle’s decluttering service, New Minimalism, espouses a philosophy that rests on the belief that external spaces reflect our internal state, and that a cluttered living space is symbolic of a chaotic lifestyle. Their blog documents their efforts to declutter households and is full of great tips for redesigning your closet space for maximum efficiency. If you're moving into a new home, then it is a very good time to clear out your clutter!

Dinah Sanders, author of Discardia: More Life, Less Stuff, also has a great blog full of useful tips and tricks to help motivate hoarders to reduce the amount of junk in their life (or closet). Her approach is playful and reminds us of the importance of letting go of “everything that doesn’t make your life awesome.”