The Ultimate Spring Closet Cleanout: Your 5-Step System for Decluttering, Organizing, Selling & Donating
My simple 5-step spring closet cleanout guide helps you manageably declutter, organize, and navigate the best options for your unwanted clothes: selling or donating.
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Anyone else get that urge to completely refresh their space every few months? In previous years, I completely revamped my living room, kitchen, bathroom, and storage unit organization systems—but right now, my closet is in the spring cleaning spotlight. I already cleared out some of my luxury items via The RealReal earlier this year, but the main event, the full wardrobe declutter, began this past weekend.
The familiar call of a major declutter project always leads me to turn on Marie Kondo on Netflix, seeking both motivation and a helpful reminder of her organizing principles. Growing up with my Japanese mother, a natural organizer who could easily out-Kondo Kondo, I am grateful that I was raised on decluttering habits, yearly closet clean-outs, and setting-up organizational systems—yet consistently maintaining these habits independently has posed a significant adult challenge. The relentless demands of 15+ hour workdays, coupled with recurring mental health struggles, have trapped me in a frustrating cycle: completely depleted energy leading to disarray, followed by an overwhelming need for a transformative organization project.
My previous projects have definitely made my life a lot easier, but my goal this year is to tackle absolutely everything without even a small “home” (drawer/shelf dividers, containers, and baskets). I will share 5 steps I have taken to completely declutter, install organization sytems, and categorize between selling and donating (and what platforms/organizations are best for sending unwanted closet items).
Be in the right headspace to take on a large project
Before even starting the process, you have to make sure you are in the right headspace to maintain resiliency and even the emotional strength required to tackle everything you own, and part ways with items you may have cherished in the past. Some projects can take 50+ hours, so you have to make sure your energy levels are high to see it through to completion. If you are not able to spend at least 1 full dedicated weekend plus weeknights to it, perhaps put it on hold until it is a better time (but try not to postpone for too long)!
Like Marie says, put the entirety of your closet on your bed
This is a signature part of every Marie Kondo episode, if you have not watched it before. I highly recommend turning it on as you are doing this clean-out, as you will see how others approach this same “homework assignment”. After putting your entire closet on your bed in a giant pile, you must go one by one and hold each item and see if it “sparks joy” or not. If you have trouble finding that feeling, pick something that you obviously love and wear all the time—this will help as callibration.
Use bags to categorize all of your clothing into closet (keeping), laundry, dry cleaning, the RealReal, ThredUp, Poshmark, and Donations
I like to add efficiency in this process by also having bags categorized to put each item I am sorting through. I usually have a few laundry bags for different item types/colors of laundry (I love using these mesh bags), and a big bag to put items that need to go to dry cleaning. I also have a bag for The RealReal (luxury items), another for ThredUp (non-luxury yet high-quality items), another for Poshmark (items I am okay with selling myself), and another for donations. See the end of this blog posts for the pros and cons of each selling platform. The remaining should go in bags that can be sorted by item type or color to go back into your closet. These bags will also help to maintain progress in sorting, as this step alone will definitely take more than one day (and you need to sleep on your bed)!
Install organization systems prior to putting clothes back, fold them nicely, and hang in a color-coded order
Since all of your clothes are out anyways, you might as well put in place organization systems prior to putting everything back! These systems will be dependent on your own closet size, wardrobe, or dresser set-up. As a general rule of thumb, create systems that are intuitive and easy for you to access what what you need. This normally means preventing piles or jumbled drawers, and having containers or baskets for some of the smaller items like socks and underwear. You can watch this video for best practices on folding your clothing.
Send unwanted clothing out for selling and donations, and repeat this clean-out annually
Now that the hard part is out of the way, it’s time to reap the rewards of all of your hard work! For ThredUp, you will just drop off the pre-labeled bag sent to you and they will do all of the listing and selling work for you. For The RealReal, you can schedule an in-home pick-up and they will also do all of the listing and selling work for you. For Poshmark, you will have to take your own photos and list items within the app but may be able to sell for more than you would get from other platforms. And for donations, you can Google your nearest Goodwill location or women’s shelter accepting clothing. Now you have renewed space to curate your closet as you like for the upcoming seasons!
The Pros and Cons of Selling Platforms
I recommend only selling your nicest pieces to The RealReal, and sticking to outerwear, jewelry, rare vintage, in demand shoes, and handbags. I have made the mistake multiple times now of selling items I thought would get a reasonable commission, but instead getting a truly laughable amount. Examples: $35 for a brand new YSL skirt, $9-15 for Alice and Oliva blouses, $19 for Balenciaga sunglasses, and $5-25 for $300-600 cocktail/evening dresses. All in all it tends to balance out with sales of items that would not sell as well or as fast on other sites, but definitely be strategic with what items you choose to sell!
I have not used these services for selling, but similar companies include Vestiaire Collective and What Goes Around Comes Around
I recommend using ThredUp for low to mid-range items. It is also an extremely easy process as they send you a pre-labeled bat in the mail, and you simply fill it up and drop it off. You can choose between different plans of sending rejected items to donations or back to you. Their top trending brands include Lululemon, Alo, Aviator Nation, Reformation, and Sezane.
I recommend Poshmark for items that you are okay with holding onto for a little longer. The platform gives you full autonomy over photos, listing details, pricing, and messaging with buyers. There are certain items in most people’s closets where you would want to ensure you get market value for the item. Poshmark does take about 20% of the sale price, but this is much lower than what you would find on other platforms. Once someone purchases your item, Poshmark emails you a label to print out and ship out the item.
Another similar service I have not yet used is Depop. You can also go the more generic route with Ebay, Facebook Marketplace, or OfferUp.
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