Is Your Closet Overstuffed? Learn How To Trim It Down

Want to Get Organized?

jeans in a multitude of sizes and colors
Photo: Done & Done Home

Too Many Sizes Can Equal Not Enough Space

What’s the most common theme we encounter when working in our client’s closets? Yup. How to deal with multiple sizes of clothes. If you struggle with this topic, know that you’re not alone!

Whether you’ve gained or lost, recently (or not recently) had a baby, ate your way through Covid or just, you know, lived a little, then you likely have a range of sizes in your wardrobe. In all our years of working with clients, we’ve only encountered a handful of women who’ve maintained their weight and only own one size of clothing. They’re unicorns!

There’s no shame in having more than one size, more than a couple of sizes or a multitude of sizes. But that can lead to a having an overstuffed closet that’s difficult to maintain.

We covered this subject on Instagram in our new series, Done & Done Discusses, but if you missed it (you can find it here) or prefer to read your tips, we’ve got you covered!

*If you need more than a quick blog post to get your home sorted, check out our Love Your Home Again course! We’ve put together an entire tool kit full of all the expertise we’ve gained over a decade of organizing our own homes and the homes of our clients!*

Photo: Done & Done Home

Only Keep Sizes Two Up or Two Down

For those of you that have a wide range of sizes, we recommend only keeping clothes that are two sizes below your current size, or two above. So if you’re currently a 10, hang on to the 8’s and the 12’s (with the understanding that women’s sizes are infuriating and a 12 in one brand could be an 8 in another). Any clothes that are on the extreme ends, 6’s or 14’s if you’re a 10, can probably be donated.

Only Keep Your Current Size In Your Working Wardrobe

One of the reasons closets become unmanageable is because we keep everything we own in them. It’s a recipe for emotional and organizational disaster. You don’t need to see the clothes that don’t fit every single time you’re looking for something to wear. If you’re unhappy with your current size, it’s not going to help you to have a ton of clothes reminding you of that. If you’d like to have a pair of goal jeans that are inspirational to you, great! Keep those where you can see them. But the majority of your wardrobe shouldn’t be things you can’t wear.

Get a good bin that can fit under your bed, on the top shelf of your closet or in storage somewhere, and move the no-go’s out. It will give you room for the clothes that fit and it will free up physical space in your closet and mental space in your brain. A win win!

A well organized closet with multiple sizes
Photo: Done & Done Home

Keep The Classics

If you’ve been following us for awhile, then you know we subscribe to the philosophy of Owning Well. In a nutshell, buy the best you can afford and take really good care of your items. So hopefully, you have some classic, well made clothes in your closet like a tailored blazer or a little black dress you can wear anywhere. But for the things like inexpensive t-shirts or trendy pants (are skinny jeans really out?!) you can let those go. If/when you get to your goal weight, you’ll likely want to buy new clothes anyway (while, of course, buying intentionally) 🙂

Photo: Done & Done Home

Be Kind

Weight, clothes, appearance, self esteem – these are all topics that can make us feel badly about ourselves. Don’t make life harder than it has to be. Setting up your wardrobe in a way that makes you feel good about yourself today is so important. You can make an immediate change that will improve your outlook and hopefully inspire you to embrace your current size or inspire you to change if that’s your goal. And always remember, “other women’s bodies are not our battlegrounds” and our own bodies shouldn’t be either.