The kids are back in school, life is back to a structured style, and perhaps you are back to a rhythm, or just ‘controlled chaos’ as some of my freinds like to call it.  Summer is the time for crazy, no schedule, haphazard, camp here and camp there days.  Now that school is back in session, it is possible to carve out some time to tackle overdue projects.  One of them is closets!  Everyone has their own ideas of when and how to take on the kids’ closets, but what about your own.  I have a method I have always used when managing what goes into and out of my closet.  Whenever I purchase something new, say a new pair of pants or a dress, I immediately go through and pull one out.  One item in and one item out.  My philosophy of this comes from getting dressed in the morning or an evening out, you are sure to pick the newest item in your closet.  Makes sense, you just bought it, presumably, you love it and it makes you feel great.  This is how I control my closet from taking over the house. However, in the fall and spring I like to take a once over and really reconsider what I’m keeping.  The process works something like this:

Ask yourself, “Have I worn it in the last 12 months?”

Am I keeping it because It was expensive, even though it’s only seen daylight once?

Does it still fit?

Have I worn it so often that people are beginning to think I’ve installed a family dress code?

Then, here is where the answers will dictate what to do with the cast-offs.  If they were expensive items or items that have had little to no wear, consider consigning.  Consigning clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories has become very popular in the last few years.  It’s a great way to earn a little extra for yourself while not feeling bad about buying something that you hardly ever wore.  The process is simple and a phone call to a local shop will fill you in on their policies.  Plus once you receive that first check it’s hard not to be addicted to turning over your wardrobe.  Otherwise, donate and move on.  Be firm with yourself and purge.  It’s hard not to beat that cleaned-out feeling as well as helping a good cause with your donations.  Plus, now that you have that extra room……….