How To Declutter Closet Shelves & Drawers

Today's mission is to declutter closet shelves and drawers of excess clutter, and to keep only what you use and love.


This mission is designed to be done while we work on the Organize Primary Bedroom Closet Challenge here on the site, which is part of the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge.

Of course, you're free to do this mission whenever you really want or need to.

The reason I want you to focus on just decluttering closet shelves and drawers today is to keep the process of decluttering less overwhelming.

I've found it is often too big of a project for people to tackle the entire closet all at once, so breaking it down into sections and parts can be helpful.

For example, as part of these missions we're going to break down decluttering the closet into these parts (along with the shelves and drawers):

• Declutter hanging clothes; and


• Declutter closet floor

If breaking it down this much still isn't small enough chunks, remember that you can break the process down further.

First, always work in 15 minute increments, as explained further in the article on the site all about how to declutter.

Second, when tackling your closet shelves and closet drawers, work methodically, dealing with everything on one shelf, or inside one drawer, at a time. Decluttering one shelf, or one portion of a shelf, or just the contents of one drawer, can feel much less overwhelming and allow you to deal with the task in baby steps.

Mostly what people have in their closets is clothing, so when you come across various pieces of clothing and are trying to decide what to keep and what to declutter, you can use these nine questions to ask yourself when decluttering clothes to help you.

Further, if you've stored other items in your closet, beside clothes, I've included some links here for other places on the site that can help give you guidance for how to declutter common items you may find in there, including jewelry and accessories, shoes, and purses and handbags.

In addition, I've focused on kids' closets in a completely different mission, so focus on one closet at a time, since a later organizational challenge will deal with the kids' clothes and closets. (You can check out this article about how to get rid of kids closet clutter here, if you want to learn more now.)

Sometimes the best thing to do is just dig on into a task and begin, and when you're decluttering your closet drawers and shelves, that's often the best way. Just begin!

This mission can make a big impact in your closet. To get you inspired and ready to begin for yourself, check out these before and after photos sent in by readers who've already done this task, and see what a difference it has made for them!

Top photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons, _rockinfree, and second photo from a reader, Paula

Before & After Pictures From Readers Who've Decluttered Their Closet Shelves & Drawers

Doing this mission really can make a huge difference in the way your closet looks, and also in the way it functions for you. Clearing out the clutter means you now have room to move around inside your closet, as well as room to store the stuff you actually need and want in there!

This first photo, above, is from a reader, Seena. She says, "My closet was in desperate need of decluttering. I didn't take a pic of the hanging clothing when it was a hot mess but trust me, it was. The clothing on the floor will be donated and the Walmart bag has 4 blouses I will give to my niece. Cleaning out my purses I collected $53.67. Using it to purchase a bigger shoe rack and a large hat box. ☺ I'm sure I'll have left over money.😆"


Here's another photo from a reader, Adamilka. She said, "This is from the master closet. Sweaters could not get hung so after purging I organized them by color family. I will purge again before our move in 10 months!!! Woohoo!!"


Finally, here's a photo from Maria, who decided to declutter her entire closet. She worked all day on it, but the payoff was huge, just look at these before and after photos!

Maria said, "My girlfriend helped me about 6 weeks ago to declutter my whole closet - it took from 9 am until 6 pm!! We emptied it and cleaned it out - donated or threw out clothes I don't wear anymore. Moved things from the closet that should have a home somewhere else. We took everything we were donating out of the house, and bought new hangers that I liked. I wanted the no-slip ones, so I bought enough for my whole wardrobe (not necessary, but it helps to have all hangers that are all the same to have a closet that looks clean and organized). She put back all my clothes for me in sections - dresses, suits, pants, blouses, jeans, shoes, purses. All clothes were organized by color, then length - short to long within the color. The difference is amazing!"

Are You Ready To Declutter Your Closet Drawers & Shelves?

I hope you're getting excited and ready to declutter your closet drawers and shelves now, after seeing these photos.

The photo above is from a reader, Lorraine, who said, "Today I purged the bedroom closet and my husband's dresser. I removed three bags of stuff, off to donate and consignment shop. Next on my list will be my two dressers!"

Want To Do More Decluttering Missions? Get Started With Declutter 365 Today!

Once you declutter one type of item in your home I bet you'll want to declutter some more. After all, decluttering gives you a great reward for even a small investment of time and energy.

The Declutter 365 system is designed to help you declutter, over the course of a year, your entire house, with just 15 minutes of decluttering each day!

Hundreds of thousands of people use this proven system to get rid of their clutter, and bring peace and calm back to their homes.

Declutter 365 works to guide you to clear the clutter without overwhelm, focusing on just one small area at a time, and without making a huge mess in the process, so you see consistent forward progress without all that "messy middle" that makes it even harder to function in your home than before you started.

In addition to building a daily decluttering habit, the Declutter 365 program, along with the accompanying 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, teaches you the skills, habits, routines, and mindsets necessary to maintain the clutter free and organized state of your home from now on, so it'll never be as messy and cluttered as it is right now, ever again.

If you haven't already, make sure to get your copy of this year's Declutter 365 annual calendar here (it's FREE!), find today's date, and do 15 minutes of decluttering on the day's mission. Then, repeat again tomorrow, and again and again. Over the course of the next year, if you do this 15 minutes per day, you'll declutter your whole house!

In addition, I've got lots of storage and organizing ideas on the site. Here's one for closet shelves -- use shelf dividers to keep organized.



Further, here's a round up of all the Declutter 365 missions on the site for decluttering clothes of all kinds.

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Getting Clutter Free 15 Minutes At A Time Hall Of Fame

Getting Rid Of Bedroom, Clothing & Closet Clutter Hall Of Fame

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