Many people have large enough closets that they can hold all their clothes in one place. Even though I can now fit every clothing item for all seasons into my closet (except hats and scarves) I found that everything was so packed in and difficult to use. I’m a big fan of an off-season/off-size clothing bin for the purpose of getting items you won’t need now out of your most functional space to give the other items more space.
In this post, I’m going to describe how my off-season/off-size bin works and the rules that I’ve set around it. I’ll also discuss how I rotate items from my entry hanging as well. This is actually the third post in a series about reducing my clothing storage. Check them out here.
Reasons Why I started Using an Off-season/Off-size Clothing Bin to store overflow:
I have a 1950’s square house. They would call it a ranch but it’s almost a perfect square with nearly nothing but another square for a hallway. It has no coat closet. It has a hall closet and inside the bathroom is a linen closet. Other than that, all closets belong to bedrooms. There is a tiny broom closet on the stairs off the kitchen.
I certainly could have chosen to store clothing in bins in the basement, but I know myself well enough to know I would abandon them. I may not trust they were bug-free or I’d forget them, but I know I’m not being served by having clothing elsewhere. One of the reasons is that I change size and composition a lot. Even if I weigh the same, my arms may be bigger and a shirt doesn’t fit anymore, so I don’t fit the same clothes for 5+ years except for some shirts that I’d had for 15ish, but that’s mostly not the case.
The Off-season/off-size clothing bin itself:
I had this bin already, but it’s a The Container Store Deep Sweater Box. It’s tall but the size of flat folded clothes and fits on any shelf very well. When fully loaded this bin is about the max weight I’d want to lift to a top shelf in my closet. It’s a great choice for a bit and it’s clear so I can see what I’d stuffed in there. I love these bins and they also have shorter ones that you can stack.
You can easily use multiples or separate off-season/off-size clothing if you wish. For me, I keep it to one due to the size of my closets, and the fact that keeping any more is more clothing than I need, it just delays making decisions. I budget a fair amount of money quarterly for clothing and often don’t use the whole budget so when I need to replace clothing the budget isn’t the issue.
I like throwing these things together because I need to look at the off-size clothes as I’m changing the seasons as I will know if it’s gone a few winters still in the box.
The Rules:
- One size up or down only. If I were actively losing weight and nearly to the one size down I’d allow myself to hold on to absolute favorites two sizes down, but not if I’m not committed to losing weight. As far as gaining weight goes 1 size only. There is no case that I’d want to encourage two sizes.
The caveat is that most of us probably do wear multiple sizes at one time depending on the look we’re going for or how the item functions in our wardrobe and I don’t stick to a number as much as how it functions. - No more than one season if easily replaced. If it has been in there more than one season, is being rejected for the second, and would be easily replaced, it goes.
- If it’s in poor condition and I have a functionally similar item I like, it goes. If I don’t, I start shopping and it goes when I find a replacement, typically at the next season changeout.
- The lid must close without bulging. If its lid can’t snap on, it’s time to look for something that can be donated. Maybe it’s the 17th favorite t-shirt or a duplicate shirt or something, but something has to go until that lid can snap on.
Not all off-season items have to go in the box. The majority of our items would stay in our closets because they are essentially all-season items. I’m pulling out fleece-lined pants in the summer, and putting in thin dresses in the winter. My winter parka remains hanging in the hard-to-reach place in my closet until the season it’s needed when it goes to the hook by the door.
Timing:
I don’t put this in my calendar and the changes in the seasons can be somewhat subtle, but since the majority of my all-season items stay in the closet, there’s a large window when you’re done wearing that skimpy thin summer dress and when you’ll need to bust out that long-underwear. Somewhere in this timeframe is when I go through this bin and my closet (and anywhere else I may have stashed clothing).
For me, this ends up being anywhere from Oct-Dec and Feb-April. The large window also gives you a chance to try to fill in missing pieces in the wardrobe before the season hits. I typically will not fill in at the end of a season in case my size changes again.
Going Through the Bin:
First, I will pull out of my closet all the past season items. This won’t include t-shirts. It’s the items that I’m only going to grab if the weather is 85+ degrees F. I usually don’t wear shorts in other seasons but do wear a pair of capris all year. The bin is easily accessible in my case so if I make a mistake it’s easy enough to retrieve it. I’m just aiming to give everything enough space to function easily.
Space between and around items is definitely not something I used to value but it makes getting ready quicker. It also makes putting laundry away easier.
I usually put the items from my closet on the bed and evaluate if any of those items should be donated given the same rules for the bin above.
Then I will go through the bin and pull out the upcoming season’s items and review them with the same rules except they must fit now and put them in the closet. If the closet doesn’t have enough room I will look for more items to put in the bin.
Then I flip through what is in the bin or dig it all out depending on how many items I see that I need to try on or donate. If they don’t fasten or have been in the bin for a few seasons they go, whether they are summer or winter. If I have enough space, I might leave it till the next season, especially if I really like the items. Otherwise, if I need space both seasons are fair game.
Storing winter items always takes more space than summer items, so I make sure to spend good money on one great quality piece for that extreme weather and I wash more frequently or wear more between washes. Typically, our bad weather days are extreme for a few days and then there’s plenty of time until I need the item again. You might have to adjust more if you have long harsh winters.
I live in the Midwest where we experience all four seasons to various degrees each year. Two years ago, we were buried under 3′ of snow for two weeks straight and this past winter we only had about 6″ total. That’s why I choose only one very heavy pant and have one underlayer to make less heavy pants feel thicker. The underlayers are much smaller to store but it won’t cut it on harsh days.
I don’t push myself to empty the bin but I do try to be honest with myself at this time. If I know I won’t wear something I try to figure out why, so I can replace it with another better item if needed. I donate what I’m not wearing even if I can’t figure out why. If I love the item in theory but it’s not working for me, I donate it here too, but I’m trying to learn why so that I save money.
Maybe it’s the material or the cut, or it was tight at one spot and too loose everywhere else. If the item could be tailored then it’s time to pull it out to do so as the season approaches. I haven’t chosen this option in a while as usually there’s more than one thing wrong or tailoring isn’t practical.
When to shop:
After I’ve reviewed the bin, I decide what items need to be replaced. This will depend on if I already had too many and I’m just pairing down, or if I dig out all my summer and still only have fall/winter pant options. This happens to me a lot. I buy a dress but I still prefer shorts or I buy shorts but they sit funny when I sit down, or they hold moisture so I don’t choose to wear them. These are all good reasons to replace an item, but I don’t do it until that season is approaching.
I will still discard the item when I first find it’s not good but usually it is clear what type of item I don’t have enough of to be functional. Then I make a shopping list.
Hopefully, you find this article helpful as you try to free up space in your closet and dresser. It has served me well for several years and with some tweaking, I’m sure you’d benefit as well. If you missed the previous two legs of this journey, check out my other clothing organization posts.