How to Give Your Wardrobe a Real Spring Makeover

Lighten up both your mind and your closet.

By

Kim Marcum

 
Published March 19, 2026
Elena Lacey (Getty Images, 7)

Spring is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts after a long, cold, cloudy winter. But who among us gets excited about spring cleaning? That’s a tough one, which is why we are borrowing the romance metaphor and applying it to our closets. Who wants to closet clean when you can spring fling instead? Tossing out the old is always more fun than merely cleaning up the mess. Blech.

If you need convincing that it’s time to do something with your closets, consider this perspective from Marni Jameson, a nationally recognized columnist, blogger and author of five books on decluttering our homes and lives.

“A cleaned-out closet sets you up for a clearer mind and a more efficient day. It lets you start and end your day in an orderly space, where the decision of what to wear is easier because everything works,” says Jameson, whose books include “Downsizing the Family Home” and “Rightsize Today for Your Best Life Tomorrow.”

“The more stuff we have that we don’t wear because it doesn’t work, the more clogged and congested our minds and lives become,” she adds. “It’s a gift to go in your closet and know every single item in it fits, flatters and makes you feel good.”

Flipping the Script

Some of her recommendations are contrary to oft-repeated advice. For example, neither she nor Washington, D.C.-based home organizer Katherine Picott buy into the one-year rule. “Time alone doesn’t tell the full story,” says Picott.

“Whoever said you should get rid of any garment you haven't worn in a year has never spent $100 on a piece of clothing, skipped the holiday party or lived under a stay-at-home order for a year,” says Jameson. “If it still fits, is in good condition, you like it and would wear it again, keep it. How recently it’s been used should not be your sorting criteria. Some terrific classic pieces like a great wool coat or a fine silk scarf can be wardrobe staples for 10 years and beyond.”  

Instead, she flips the closet-cleaning script to: Choose to keep, not to let go. Rather than looking for what to get rid of, decide what to keep. Start by taking everything out of your closet (yes, Jameson admits, it can make a mess), Then, ask yourself, “Would I buy this?” Put back in your closet only those items you would purchase again. Donate the rest.

To maintain your momentum, she suggests a trial separation pile. If you’re waffling over whether to keep or toss a garment, put it in a "trial separation" box. Revisit these items in a few months to make a final call. This way you keep moving without clinging too much.

What’s hiding in plain sight?

Not ready for a full-scale reckoning? Consider a more incremental approach that targets particular types of items. Start with the clothes that “tend to hide in plain sight, quietly taking up space,” suggests Picott, whose Tidy Milso service helps homeowners in the Washington, D.C., area organize their space and lives. Those of us farther afield can find tips in her Tiny Tings blog or by following her on social media.

A big hiding-in-plain-sight culprit, she says, are “the online purchases that never fully made it into your wardrobe. Maybe they needed to be returned or exchanged, or maybe you simply never made the time to release them. If an item has been lingering in the bag or sitting on a shelf untouched, that’s a strong signal it’s not meant to stay.”

Another overlooked cue is repair procrastination. “This is your moment for radical honesty,” says Picott. “Is there a piece you’ve been ‘meaning’ to fix — a missing button, a loose hem, a broken zipper — but it’s been sitting untouched for months? Ask yourself, ‘Am I truly going to take this to the tailor?’ Your answer will tell you exactly what stays and what goes, with clarity and zero guilt.”

The most forgotten space of all? The top drawer. “Bras, panties, underwear, socks — these pieces often get stuffed, jammed or layered over because the drawer is overflowing,” says Picott. “A quick edit of that top drawer can genuinely spice up your daily routine and bring a little ease back into your mornings.”

Dream-Life Clothes

Dealing with the dream-life clothes in our closets may pose the biggest challenge. These are the items that remind us of who we were or who we wanted to be, says Jameson. In this category are the clothes that no longer fit. “Are you keeping clothes around because you plan to lose weight? Get rid of them,” she says. “They are mocking you.”

So are the tennis outfits, but you don’t play. The ski clothes, but you don’t ski. And the business suits, but you are retired.  “Every piece of clothing you have should suit who you are today,” says Jameson. “Your wardrobe needs to evolve as you do.”

Friends and family may be contributing to your cache of dream-life clothes, too. Items that are gifted or passed down often reflect who others think we are or want us to be. For these pieces, it’s OK to let it go if you already know you have no interest in wearing it, says Picott. “As I remind my clients, the gratitude is in receiving the gift. Once it’s in your possession, you get to decide what happens next.”

A Sentimental Journey

Cleaning out a jam-packed closet can be a sentimental journey that makes letting go hard for even garments we never wear. “Emotions are always involved,” says Picott. “We’re not just talking about clothes. We’re talking about decades of memories, identities and stories wrapped up in those garments. And the more we dread facing it, the easier it becomes to avoid taking action altogether.”

To complicate matters even more, we often play the “but, but, but game,” adds Jameson. “But it was expensive. But so and so gave it to me. But I wore it to — fill in the occasion — so it’s sentimental. But I might lose 10 pounds. None of these is a good reason to cling.”

The litmus test, she says, remains: “Do you love it? Do you need it? Do you use it? You should answer yes to at least one of those questions, if not all three.” 

Moving Forward

Be advised, clearing your closet is a practice, not a one-time event, says Picott. “A yearly edit is a healthy baseline, but what truly keeps your wardrobe intentional is what you do in between.”

Here are some expert tips on navigating that in-between time:

  • “Keep a large shopping bag in your closet and regularly toss items into it as you decide their time has come,” says Jameson. Does it have a stain? Is it showing wear? Has it stretched or shrunk? “When the bag is full, off it goes.”
  • “I always encourage clients to use laundry as a built‑in checkpoint,” says Picott. “Once a month, as you’re folding and putting things away, take a moment to assess what you have and whether you still want to keep it. That small habit keeps you in a steady rhythm of an organized lifestyle, prevents clutter from quietly rebuilding and ensures that your annual reset takes hours, not weeks.”
  • Minimize closet mayhem with unified hangers, Jameson recommends. She favors slim, velvet, non-slip hangers in one color. They add instant coherence and rod space. “These velvet hangers are half the width of standard plastic hangers,” she says. “For every 12 garments you convert from plastic to velvet, non-slip hangers, you gain two inches of rod space.”

Less time and more space? That’s something to look forward to. In the meantime, let the spring fling begin!

As a fashion editor in Dallas, Kim Marcum covered the international ready-to-wear collections in four fashion capitals and interviewed iconic designers from Giorgio Armani to Ralph Lauren. Later in her journalism career at the Orlando Sentinel, she was the senior editor on a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Local Reporting (2013) and on a project that earned the 2013 Diversity Award from the Freedom Forum/American Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2014, she joined Orlando Health, where she is the corporate director of strategic communications. She has two adult daughters and a grandpuppy.