It is somewhat of a tradition, particularly in the state where I live (New Jersey) to do the season clothing swap twice a year. Once in the fall to put away summer clothes and bring out the winter gear. Then again in the spring to pack away winter clothes and bring out the warm weather items. As a kid, I remember helping my mom with this task and it took days, a whole weekend at best.

We would have to lug the heavy storage totes down from the attic, sort the items, make huge piles of things to donate and then start washing and putting away the off-season items. It was exhausting!

As I got older, I carried on this tradition but always loathed doing it. One day I decided what if I just stop with this nonsense. I realized that I didn’t have to do this at all.

We are supposed to have four seasons in NJ, but it’s like a week maybe two of true fall weather and the same for spring. Then it’s either hot or cold. Last week, it was both 80 and 20 degrees in the same week. So yes, I needed both my winter coat, boots, and t-shirts and flip-flops in the same week. If my items were stored away, it would be very frustrating to have to dig them out.

I decided that I was no longer going to do this, I was going to keep ALL my clothes out all year round. Now, I have the smallest closet in our entire house so to accomplish this, I knew I had a difficult project ahead of me. I just started with one category of clothing at a time and after paring down (a lot) and focusing in on what I wear each year, I was able to fit all my shirts in one drawer and all my pants in another. I hang up both winter and summer dresses on one side of my closet and the other side holds all my nicer shirts and jackets. I still keep one basket on the top shelf to hold the really seasonal stuff like bathing suits and hats, gloves & scarves but it’s still very accessible. So, if we go on vacation in January and I need to grab my bathing suit I’m all set.

We live in a time where there is heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer so even in the summer you may want to grab a light sweater to take to the office (when I lived in Arizona, our office was always freezing in the summer because they kept that AC cranking on full blast). In the winter, I often wear t-shirts under a sweater because many people keep their homes very warm, and I like to be able to pare down.

The one thing that is great to do a few times a year at the end of each season is going to through your clothes and do a quick declutter. At the end of summer, go through your swimsuits, shorts, dresses, shoes, and tops- you know what you just wore and what you didn’t. This is a great time to remove those items while it’s fresh in your brain. Do this again at the end of winter and you’ll never have to spend an entire weekend cleaning out the old closet again!

Stop Switching Out Your Seasonal Clothing- For Good!