How to Winterize Your Closet, according to a Professional Organizer

Hide away all your summer shoes to create space for winter boots and shoes. Before storing your shoes under your bed or in a closet, lay all shoes out and assess which shoes you no longer wear and which ones you have worn too much but want to keep. Donate all unwanted shoes and bring any shoes that need a new sole or a cleaning to your local shoe cobbler. Resoling (see below for an example of a freshly re-soled pair) and cleaning your favorite shoes will ensure they will last a lifetime and put a whole new pep in your step come spring, when you switch back your closet. Key here is proper storage: put all shoes in dustbags before you stow them away.

Packing cubes are for more than just trips! Changing out summer clothes can be tricky because you may have a tropical trip planned and convince yourself to keep all your summer clothes out–or you have a ski getaway so think your turtleneck and après outfits deserve prime real estate, despite the fact that you never wear them on the day-to-day – think again! Use packing cubes to categorize clothes you will need for trips over the winter, so that you can hide them away on a top shelf or under the bed but easily access them when it’s time to head out!

Say it with me: summer dresses don’t get to take up space in the winter months! No, not even your beautiful black-tie ones. In the winter, you need all the space you can get because of how much bulkier the clothing tends to be. Store summer dresses in garment bags – you can put about 4 in one. Keep your dresses on the hangers and lie flat if possible or hang in an extra closet if you have the space. Under the bed is a great place to lie flat. Put dryer sheets in the bag to prevent moths.

Winter means long jackets! (Short ones too). There is nothing worse than losing items in your closet because your coats cover them. Organize coats by longest to shortest and, depending on the height of your closet, only put shoes/bins on the side with short jackets.

We all have 3 favorite sweaters we rotate through all winter that we keep on top of a drawer that is stuffed to brim. If you are going to put sweaters in a dresser, fold in quarters and lay on the side so you can see them all, but your best bet for easy access and organized storage is in clean bins on a shelf.