Cleaning Out a Closet Before a Move: 6 Steps to Get it Done

Closets have a way of magically multiplying their contents without you even noticing. That’s why whether you’ve been in the same home for a decade or you’re switching apartments every year, cleaning out a closet before moving is almost always going to be an arduous task.

Still, it’s worth taking the time to do it right. Packing up to move provides you with a great opportunity to edit down what you own and get rid of the things that you don’t need or want anymore. And this goes double for your closet—a place where unwanted items tend to accumulate en masse. So while we might not be able to answer the mystery of how you have a closet full of things but nothing to wear, we can help you out when it comes to how you go about cleaning out a closet in the first place. Here’s where to start.

Take it all out (yes, all of it)

Sort out the stuff you know right away you want to keep

Sort out the stuff you know right away you can toss

Items you haven’t worn in a year
Items you always skip over when it comes time to get dressed
Items that don’t fit you
Items that you hold on to because they were a gift but you never actually wear
Items you have duplicates of
Items that aren’t your style

Tackle the “maybes”

Pack away what you don’t need now

Sort through the “toss” pile

The key takeaway to keep in mind

Marie Kondo is the author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, a book that helps you figure out exactly how to inventory your life in such a way that the only things you carry with you are the things that, as Kondo puts it, “spark joy” for you. Ultimately, cleaning out a closet before a move is about holding on to the things that bring happiness into your life so that you can bring them with you on your next chapter, and leaving behind the things that don’t.

You don’t have to be an avowed minimalist to edit down your closet to just the things that spark joy. Nor does being a clothes lover mean that you can’t find a ton of things to toss when it comes time to organize. Follow your heart, be realistic, and think of how much easier your move will be if you have less clothes to pack up and deal with.