Closet Decluttering, Inventory Tips & Printable

I’ve decluttered my closet countless times- seriously, at least over ten times! And yet despite the years of decluttering, I STILL have way way too much. Through trial and error, I have recently had a few “AHA!” moments that I want to share, in case you are also struggling with this process. First, I’ll share some things that I tried that didn’t work (for me!) and then what I did instead- that DID work! I will also share a free printable that will help you with this process, so many sure to read to the bottom for that!

A few things that didn’t work:

1. Marie Kondo style decluttering: In Marie Kondo’s method, she has you put every piece of clothing out on your bed and then determine what “sparks joy” and keep only those items. While I thought this was great for my first major closet decluttering, I’ve never returned back to this method, because for me it is very overwhelming and time consuming. As a mom to two young kids, I tend to squeeze my decluttering sessions in during nap time time- which isn’t enough time to do her method properly. Even more so, I’ve found that while it helped me remove items that I didn’t like- I still ended up with more than was wanting or wearing. I kept it all because I liked it, but I certainly didn’t need that much!

2. Continuing to bring in way too much stuff: While I was decluttering, my consumption continued (sometimes at a rapid rate) and then I would quickly be faced with an overflowing closet, once again. This year I am trying really hard to cut down on my consumption by tracking everything that I bring into my home (using this consumption tracker!)

What DID work for me:

1. Taking inventory! This isn’t an original idea by any means- but I had truly never considered doing it before. I had a drawer of workout leggings and I used the drawer as a guide to determine how many I kept- when it was overflowing, I decluttered a few to make room. Now, giving yourself spacial limits CAN be a great strategy…but guess what? When I inventoried the drawer and counted how many pairs of workout leggings were actually in that drawer- I was shocked to find 25 pairs! While I liked all of those 25 leggings and they all “sparked joy”–there is no reason why I would ever need (or regularly be able to wear) that many pairs! Just this simple realization helped me to declutter 16 pairs, so that I was left with a much more manageable nine pairs. Much better!

2. Going category by category: When I decided to try taking an inventory, I did NOT do this all at once because for me that is just way too overwhelming. Also, when you are dealing with that many clothes it quickly leads to decision fatigue. Instead, I had a lot of success inventorying my clothes category by category- often just one small subcategory a day! I share the exact steps I took to inventory my clothes below.

How I inventoried and decluttered my closet:

The first thing I did was draw several charts in my notebook to help me keep track of my inventory. (They were slightly tedious to make, so I included a free printable below that you can print and use instead!)

Each page is for one category. Examples of categories you could choose are: tops, bottoms, work clothes, activewear, outerwear, shoes, etc.

So after choosing a category, I divided that category into many different “subcategories”. So in this example I chose workout clothes as my main category and then broke that down into leggings, shorts, pull overs, zip ups, tank tops, sports bras, nursing sports bras and cropped tops.

For each subcategory I first counted every item of that type that I owned. For almost every subcategory, I realized that I did not need that many, so my next step was to decide which ones to get rid of so that I had a more manageable number. During the decluttering phase I kept these questions in mind:

After decluttering, I wrote how many items in that subcategory I was keeping and then wrote down any future needs/ wants in that category.

At the bottom of the page I also kept notes to act as reminders to myself. I looked at what I was decluttering and looked for any patterns that I noticed (i.e. I don’t wear colored leggings or long sleeve tops very often- don’t buy these in the future)

I am currently in the process of repeating these steps for every single category and sub category that I own!

This might seem “extra” to some people- but I’m a visual person, so just seeing these numbers written out on paper was extremely motivating to me and was the “aha” moment that I never knew I needed.

Next steps:

After completing my inventory and decluttering my closet, my hope is to get my full wardrobe uploaded onto the StyleBook app so that I can get a true visual of what I have in my closet. (I’m also using this app to track what I wear each day, which will help me further curate my closet as I see what is/isn’t worn over this year!)

If using an app isn’t your thing, it might be helpful to have a written log of your clothes so that you truly know the specifics of what you own. One of my favorite Instagram follows, Stylethislife, uses a handwritten tracker that would be a great alternative!

As for what to do with all of the decluttered clothes? I am donating some, giving some away in my Buy Nothing Group and the rest I am selling on Poshmark (use code “SHOPWITHSHELLEY” if you’re new!) or Mercari. You can click here to read a post I wrote about my experience selling on the two apps.

Free Printable:

My hope is that by sharing this simple printable that you will be able to print out several pages and use it to categorize and inventory your own closet. I didn’t fill out the categories because we all have such different wardrobes depending on our interests, clothes preferences and stages of life. If you need inspiration or ideas, make sure that you’re following along on Instagram- I’ll try to share to stories as I complete the process! I hope that this process is helpful and helps you to finally tackle your closet!

Click here to download your free closet inventory printable!