The Seasonal Closet

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Angie is co-founder of YLF and its resident fashion stylist.

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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

The Seasonal Closet

— by Angie

on August 4, 2016

When thinking about how to store your wardrobe items at home, you’re faced with one big decision right away. Should you store items seasonally, or keep everything together in the same closet year round? There is no right or wrong answer, but both approaches have their advantages and one of them is likely to be better for you.

Seasonal Assortment

Organizing your closet seasonally means that you swap out your wardrobe with the change of the seasons while transitional items keep their permanent place. In other words, your closet reflects warm and hot weather clothing in the Spring and Summer, while you pack away cold weather clothing until it’s time to dress for cold weather. This method is practical in homes with limited closet space, and when your climate is extreme. It makes dressing in the hotter months easier because you don’t have to bypass all sorts of arctic Winter woollies to get to that breezy silk blouse and pair of linen pants. You shortcut your outfit creation process by focussing your seasonal wardrobe assortment.

Keeping it ALL Together

This is when you don’t swap out seasonal wardrobe items by keeping just about everything together in one place. That way you can see exactly what you have with one quick glance. Swapping out your wardrobe seasonally can lead to forgetting what you have (out of sight, out of mind), which leads to unnecessary duplication. Having every wardrobe item available at any time can strengthen the outfit creation process, encourage creativity, and save you in unseasonal weather. It works well for larger closet spaces, and in more temperate climates, because you can wear a larger percentage of your wardrobe year round.

I prefer to keep EVERYTHING together because I have the closet space and live in a milder climate than those on the East Coast of the US. I just love looking into my closet and seeing all of it right away, which might pander to my control freak tendencies. That said, I do keep wardrobe basics in a separate chest of drawers, and coats in a coat closet by the door.

Over to you. Do you swap out your wardrobe seasonally, or keep it all together?

Closet Organization

65 comments · Add a comment

Eliza

Veteran

I keep it all in one closet, with wardrobe items that are specifically seasonal grouped together. I prefer it, though realize it is only possible due to a space that matches my interest in variety. Many items are used more throughout the year this way; I am fond of layering.

August 4, 2016 at 3:03 am

Summer

Veteran

My closets are too small to keep everything together, so I have to swap out seasonally. The out-of-sight items are readily to hand, though, which is just as well given the fickle nature of the UK weather.

August 4, 2016 at 3:17 am

Runcarla

Veteran

There is enough room in my closet for everything and all seasons, so I get to keep everything out – which is the way I like it.

August 4, 2016 at 3:25 am

Sal

Veteran

I swap seasonally, but living in a temperate climate my swap is probably less than a quarter of my closet. In mid winter I don’t have out my summer dresses, sandals and shorts and one or two summer tops that I would not wear layered in autumn and winter due to fabrication or colour. Most of short sleeved tops and tank tops remain available all year. I enjoy the swap over process, and my closet is fairly small in size so it helps me feel uncluttered.

August 4, 2016 at 3:28 am

Deborah

Veteran

I smiled at your comment about your ‘control freak tendencies’ Angie, my son says that’s what my closet organisation says about me lol. I like to keep everything together. Some of my clothing works well across seasons so there is no point putting it away. I also like to see everything.. I think it provides more inspiration for mixing and matching item too.

August 4, 2016 at 3:30 am

kkards

Veteran

since joining YLF, i have come to the realization that my key seasons are “transition”, so i’ve been buying more true seasonless items, therefore swapping out a lot less. but that being said, i still have many sweaters, boots, and wool coats that swapped out with lightweight jackets, shorts and sandals.

August 4, 2016 at 3:48 am

April

Veteran

The house I moved to last year is in New England — frigid winters and hot, sticky summers — and has a swimming pool.

So while I have a spacious walk-in closet, I also have certain wardrobe items such as swimsuits and heavy woolens that get zero usage for months on end. Therefore, while I love the idea of having everything on hand at all times, it doesn’t really make sense in my climate. Also, my closet was designed — not by me — with tons of open shelving and very little rod space, so things that are not in regular rotation get dusty.

If you’re designing a closet, keep that in mind when you consider open shelving!

Anyway, my closet actually has a small closet-within-the-closet that has a door on it, so I can put things away and close that door, and that’s where I store things I won’t use for months. They’re close at hand but not within sight.

August 4, 2016 at 3:58 am

delurked

I’m in the keep it all together camp. Outerwear is separate In the coat closet. Warm items, which get little play most of the year for me, do get moved to the out of the way part of the closet though.

August 4, 2016 at 4:10 am

Chris987

Veteran

I would LOVE to fit everything into one closet. When I visit friends that can do that I drool with envy :-). IRL I live in a house over 200 years old, in New England, with multiple small closets, in all kinds of awkward locations. We even added a bigger one many years ago that is a sort of walk-in, but creating a truly hold-all closest in would require giving up a room and that is not in the cards. So I rotate a lot, even more so now as I’m working on a major style overhaul.

August 4, 2016 at 4:33 am

unfrumped

Veteran

Good reminder if eardrobe organization!
I continue to have issues with what to keep where. My climat would be considered mild but is 4 season and I run cold so I like to wear very warm sweaters and heavier pants for nearly 4 months. These need storage so I can’t really ” see” them by leaving them in full view anyway. Then despite freezing air conditioning which requires more transitional garb, , we have weeks of 100 degree summer weather and so I like some cooler tops for at least the first layer so I survive coming and goig in the extreme heat.
What I learned is thst I just need fewer of each type of item so I don’t have a huge number of items lying fallow while fit or style preferences may be changing. I’m lucky to havd extra spare room closet space but am organizing that so that off- season items are easy to see and access and aren’t so many. Because if not, then I risk buying unnecessary items for upcoming season.
This is where somd if your afmdvucd about being less focused in sales and also getting items in season helps. Sweaters are a prime example– its way too hot to go through all my sweaters and yet cozy sweaters are featured at NAS and elsewhere. It is very easy for me to get sucked in to buy a new sweater and then find
I have way more total sweaters than I can wear, but might have a wardrobe hole for specific color or style once I get into the season of wear and should have focused.

August 4, 2016 at 4:44 am

Laura

(website)

Veteran

With a large walk-in closet, I don’t need to switch out wardrobes any more, although I did that seasonally for eons. Old habits die hard though, and I did put my winter sweaters aside in a separate section this summer. Honestly, it’s more psychological than anything. Out with winter, in with spring. After what feels like 6 months of winter, I don’t even want to look at sweaters!

August 4, 2016 at 4:47 am

Gail

Veteran

I prefer to keep all my clothes together.
I live in a home with a room off my bedroom that I made into a closet when we moved here. I am in the process of a huge organization and purge in my home so the closet that was once spacious will hopefully become so again . I like to see what I have or I totally forget and duplicate, that’s what happened when I used to store seasonal items.

August 4, 2016 at 4:51 am

RobinF

Veteran

I’m lucky that I don’t have to share a closet with my spouse but it still isn’t large enough to hold my clothes for all seasons. Here in Michigan there are many items that don’t get worn for long periods of time so I store those in boxes. It is a hassle when I have to swap them out but it’s also kind of fun because then I have items that feel kind of new all over again.

August 4, 2016 at 4:51 am

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I like the idea of only keeping all my clothes in one closet, but the reality is that my wardrobe is big, and our seasonal change is dramatic, so I switch out a bit of my closet twice a year, in April and October. I switch gradually too — in spring, I wait until the warm days really start hitting before I switch out wool jackets for summer dresses. There is very little cross-seasonal functionality in my wardrobe. I barely even wear jeans in the heat of the summer, and thin tanks for layering don’t really appeal to me in the cold of the winter.

Ideally, I’d like to edit my closet to the point where space is not the issue at all, but just seasonal convenience. But somehow I still seem to be doing a one-in, one-out thing, and not really getting rid of enough to thin out the wardrobe.

August 4, 2016 at 4:57 am

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I’m a seasonal swapper — in my current climate and home. Two intense seasons (summer/ winter) and two short temperate ones, along with an old house and no walk-in closets. But to save myself from overbuying out of season items I simply keep an inventory of all I own. The list is a good backup for my memory, but the truth is, I probably don’t need it. My wardrobe is medium sized but even without the inventory I can keep it all in my mind — probably because I do wear everything in my closet and if I don’t, it bothers me enough that I tend to work it into rotation or edit it out! I actually enjoy the closet-switch-out process twice a year. It’s an opportunity to reflect on what I need and what should go, and my it’s when I do my major closet edits.

August 4, 2016 at 4:59 am

Scarlet

Veteran

I keep everything in two side by side wardrobes and a couple of drawers in a shared chest. I like to keep the things I wear often on hangers where it is easiest to see. I put the out of season items folded up in large pull-out drawers beneath the hanging space. I keep coats in a closet in another room. In true seasonal swapping, I find the timing to be tricky because sometimes the weather is unseasonal. The other thing I find tricky about storage is when one needs a range of sizes due to whatever reasons.

August 4, 2016 at 5:17 am

Tanya

Veteran

I also keep it all in one space. I have enough closet space to do so ( two walk in-closets) and it keeps my large wardrobe organized. All the hanging items are always in the same place. There are only two categories I switch around inside the closet. One of them is knitwear: all of my knitwear is folded on two large shelves above each other, the bottom one is easily accessible but the top one needs a chair to reach. So I switch around the contents of the top and bottom shelf seasonally, always keeping the right weight of knitwear on the bottom shelf. The other category is footwear – I don’t have enough space to keep all of it displayed on easily accessible shelves, so some of it gets packed in boxes and put on higher shelves. Again, I switch between two areas according to s eason.

August 4, 2016 at 5:19 am

Joy

Veteran

I live in climate extremes and swap out at least part of my small closet 6 times a year. This is partly to deal with wardrobe boredom during long cold and hot seasons and makes me feel refreshed without much shopping to see things that have been put away for months.
Right now I am in Hot Summer and even items with long sleeves are put away. Soon I would be moving into Hot Autumn, a time when I crave darker and more fall colors but it is still too hot for heavy fabrics.
The next season usually starts about mid November and I call Winter Holiday…brights, darks and bling for colder weather. About mid February I switch to Cold Spring…lighter shades and neutrals but warm fabrications. Usually sometime in April I bring in more transitional spring items, switching to Hot a summer in June.
We will be moving very soon to a different climate with less extremes and (I hope) a bigger closet, so my system will probably change and this post is very helpful and a source of ideas. When I can’t see everything at once, I try to keep lists of items I need or want so as not to duplicate if shopping out of season.

August 4, 2016 at 5:26 am

kerry

Veteran

I live in a place with two very distinct seasons – summer and winter and a fleeting fall and spring. My closet is big enough to hold all of my clothing (spouse’s too) so the only thing I pack away is camping clothing and swimsuits (fabric boxes with ‘windows’ on the very top shelf of the closet). I do, however, shuffle clothing so that the current season’s items are front and centre. I really dislike seeing heavy woollens in the height of summer and easy, breezy in the depths of winter!

August 4, 2016 at 5:38 am

Karie

(website)

Veteran

Oh how I wish I had a large walk-in closet, but I don’t, so I swap out seasonal items. My house was built in 1960 and all the closets are small. I use only one closet and keep most things on hangers, but I have a small side shelving unit in the closet and two shelves above the hanging racks where I keep sweaters, tees, gear, and some purses. I have hanging hooks for purses with long straps and for my long necklaces and belts. I keep all my underwear, shorts, jeans, pjs in a chest of drawers.

August 4, 2016 at 6:02 am

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

I prefer to keep everything together and we usually have enough space to do that. Except in the house we’re in now – built in 1959, it has very minimal closet space. So winter stuff is put away for now. I don’t like it that way because I can’t remember what all I have and what I might need, and it makes it difficult to just go do an assessment without a big production. Luckily, we’ll be moving next month and the new house has much better thought out storage.

August 4, 2016 at 6:22 am

lisap

Seasonally, out of necessity . Major extremes in weather, and little closet space dictate this. There is almost nothing I own that I wear cross-seasonally (even jeans, which I haven’t had on in any colour for the last couple of weeks ) preferring to switch things up a few times year.

August 4, 2016 at 6:26 am

Diana

Veteran

I keep almost all my clothes out in all seasons (the exception being shoes). The main reason is mostly that I’m enough of a procrastinator that I wouldn’t actually accomplish the swap until the season was half over! plus, although we do have a 4 season climate here I also find it almost impossible to determine when exactly to switch over.

I have to do a seasonal swap of shoes (boots to sandals basically) simply because I like to keep my in use shoes out in the open, and they won’t all fit on the racks in my front hall! (But I keep the out of season ones on other rack inside the coat closet so they are actually still pretty accessible….)

August 4, 2016 at 6:28 am

amiable

Veteran

I swap seasonally. But I’ve been eyeing my small closet thinking that if I pared down 50% or a bit more, everything would fit at once… and I may give it a try….

August 4, 2016 at 6:32 am

Jamie

Veteran

My preference is to keep everything in one closet because I like to see my entire wardrobe. That said, I do keep sweaters and basics in a chest in my bedroom, and coats in a separate closet. If I had a larger bedroom closet, everything would be there.

August 4, 2016 at 6:34 am

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I keep everything together. I have the space, and my climate is more mild. If it weren’t hanging in my closet, I don’t know where it would go!

August 4, 2016 at 6:40 am

Susie

Veteran

Our closet is large enough that I could keep everything in it but I prefer not to. And I have the guest room closet to switch to which helps; if I had to pack things away I would keep it all out. But when it’s hot and humid I don’t want to see cashmere and wool and those things feel much fresher when they move in than if they were hanging there month after month unworn.

I don’t do one major switch over but more of an in and out every couple of months. Some pieces work better in March and April than July and August but will work again in September. Lighter weight fall items will move in to work with summer pieces during the transition time. We have a coat closet so outerwear lives there.

I hang most things with a few drawers for basics.

August 4, 2016 at 6:49 am

Beth Ann

Veteran

I have one closet — and no options for a “guest room overflow,” since I have teenagers filling those closets!

I do seasonal switches, however, bringing items that fit the current season into easy reach. It is nice to be able to reach that sweater when a summer evening turns cool, or to be able to mix/match across seasons during the transitional weeks.

I wish I had a larger, better designed space, but my DH has a office that was once a bedroom, and he uses that closet, so I don’t need to share, and I can do whatever I want. In the future, I hope to redesign the space, and the reality is that the size is adequate for my real needs and budget.

Still tidying, one section a day! It should be looking great in a couple of days!

August 4, 2016 at 7:05 am

Style Fan

Veteran

I switch out some of my items with the seasons. Our weather is very extreme. Our summers are very hot (31 C today) and our winters are very cold (-30 C). We really have six seasons. My closet is not large enough to hold all my clothing. I also don’t want to look at my woollies in the summer.

August 4, 2016 at 7:11 am

Aquamarine

Veteran

With the exception of coats and boots, I prefer to keep everything together. Coats live in the coat closet, with a few “gear” coats stored on a rod in our basement. Boots are also shelved in the basement in the off season too.

August 4, 2016 at 7:20 am

Glory

Veteran

Living in extremes with 2 main seasons and 2 smallish seasons I swap once per year combining Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. There are a few items that I leave out but not many. I store my winter coats and jackets in a downstairs closet which I have gotten away with using all to myself despite there being 5 of us living here :).
I store the off season items in rubbermaid bins stacked in the corner of my closet. I don’t like the idea of storing them elsewhere – probably as I would need to lug them down to the basement.
I do a major purge 2 x per year which is at the beginning of the major season. I have now also started immediate purging of anything I wear that makes me feel “less than” if you know what I mean.
I am trying very hard not to shop for the season until my seasonal purge is done.

August 4, 2016 at 7:21 am

Bonnie

Veteran

I live where it is very hot in summer and mild in winter so have very little need for cold weather clothes. I keep everything in one walk in closet and like seeing it all at once. I do have a separate wardrobe of hiking clothes that I only wear when we go to the mountains for 2-3 months each year that I keep in plastic boxes.

August 4, 2016 at 7:29 am

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, ladies. Lots of seasonal wardrobes and enjoyment experienced in the swapping out process. Fascinating.

No one wants to look at their woollies in Summer. Hilarious.

Aha, Eliza. Separating wardrobe items seasonally in ONE closet is another way to go.

April, open shelving is a better visual system though. At least it is to me!

Laura, I DO get that feeling. I can get sooo sick of wearing my Winter clothes, and long so desperately to wear my Spring and Summer lovelies.

Suz, keeping an inventory of all you own is a great idea when you swap out seasons.

Tanya, your large wardrobe sounds very organized. Well done.

HAH, Diana. A good reason to keep it all together.

Susie and Beth Ann, I like how you switch things around every few months to work with the seasons.

August 4, 2016 at 7:30 am

AviaMariah

Veteran

I swap out extreme seasonal items. I don’t have a huge closet and would have to pare down my closet a lot in order to fit it all in. Besides that, I don’t like looking at heavy sweaters in the summer and breezy tops in the winter. I guess it’s kind of like switching out decor for the seasons; helps to set the mood. I do keep my off season clothing in a spare closet so it’s easy to access if I need something. The other thing I find useful is I learn a lot about how I feel about items as I bring them back into my closet. If I feel a little surge of pleasure then I know that item is still a keeper. If I feel a little nudge of stress – like I really need to try to wear this item this year – then I know if might be time to pass it on.

August 4, 2016 at 7:47 am

Author Linda

Veteran

I would like to keep everything but winter coats in one closet but lack the closet space to do that. I literally have my main wardrobe in an armoire in my bedroom. For now I swap out summer and winter items like linen pants and airy tops for autumnal sweaters and wool pants. I also swap out my shoes, putting away sandals, perforated booties, and slip on sneakers in summer colors, then pulling out the heavier booties and loafers for cold weather wear. Ideally, though, I like having as much of my wardrobe as possible at my fingertips so I can visualize my options.

August 4, 2016 at 8:04 am

Diane G

I used to swap out twice a year and I used to have all my coats in amongst all my other clothes. After much brain racking, reorganising, and a little negotiation with DH over space and also some help from him putting up a hanging rail…I now have coats in another closet…jeans and sweaters now folded on shelves and jeans likewise. All of my wardrobe is now out at once….yay!

August 4, 2016 at 8:55 am

Inge

(website)

Moderator

Keeping it all together really works for me, but at the moment I’m doing the seasonal system because I have limited closet space and earlier this Spring I put aside all the clothes that don’t fit me properly but that I’d like to hold on to for a little while longer. Most of those have been stored in boxes, but I like to keep coats and jackets on hangers, so those now take up half of my closet. The other half of the closet are all my fab clothes that fit well and that I love to wear (currently Spring and Summer items only, at the beginning of Fall, I will swap them out for the Fall/Winter stuff that fits well, and I will put away the S/S items in boxes until next year).

August 4, 2016 at 8:56 am

skylurker

Veteran

I keep it all together. I have limited closet space, I also have limited space, so no place to pack away stuff.

August 4, 2016 at 9:08 am

Aziraphale

Veteran

I’m more like you, Angie. With a few exceptions, I keep it all in one place. As you’ve pointed out, it “saves you in unseasonal weather”. We got a spectacular example this year of how swapping things out isn’t the best in our climate: I don’t know if it was like this in Seattle, but across the border it was ridiculously warm in early April (to the point of wearing shorts and tank tops!) then cooled right down and I was wearing winter clothes through the end of June!

I’ve also got a touch of the control freak in me, and like to be able to see everything in its proper place.

August 4, 2016 at 9:24 am

Vicki

(website)

Veteran

I keep everything together since I live in an area with a climate that is moderate year-round. Like you, Angie, I like to see everything in one place. I keep my coats in a closet near the front door and my sweaters are folded in drawer organizers (and stored by color) and placed in an armoire.

August 4, 2016 at 9:32 am

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

We have a four-season climate, but I keep everything except outerwear in one closet. It helps me keep my wardrobe in check, allows me to adjust for altitude changes on summer weekends, and is one less chore to do in spring and fall.

August 4, 2016 at 9:46 am

Penny

Veteran

Seeing everything makes me happy, and I wear much of my wardrobe year-round, with adjustments for the four-season climate. I do hang my long-sleeved dresses closer to the front of our closet during the winter, which swap position with sleeveless dresses during the summer.

August 4, 2016 at 9:51 am

Darleen

This again reinforces my closet workings. When I lived in the Seattle area, I did some seasonal swapping, but I was able to wear most of my clothes year around. It did make for a smaller wardrobe, and much less work. 7 years ago I moved to Eastern Washington, with much more defined seasons. I need many more clothes, very seasonal clothes, and don’t have as much closet space. I have had to organize my “under-bed” storage, and an extra closet in my craft “guest room”. It makes for much more work, at least 2 days a year goes to clothes switching. And I have duplicated a few items because of forgetting I already owned them. Unfortunately retailers are always ahead of closet swapping needs, so it’s easy to forget what is “hidden away”, especially if it was purchased at the end of the season on sale. In the last year or so I have begun doing my swapping more gradually, as the season begins to chance. More work, but I get better use of my clothes. The fun part about seasonal swapping is it’s like getting a whole new wardrobe every 6 months and I find I am actually excited about getting my next season clothes out to wear!

August 4, 2016 at 10:21 am

SusanM

I keep it together. While my closet is fairly small, so is my out-of-closet extra space. And more significantly, there isn’t much seasonal difference in San Francisco, where it’s currently 54 degrees and expected to get to 61 today.

August 4, 2016 at 10:32 am

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

I swap out about 25% of my wardrobe seasonally. It doesn’t get as cold as it used to in the winter. But — it is more and more getting very hot. It’s not practical to swap out everything, that’s why 75% of it stays in place (all of the stuff that is hanging). The other 25%, which tends to be very casual clothing that goes in a drawer, is put into a plastic bin either winter or summer. I’m not saying it’s the ideal technique.

August 4, 2016 at 10:54 am

DonnaF

Veteran

I live in a temperate climate, but I swap out my true winter and true summer stuff seasonally, including sandals and booties. DD22 has mostly moved out so the footwear goes on her door and the clothing goes in her closet. It is all easy to review and pull out when the weather is unseasonal. I never used to do a seasonal switch pre-YLF, but then she left for college out of state and I somehow accumulated too many clothes and too much footwear to fit in my bedroom. Who knew that YLF would lead to such a situation?

August 4, 2016 at 12:25 pm

rachylou

Veteran

I swap seasonally, but my suits and blouses have permanent space in my closet

August 4, 2016 at 12:48 pm

deb

Veteran

Another control freak here and all of my wardrobe in in one closet.

August 4, 2016 at 2:00 pm

Marion

I love to see it all. Have recently just re-organised in the Marie condo style. I have developed a new style of dressing in layers and seeing everything helps enormously especially with mix and match. Even in winter I’m finding that I use most of my clothes for example, the camis that I use for simple tops in summer are used as a base for my winter outfit. I add Lightweight jumpers and increase the layers depending on how much warmth I need. I keep colours together no matter what the garment is. This style of layering is what I use for travel and what I use for heated and cold airconditioned places. It’s easy and fun and seeing everything at once makes me happy. I have an app that allows me to know what is hiding in there, I take photos and peek into my phone to see what I have.

August 4, 2016 at 6:04 pm

Greyscale

Veteran

The only thing I put away is my biggest winter coat — I move it to the spare closet. Other than that, almost all my clothing is useful year-round in SF’s climate, though of course there are fewer days I’d wear sandals in December than July.

I do have a few bulky wool sweaters that I might start packing away to keep moths off them in summer. I wore my thickest wool cardigan/jacket last night — August nights are chilly and the highs this week are around 60. But pullover wool sweaters are usually too warm (honestly, they’re too warm in winter too) and I’m afraid they’ll get damaged by moths.

August 4, 2016 at 6:26 pm

Thistle

Veteran

It’s sweltering hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter. I also have half of a standard six foot closet. So, I switch in and out with the seasons.

August 4, 2016 at 7:02 pm

Windchime

Veteran

I don’t think I have a single piece in common between my cold winter and high summer wardrobes. Between those two seasonal extremes, I gradually turn over my entire wardrobe! I only keep what I’m currently wearing in the master bedroom closet; everything off season is stored in the attic closet.

August 4, 2016 at 7:07 pm

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I keep all my clothes in the same place but sometimes bring seasonal shoes to the front row. Ideally I would see everything all the time, but I don’t have the space for that.

August 4, 2016 at 7:54 pm

SarahTheWhite

Veteran

I love keeping it all together. Most of my clothes work year round, and I just need to add a layer or so when it gets cold. (Plus in our winters, we can be wearing sleeveless one day and a coat the next.) Since my cold weather things get such little use, it does make me happy to see them during hot weather. As you said, it also helps me in the creative process and reminds me what I have.

August 4, 2016 at 8:17 pm

slythwolf

Active Member

I keep my whole wardrobe together because I don’t have the space *outside* my closet and dresser to store my clothes.

August 4, 2016 at 8:40 pm

TraceyLiz65

(website)

Veteran

I don’t do a full switch out, but heavy sweaters get swapped out for short sleeved one and shrugs. Corduroy pants go away and lighter weight versions take their place. My 14 pairs of boots are replaced by wedges and sandals. Everything else stays in place, but I shift long sleeve tops to the back of the closet, moving summer shirts forward. This works well for my large wardrobe. I literally place my hands on every item twice a year moving things around. Its a great time to do any purging.

August 4, 2016 at 9:36 pm

MaryAnne

Active Member

My clothing is sorted by kind and stays that way year round. Living in Maine, we enjoy the 4 seasons, however that requires a variety of foot wear. I do pack away off season foot wear, so the pairs I will be selecting from are on my shoe shelves. I really do not want to see heavy, furry boots until the first snowfall arrives.

August 5, 2016 at 3:00 am

Isabel

Veteran

The clothes swap is something that I have always done. I don’t have an memory of not doing it. My mom always did it when I was growing up, mostly to protect wool coats from moths.

Though I STILL struggle with the extremes in weather here in NE. We have just gone through a rather brutal couple of weeks of heat and humidity. With that came times of heavy rain and high winds. Now, the days are beautiful, but the last couple of mornings and evenings have gone down to the 50s.

I get overwhelmed if my closet has too many things that don’t fit the current weather…it takes too much mental bandwidth to even look at it. LOL ! I am getting better at it and your post sure helps.

August 5, 2016 at 7:54 am

Dana

(website)

Veteran

I’m a season swapper. I find that physically moving the clothes makes me more aware of what I have. The downside is when our weather is crazy, and it gets pretty jumbled early spring. My second closet is just in a guest room, so very easy to access. I need a system for when I wear something from the off season closet, as to whether it comes into my main closet or goes back home.

August 5, 2016 at 9:50 am

Sara L.

Veteran

I swap out seasonally. My closet is too small for everything to fit and I don’t want to look at the out of season stuff anyway. It’s not a huge swap though because I keep out the transition season (spring and fall) stuff that’s good for mild days that aren’t really hot or cold. I’ve thought about swapping that stuff out too but right now it seems like too much work to organize it all into different bins and store it.

August 5, 2016 at 10:45 am

aquagirl809

Active Member

Our home was built in the 1870s, when no closets were built in. So storage is very limited, and I have to swap out twice a year (Fall/Winter and Spring/ Summer.) I’m still trying to pare down to a Capsule Wardrobe, and the journey has been illuminating!

August 5, 2016 at 10:56 am

Colette

Veteran

I’m experimenting with my closet organization to make getting dressed on a daily basis easier. I used to keep all my clothing together with the exception of winter coats and boots but that changed this summer. Right now, I store both off season and dressy clothes in my second closet and I will rotate as the seasons change.

August 6, 2016 at 5:26 am

Christina

Active Member

I’ve worked with seasonal swapping in the past. Since we’ve changed our extremely small shared closet for two small separate ones – with separate hanging places and shelving for both of us – I happily let go of the swapping. I like to have everything in sight and not to loose touch with my clothing. We store outerwear and shoes in the hall and here I still like to do a little seasonal swapping to keep everething looking neat and have some room for guests.

August 6, 2016 at 9:12 am

Except for lingerie, exercise clothing and pajamas, everything is in my closet. I have the space, though. I wouldn’t want to organize it seasonally because of the days of the year when it’s hot in Fall or cold in Spring. I need to have sweaters and jackets at my fingertips,

August 8, 2016 at 11:49 am

Lisa

Veteran

I live in a four season (and weather) climate and I used to swap out spring/summer and fall/winter items. But over time I’ve culled my closet enough that everything can fit into one closet. However, I do have the closet split in half, so I am not digging through winter knits when searching for summer t-shirts.

August 8, 2016 at 12:05 pm

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