Team Everything Together. It’s a control thing. Like to know and see exactly what I have at any time.

A bit off topic but this comment doesn't deserve it's own thread so here goes. I recently bought the best thing ever for my closet. I have a walk in and I've always hated dealing with getting out a step ladder to put things away on the top shelf. I solved that problem by buying a rolling step stool. I love that dang thing.

I have something Similar in my laundry room!
In the closet I have a smaller folding stool.

I used to jam everything together. Last spring I experimented with removing my deep winter clothing from my main closet and found that I really liked having the extra space and found it easier to get dressed. I think off season clothing is distracting to my brain. I have two separate closets so my off season clothes are alway just a couple steps away.

Thank you all for your responses. So many great ideas and thoughts! I use a folding 2-step stool for reaching the top shelf in the closet. It holds mostly out of season footwear, bags and some baskets of stuff like wool socks. I also have a small teak bench that I can stand on to reach high places or sit on to put on stockings and such.
I think my heaviest wool items will go to a basement storage area in moth-proof containers for the summer. I also think I will move dressy clothes there, hanging in a basement closet. The walk in has very little space for dresses. The builder must not have worn them. There is a guest bedroom with a closet, but I want to keep it available for guests, bedding, etc.

I keep everything together but tend to rotate the shelves that hold sweaters vs. light tops when the season changes. Although I live in a fairly temperate zone, with long, hot, dry summers and rainy but not freezing winters, there are plenty of clothes that don't get used for half the year - particularly sweaters and coats. But since I am still a thrifter, I end up collecting out of season clothing pretty regularly and like to know what it is up against in the competition for wardrobe space.
Also I find summer tops often get used in winter under jackets and some jackets are necessary in summer for a/c or travelling.

Thank you, Shevia. That is a good point about knowing what you have when buying out of season with thrifting. I had not really considered moving things to different areas with the seasons. It may solve some problems.

I am an everything at once kind of girl. My parents had a walk-in closet when I was a kid, so that's what I like now LOL. When I first moved into this RV, I put all the winter things in underbed storage. The first seasonal changeover was a total nightmare, and I vowed never to do it again. Now that my life requires separate wardrobes for work and not-work, it's been difficult. I'm looking forward to finishing the house so I can see all my things in the closet together. Our winters are so mild (generally) that I can wear lighter weight pants most of the year, and some of my heavier wintery items can function for spring and autumn.

I have a good sized walk-in closet. I do what many have already mentioned - put away extreme seasonal items only. I live in a 4-season climate. I also do the closet rotation, like others. I don’t like having an all-year wardrobe. First, I’d get bored. Second, footwear really dicatates bottom silhouette. The silhouettes that are most similar are spring and fall but I have specific colour associations with those seasons that are different from one another. This kind of seasonal rotation keeps dressing interesting for me.

Kerry, it sounds like you have found a good solution that works for you. I also have different color associations with spring and fall so want to wear different items. Some colors are more likely to extend into summer at each end, especially for hot fall weather. A few neutral colors seem to work for both spring and fall...navy, olive, and grey plus denim. I hope to get to the place where I can be happy mostly changing accessories and maybe print tops with the same neutral base pieces for spring and fall. Both are also big outdoor festival times, another consideration.

I live in an old house. My bedroom has 2 closets plus an armoire.
The bigger closet (5 ft) holds my seasonally appropriate clothes. The other (3 ft) holds my shoes on shelves. The armoire has shelves above which holds my "out of season clothes" the drawers below hold underwear, socks, PJ's and workout wear.

This works out really well for me. I have easy access to all my clothes but my hanging closet is not cluttered. I am like Colette in that too much clutter distracts me. I switch things out ~ 4 times per year.

Maybe you could divide your closet into in season and out of season sections and keep out of season clothes in hanging bags or something like that.

I prefer the seasonal approach. Just can't stand the sight of woolens and heavy coats in my closet in the middle of a humid July--they make me feel so much hotter! And I enjoy being surprised each time I take things out of their storage boxes. But transitional seasons (and this Spring is a particularly long, drawn-out one) are a strain on my closet and patience. I can't wait to thin out my wardrobe for warm weather.

Lynn, your situation sounds ideal. I may start this spring to do seasonal sections rather than everything by color. I will have to think how best to do this.
Tulle, I wholeheartedly agree with you. These transition times are so hard.

I hope all the experiences here will be useful to you Joy. Not sure that mine are.

Like everyone who has responded from down under, (ie not cold winters) I'm in the everything camp. I do move summery casual stuff to a more or less prominent position, but it's still hanging. I don't have that many clothes and it saves on ironing

I also keep some woolen things in drawers in the summer to try to cut down on sagging, and then move them to hangers in winter to cut down on ironing.

I only keep hanging things in my walk in, shared wardrobe (not that large) All other clothes, including shoes, are in chest of drawers in the bedroom proper.

If the closet is deep enough you can set a second pole at about waist height behind and clear of a first one set at normal height. You can move all the clothing you're not currently wearing to the lower one. It'll be handy if you need it but not visible unless you push the in use clothes out of the way.

I am absolutely on team "get that off season stuff out of my face". I used to have everything out, but found that I was getting tired of my clothes just by looking at them. I don't put everything away, just the extreme weather items. They are in bins, and accessible if I need them, but the stuff I put away I'm generally pretty sure I won't need.

The down side of this is that I have definitely had closet creep.

I am in the Sterling/Suzanimal camp, kind of having my cake and eating it too. I do hate having a thing I absolutely cannot wear mixed in with the rest (ie, a short fur jacket in the middle of all my summer stuff). But about 3/4 of my gear is all-season. I have a single closet with two bars—one on the left, one on the right. I keep the out-of-season stuff on the left, so it's still accessible, and I keep all the stuff for the current season on the right. I still do a switchover, and it's still satisfying after I've done it, to see all my options hanging together and no red herrings. I also do have to switch my shoes—out-of-season goes on the overhead shelves and in-season stays in boxes lining the floor. And I have an armoire full of folded stuff, like tees and jeans. The out-of season goes in lower, hard-to-reach shelves, and in-season goes front and center. But it's all there.

I can see the benefits and pitfalls of both approaches. We have been in our current home for 12 years and I share a small walk in closet. I swap in and out about 1/4 of my items in usually four sessions. In early March I take out high summer dresses and anything I know I am over for the season. I add in one or two autumn pieces. In mid April I swap out the rest of summer and add in the true winter. I do the reverse in Sept/Oct and Nov. It works for me - I find it a calming and pleasurable time. Lots of my clothes can be worn all year though so are constantly there- jeans, tees, sneakers, blazers for instance.

There is no right or wrong - most of us are governed by the physical
Space and our varied climates.

ETA: I did realise that I use this as a calming, centering activity. When I am stressed putting order to my closet is something I enjoy and have control over.

I have no choice but to do it seasonally. I have a small apartment and a 4-season climate (though the transitional seasons often end abruptly). Since I'm kind of a maximalist, everything but my purses and a select few very versatile items (tee shirts and so on) goes into storage. I think forgetting I have things is a pitfall of this system, but I'm using the Finds here to help me keep track.

I have all four seasons represented in my closets. Similar items are grouped together, and arranged by lengths (sleeves and legs) and weights. I like being able to see what I have and even though it is time consuming, when I do a closet edit it is very easy to see what I have more than enough of and what I might be lacking.
I do have to display and sort many of my shoes seasonally. Full coverage booties get traded for strappier versions and heavy shoes get moved out of the way for sandals. Then when the weather gets cold enough that I want socks on, I switch around my shoes again.

Mainelady and Lesley, I do have to bring summer shoes and some bags down and put the winter ones on the highest shelves. I also need to get summer colored jewelry out where I can find it and put the more wintery pieces away. Everyone's solutions have been very helpful. I am thinking of moving the most warm wooly winter-wear out and doing the same in the fall for very summery pieces, but need some strong self discipline not to buy and fill any empty spots and to edit more out.

I agree with those the experience closet creep.
My ideal goal I think is to be somewhat seasonal but with the result that my main closet rails are very “ airy “ and not crowded, and my off- season items in spare closet are similarly “ spare” feeling, so that the sum total would actually fit in my closet but I get that eye- candy effect of lots of space. I think that is calming to me.

That technically means I ought to be on a limited hanger system— something I’ve considered but avoided committing to!!!