With spring right around the corner and heat sneaking in every few days, having an organized closet is important.

As college students, it can be difficult to ensure enough closet space is available to house all of our clothing. A few steps exist that students can take to de-clutter and ensure their closet is full of items they love and wear often.

Before you begin, set aside at least an hour or so to complete all of the steps of the cleanout.

The first step is to organize everything. Separate items into tops, bottoms, sweaters, etc. This will help you weed out the items you might have to many of and help you visualize how many T-shirts or tank tops you might have.

After everything is separated by style, the next step is to start trying on everything. Although it will take some time, it is a very surefire way to clear out items that have no use because they do not fit correctly. It is, however acceptable to keep a few items that might have sentimental value, or are pieces that one may be trying to loose weight to fit into once again. Limit these pieces to no more than five, so they do not take up too much space.

After the pieces that no longer fit correctly are eliminated, the next step is to evaluate the quality of the remaining pieces. If you have a favorite item you love and have owned for multiple years but it is beginning to fall apart, start searching for a piece similar that is in better shape.

Also eliminate pieces that have changed drastically from when you originally purchased it. If the color has faded, if it lost some of its sparkles or sequins or if a seam or hem is torn, toss it out. 

The final step of eliminating excess clothing is reducing pieces you don’t wear. If you have a handful of items you purchased a long while ago, but you maybe wore it one or two times and it has been sitting idle ever since, you might not need to keep it around. If it hasn’t moved or hasn’t been worn in more than a year, you probably won’t wear it in the following year.

If any of the items listed above might be more difficult to part with, for sentimental reasons or if you spent a decent chunk of change on an item, there is another option. Make sure this pile of clothing doesn’t exceed a dozen pieces and store it under your bed or in a closet for up to 6 months or more. If you go this amount of time without thinking about the item or trying to wear it, then it should be easier to part ways with it.

Numerous options are available for what one can do with the items they choose to eliminate from their closet. If the items are still in decent condition, you can sell them at second-hand shops. Another option, if the item might not be something another consumer would pay for, is to donate the pieces to Salvation Army or Goodwill. This is another good way to give garments a second go-round. A final option would be to donate the items to a local shelter for the homeless or people between homes.

Parting with clothing can be difficult, especially if you have owned the clothing for a long period of time. A closet clean-out can sometimes be just what a person needs for a fresh start to spring.