Things You'll Need:
- Suitcase or cardboard box
- Plastic bag
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Step 1
Go through your closet, removing any and all items that are worn almost exclusively in summer. This should include all bathing suits, cover ups, jean shorts, tank tops, wraps, sarongs, flip flops and sundresses.
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Step 2
Organize your summer wardrobe by item of clothing, laying all of your summer clothes out on either the floor or an empty surface such as a countertop.
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Step 3
Review the items by category first, eliminating entire clothing piles that you know you won't wear unless you're at the beach or walking around in extremely hot weather. This process will depend on where you live and your lifestyle habits. For example, maybe flip flops are your common footwear of choice when you're walking around indoors or maybe you like to wear tank tops to the gym. If so, hang on to those clothing items for now. If you know for sure that you won't be swimming anytime soon, mark all of your swimsuits for storage. If you're a little paranoid about storing every item of summer clothing and you're not hurting for room, you could always keep one item of clothing from each pile in your closet. This will allow easy access should the need somehow arise for a bathing suit in February.
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Step 4
Place all bathing suits in a plastic grocery bag. You don't need to fold them as bathing suits don't wrinkle, so you can be a bit more careless with them than you would with something more delicate, such as sun dresses.
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Step 5
Fold all other beachwear, such as wraps, cover ups and sarongs, and place them at the bottom of a rarely used suitcase or discarded box. Wrap in a plastic garmet bag or other plastic cover for optimum protection of delicate fabrics.
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Step 6
Fold all of your shorts and other summertime bottoms, and place them on top of the beachwear. Follow this with any t-shirts you don't think you'll wear until next summer, along with any tank tops, spaghetti straps and strapless tops you plan to store.
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Step 7
Go through all of your shoes, and pull out any pairs that you wear exclusively with the items already in the box. If you have multiple pairs of flip flops, go through them as well, keeping one or two pairs for everyday wear if you often result to flip flops for casual wear. Take the remaining pairs and place them on top of your summer tops, heel to toe.
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Step 8
Place any specifically summer items, such as surplus sunscreen, visors, hats, beach towels and any accessories that you exclusively wear with your summer wardrobe on top of your flip flops. If you have many items, you may want to store them in plastic baggies to prevent them from getting lost in the box. If your suitcase has compartments, you can organize and separate these items by utilizing the various compartments.
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Step 9
Place any delicate items, such as silk tops or ultra-thin sundresses on one hanger that you can store in either the back of your personal closet or in your hall closet. Hang all of these items on one hanger, one on top of the other. Start with the largest or longest items - probably sundresses - and continue hanging the items until the lightest item has been stored. You'll likely only have one hanger full of these items. If not, you should probably evaluate whether or not all of these items really need to be hung because they may be damaged or require expensive dry cleaning later, or whether you're simply trying to keep summer clothes you're not likely to wear handy.
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Step 10
Mark your box so you know it's your summer clothes and store it in a cool, dry place that is out of the way. The closet floor of a guest bedroom or in the back of a linen closet could work. As could an indoor garage or gaming room, as long as vacant space is available.
