By Ann Springer

If your closet is brimming with clothes (most of which don’t fit you anymore) or you have trouble finding two shoes that match, then it’s probably time to bring your closet back to life.

You’re just five steps away taking your cluttered closet from trick to treat.

1. Take it all off. Remove all non-clothing items out of the closet. Take out belts, purses, tie racks, shoes and anything else that might be lurking in your closet. Before you pile it all up on the bed or the floor, decide if it you want keep it or lose it, donate it or sell it. You may also find items that have been misplaced and need to be returned to another room in the house.

2. Talk about it. Honestly evaluate each article of clothing in your closet and ask yourself a series of questions. If you say, “No,” to anyone of them you should seriously considering omitting it from your collection. Ask yourself:

• Have I worn this in the past 12 months?
• Does it fit?
• Is it in good repair? Does it need hemming or a button sewn on?
• Is it out of style?

3. Get color coordinated. As you re-organize the clothing items you have left, sort them into categories that make the most sense for you, either by type of clothing or color of clothing. You may choose to get ultra-organized and sort by type and then by color. When you put the items back in the closet, put them on the hook in reverse, and in a few months time you’ll be able to see which items you haven’t really worn.

4. Hold on Imelda. No matter if you’re a shoe addict or just a hoarder, you should frequently have to go through your shoes and decide which ones stay and which no longer make the cut. Again, if you haven’t worn a pair of shoes in the past 12 months then you probably should retire them.

5. Is it odd or just a means to an end? Our human instinct tells us to try to cram more in a closet than we should, but resist the urge and carefully select which remaining items should really be stored in your closet.