How to Inventory Your Closet + My 2022 Closet Inventory
Happy 2022, friends! If you have been reading for a while and have an extremely good memory, you may have noticed that I didn’t share my closet inventory back in September like I’ve done in previous years. I decided to push it to January because, in my head, it made more sense to do an inventory at the start of the new year instead of randomly in the middle of the year. So, here we are!
To kick things off, let’s first chat about HOW to inventory your closet if you’ve never done it before! I find it very enlightening to annually review where my closet is at in terms of what I own; taking an inventory ensures that you know exactly what’s in your closet, and it’ll help you be more intentional when adding new pieces.
Read next: How to update your wardrobe for a new season (on a budget!)
How to Inventory Your Closet
Follow the steps below if you do not use a closet organization app that automatically keeps an inventory for you. In the market for one? I recommend Stylebook if you are on iOS; read my tips for using the app!
STEP 1: COLLECT EVERYTHING YOU OWN
And I mean EVERYTHING: clothes, shoes, accessories. Anything you wear and want to inventory (this could even include undergarments!). Gather everything into one space. Yes, even the things in the hall closet. Yes, even the things in storage under the guest bed or in the garage. Grab it all!
STEP 1a: Try on ITEMS you’re on the fence about
This step is definitely not required to complete an inventory, but if you want to clean out your closet at the same time, try on the items that you don’t 100% love and haven’t worn in at least a year (or so, we all know how the last two years went down…). Whether it’s because they don’t fit, you don’t like the fabric, you don’t like the style, and/or they don’t fit your lifestyle anymore, this is great time to pare your closet down to the items you truly love.
STEP 2: CREATE PILES of BROAD CATEGORIES
Sepate everything you own into clothes, shoes, and accessories. Then, break the clothes down into tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear, etc. Sort shoes into warm weather and cold weather. Divide your accessories into jewelry, bags, cold weather accessories, etc.
STEP 3: SUBDIVIDE THE BROAD CATEGORIES MORE SPECIFICALLY
From your broad categories, subdivide them into more specific subcategories. With your tops, separate them by type of top—and take into consideration what you own. If you don’t own many sleeveless tops, it may be better to sort them with blouses, or even button-down shirts. Do whatever makes sense to you! Some subcategories of tops may include: sleeveless tops, tees (short- and/or long-sleeved), blouses, button-down shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters (which can be further divided into sleeveless sweaters, slim-fitting sweaters, oversized sweaters), etc.
Do the same thing with all of the broad categories. Subdivide them as much as you can! You can also narrow the categories down by season or whether the items are for day vs. night.
STEP 4: TALLY / WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING YOU OWN IN EACH CATEGORY!
And now, the final step: tally up how many items you own in each category and subcategory! It’s really that simple. You can use paper and paper, an Excel spreadsheet, Google Sheet, or whatever program you like. All you have to do is write one number for each category / subcategory, but you can also further divide it up by other defining features, like color, size, season, etc. Be as general or as specific as you wish. Think about what information would be helpful for you in the future.
Congratulations! You just completed a closet inventory! Now you know exactly the clothing, shoes, and accessories you own in each category and subcategory and can plan better next time you shop.
Want more wardrobe guidance? Grab the FREE guide—it’s perfect for anyone going through a lifestyle transition! Plus, if you inventoried your wardrobe, you already completed step 1 of the guide!
My 2022 Closet Inventory
Here is my updated 2022 Closet Inventory! (My numbers from my last inventory in September 2020 are in parentheses for easy comparison.) As mentioned above, I track my closet with Stylebook.
TOPS: 122 (109)
Sleeveless: 14 (10)
Tees (all sleeve lengths): 32 (24)
Blouses: 6 (4)
Collared button-up shirts: 20 (19)
Cardigans: 12 (11)
Sweaters: 31 (26)
Sweatshirts: 7 (9)
BOTTOMS: 37 (39)
Shorts: 8 (6)
Skirts: 6 (10)
Pants: 7 (9)
Jeans: 16 (14)
DRESSES: 13 (11)
OUTERWEAR: 23 (19)
Vests: 2 (2)
Blazers: 6 (6)
Jackets: 7 (4)
Coats: 8 (7)
SHOES: 55 (55)
Sandals: 16 (14)
Sneakers: 3 (5)
Flats: 9 (10)
Heels: 3 (3)
Boots: 24 (23)
2022 BONUS: LOUNGEWEAR & ACTIVEWEAR: 23 (14)
Lounge shorts/pants: 14 (7)
Bike shorts and leggings: 9 (7)
I’m currently up to 250 items, 17 more than my 2020 inventory (273 when counting loungewear and activewear)—yikes! This count doesn't include some utilitarian coats and shoes, sleepwear, most workout clothes, and anything I currently have listed on Poshmark. It also doesn’t include jewelry, bags, and other accessories because I don’t tend to spend a lot in those categories. Right now, I have 18 pairs of earrings, 6 necklaces, 10 scarves, 16 hats, and 15 bags. In my last inventory, I had 12 hats, and that’s the only number that’s changed.
Compared to fall 2020, I added way more tops (sleeveless tops, tees, cardigans, and sweaters were at the top of the “tops” categories), a few new outerwear items, and lot more activewear and loungewear (mostly joggers, which I kept buying even after I stopped WFH full time, oops). The rest of the categories remained about the same, with shoes not changing at all.
Check out previous closet inventories: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014
HOW I ORGANIZE MY CLOSET
My partner and I have a large walk-in closet attached to the master that we share. All of my hanging clothes are on the bottom while his stuff is on the top. We share a section for longer garments that houses my dresses and his dress clothes. My shoes live underneath the back wall under the empty rod and the long garments.
My hanging tops are ordered by type and then by color from sleeveless tops to sweatshirts / cardigans / blazers. My short skirts are at the end. I keep my thin wool and cashmere sweaters in sweater boxes above the long garment section. My other sweaters, shorts, and jeans / pants are folded and kept on shelves at the front of the closet. I have a drawer in the dresser for pajamas, layering tops, and undergarments.
Most of my shoes live on the shoe racks, with the taller shoes (boots, mainly) on the top row and flats, sandals, and sneakers on the lower racks. My loungewear and activewear are kept in two woven baskets, and I also use long underbed storage containers for a few off-season things and fan merchandise. All of my Poshmark listings and utilitarian coats / jackets are in other closets. I do have a bamboo clothing rack that I use for worn-but-not-dirty garments, wardrobe challenges, packing, and when I decide to plan out outfits.
STYLEBOOK STYLE STATS
As always, I love looking at my style stats from the Stylebook app! My most worn items of all time (left image below) have not changed much from previous years but it’s interesting to see what I’ve worn the most over the past year (right image below), especially since I spent 14 months working from home, and 5 of those months were in 2021. My joggers quickly jumped to the top of that list along with my baseball caps, but jeans are also back at the top now that I’m working in the office.
Here are my items with the best cost per wear (CPW) over all time (below left) and best CPW over the past year (below right). Once an item hits $1 CPW over all time, I remove the price so it no longer appears in this list (and I make a note on the item with how much it cost; once I decide to part with an item, I recalculate the CPW before removing it again and sticking it in the notes). Looks like one of my pairs of snow boots has hit that coveted $1 CPW mark!
I like watching the CPW drop to $1 since that's always my target when I buy a new item, and removing the prices of the items with extremely low CPWs makes it easier for me to see at a glance which items are close to hitting that $1 mark. I think for this stat, the CPW over all time is more interesting than over a shorter range of time; however, one of my pairs of jeans is nearly at $1 CPW and I’ve owned them for less than a year!
Have you completed a closet inventory before? If not, are you going to now? I hope this post inspires you to take control of your wardrobe and know exactly what you own by inventorying your closet! Drop any questions you have in the comments below. ☺️