Rule number one of cleaning out your closet  is to ditch things you no longer wear. But…sometimes you truly, honestly think you’ll wear something, even if it hasn’t seen wear in months.

But, here’s a hack to really help you determine if it’s a keeper or needs to be tossed.

The solution? Put it in a box! How do I know this works? Because I did it!

I’ve become a bit of a ninja at cleaning out my closet, but this summer I had a few handbags I refused to get rid of. The line of thinking was, “maybe I’ll wear them now that my closet isn’t as stuffed. Right?!“

So I decided to put them on probation. I stored a few of the bags in a bin in the back of my teeny closet. The rationale was if I really wanted them and suddenly realized I absolutely needed that vintage red leather purse to make my outfit complete, then I’d retrieve it from the bin.

Know what happened? You guessed it, not once this summer did I reach for any of those purses. My wardrobe was totally fine without them and I forgot about the bags! So now I seriously know they’re heading to the donation bin.

[bctt tweet=”Here’s how putting your clothes on “probation” can help clean out your closet” username=”PatriceJWill”]

If you seriously find it hard to part with any of your clothes or accessories, a trial separation can be just the push you need to get a final answer as to whether it’s a yay or nay!

Doing this once or twice a year can really help your closet.