Close the door. Out of sight are the piles of clothes on the floor, the overflowing shelves, the kicked off shoes, the odds and ends that really don't belong there...it all just disappears. Until you open the doors the next time....
However, if you really want to make your closet look better...for real...you've got to put in some work.
You can either pull out the things that you know you don't like, or you can pull out all of it and only put back in what you really want to keep. Plan A is faster but less effective. Plan B takes longer but you will realize that you can live without more clothes than you thought and you'll be happier with the results.
Either way, pull out all of the non clothing items, like the spare crockpot and boxes of miscellaneous things that were dumped in a box and shoved in the back of the closet. All these things need to be gone through, decluttered and find a new and appropriate place to live in you home.
After you have cleared out the space, give it a good wipe down and sweep or vacuum the floor so you have a clean space for all the items that you return to the closet.
Group your clothes into like items; sweaters, long sleeves, short sleeves, pants etc. and start making some decisions. Simple: Keep or Let it go.
If the decision to keep or let it go is not obvious, ask yourself:
Does it still fit?
Would I spend money to buy it again?
Do I have too many of the same thing?
Do I feel comfortable in it/match my personality?
Do I love it?
Is it damaged?
Could someone else use it now?
If you are short on space, off season items can be stored under your bed in plastic totes. Current season clothes and shoes get returned to the closet to be hung or folded on shelves. I like to hang my clothes from lightest to darkest and by type like; sleeveless, short sleeves, long sleeves, and then heavier fabrics. Right to left, or left to right, whatever makes sense to you.
Shoes can go on shoe shelves on the floor or in an over the door shoe organizer. Tip here: The over the door shoe organizer can be used for TONS of different things including: Barbies/toys, diapers/onesies, small accessories, cleaning products, bathroom items etc. They are very versatile.
After you have decided on what to donate, bag it up and take it to the car and make a stop at the donation center the next time you leave the house. There is a lot of work to be done when you purge your closet, but it's all worth it. Set aside a few hours, turn on some good tunes and get busy. Good luck!!!