Well, we made it. We suffered through the harsh, unforgiving, endless three weeks that is a Florida Winter. Now we prepare for the inevitable, perennial slog that is a Florida Summer for the next nine months. While most parts of our massive country experience four clearly distinct and varied seasons, we here in the Southeast have two: Summer and what I unaffectionately refer to as “Summer Lite”.

So now we must get all of our sweaters and coats and ceremoniously schlep them back into storage until late December, freeing up all that space in our closets and hopefully getting a fresh start for the sauna-like climate we all know and love.

Step One: Store

As mentioned above, the first thing you have to do to get your mind and your closet into the right state and be ready for warmer temps is to clear out, organize, and store all of your cold weather gear. That’s the jackets, the scarves, and yes, even that beloved pea coat. You won’t need any of those for a while. Just have a light jacket at the ready for any unexpected dips in the mercury that we know are prone to happening here, at least every once in a while.

Step Two: Purge

What you should have remaining on your closets and dressers are jeans, slacks, t-shirts, polos, and other generally warm weather clothing. This includes suits made of lighter fabrics (i.e. cotton and linen) and none of those steel-toed boots that make you two inches taller.

You now want to go through your entire wardrobe and throw out anything you haven’t worn in more than six months and donate it. No sense in your “Gettin’ Lucky in Kentucky” shirt going to waste when it could go towards keeping some poor bastard a little warmer and slightly douchier instead. This also goes for anything faded, worn beyond repair, out of style. That’ll teach you not to follow trends…just get that shit out of there and don’t look back.

Step Three: Sort

This isn’t required, but it may help to organize your remaining collection by color, clothing type, tops and bottoms, etc., to make picking out your daily outfits a bit easier. It’s also more visually appealing and psychologically satisfying to see everything organized and sorted in a nice, clean, Roy G. Biv-like uniformity.

Step Four: Update (Timelessly)

One final thing you can do to be sure you’re ready for the heat and guarantee your look isn’t stale is to make a conscious effort to only add classic, versatile, timeless pieces to your wardrobe. The thing about trends and fads is that they’re GREAT while they’re in, and utterly laughable once they’re (quickly) out. Why waste money on something that you can wear maybe twice. Opt for tried and true. A white Oxford. Tailored Chinos. Wayfarers for those bright Summer days. They’re not just items of clothing; they’re investment pieces.

These four easy but effective steps should not only free up a ton of space, but give you a lean arsenal to tackle the heat and look better this year. If it doesn’t, you clearly fucked up one of the steps.