Closet control by "seasons"

There's no shortage of writing about wardrobe planning, cleaning out one's closet, blah blah blah. It's a first-world problem and not exactly earth-shattering – unless we consider the literal sense and go into all the environmental problems of fashion – but this is how I currently manage my closet space.

I have four groups of clothing items ("seasons") that I switch in and out of use at certain times of year – I find the solstices and equinoxes easy to remember. Two of these groups are in use, and in the more accessible part of my closet space, at any given time. At the moment, that's spring and summer; it'll be summer and fall next. This was part of winter and spring, shuffled together a bit:

Each of these groups is allowed to contain up to a certain number of pieces. I'm a little more lax with this when the group is actually in use, but by the time it goes out of rotation it has to be no more than 24. That total fits okay in my closets. I also have a couple of small, completely unrelated sections for activewear, outerwear, and special occasions; they don't have to follow these rules and are kept out of the way of the everyday items.

I'm trying to keep the colour schemes of all four groups roughly compatible, more or less fitting into what certain colour analysts might call Soft Summer or Dark Winter, but this is very much a work in progress: I have older items that don't match and still aren't quite worn out or dispensable enough to get rid of just yet. The bright pink spring dress above was an example, although it's on its way out because I've had it with the poor quality of the fabric.

Each group has a slightly more specific colour scheme within the range. Spring has my clearer pastels and silver grey, summer is a little hazier and more faded while still having highish contrast, fall is warmest, and winter is smoky and darkest. Each group is meant to try to cooperate with the neighbouring seasons, since items from both of the groups in rotation at any given time should ideally be able to work together. On the other hand, for example, the spring plums don't have to get along with the fall browns, since they're never in rotation together.

At present I'd say I'm happiest with what I have for winter, least happy with summer (a lot of the colours I've got there aren't right at all), and spring has a fairly dire shortage of pants, which means I have to rely on the winter or summer ones. I have two or three projects in the works to remedy that.

This scheme works okay in a fairly monotonous climate. More extreme temperatures might require a silly number of layering pieces to make it work. But it gives me a fresh look at what I already have, every time I switch a new group in.