Your wardrobe is such an important part of your life. Knowing your unique body shape, colouring and personality, will simplify the decluttering process of your wardrobe. The result will be a closet with clothing that will always fit you and reflect your individual style. Having an organised closet will also save you time and effort.
I have divided wardrobe organising into two blog posts ~ Organising your Clothing (Part 1) and Organising your Shoes and Accessories (Part 2)
Sorting
- Remove all your clothing from your wardrobe, so you can get a good overview of what clothing you own.
- Pile everything together on your bed.
- Pick up each item and decide if you want to keep it or get rid of it.
- Discard clothing that:
- you have not worn in over 18 months
- don’t fit well – either too big or too tight
- are old and worn out
- make you look unattractive
- you have never worn
- don’t match with anything else in the closet
- Curate a capsule closet, which typically contains 20-30 quality pieces, which you can multiply into many different outfit combos.
- Sort clothing into 3 piles. One for items you are keeping, another for items that you need to fix or clean and a third pile of clothing you want to sell or give away.
- Once you are done sorting, remove the pile of clothes you want to get rid of.
- Fold and place the items you want to sell in a nice hamper bag, and put all the clothing you want to give away in a large bin bag.
- Put the clothes you want to fix, alter or clean in separate hampers and place them in your car, so you can drop them off at the dry cleaners or the tailor. If you can fix or alter things yourself, then place the hamper next to your sewing machine or workspace.
Storage
- Separate your winter and summer clothing.
- Store off-seasonal clothes, such as knitwear and winter accessories or swimwear and shorts in containers, and place them on the top shelf of your closet. Hang coats at the back of your closet or in a spare closet.
- Repack all your clothing into your closet.
- Group them by garment category, e.g. all skirts, pants and shirts together, so you can access and style outfits more easily.
- I prefer to colour code each category, as it makes it easier to mix and match items.
- Always fold items in rectangular shapes. With kids clothes, reduce the no of folds.
- Clothing which you store on shelves such as, shirts, jerseys and gym wear, should be folded wider and flat, so that you can stack them.
- Items placed in drawers should be folded small and stacked behind each other.
- Place items you wear more often such as lingerie, tops and pyjamas, on eye level height.
- Store smaller groups of items, e.g. socks in a box to contain them better.
- Keep bras and knickers separate. Arrange bras in a flat box or drawer to rest completely behind one another.
- Improve the appearance of your hanging space by purchasing same coloured hangers. Also use the same colour for any boxes that you might need. Neutral colours such as white and light grey are always a good option.
- Repeat the process for all your family members and store each person’s clothing in their own designated closet. Let each family member choose and store their own clothing.
- When purchasing new closets, select closets with deep drawers for tops, shoes and even accessories. It should also have enough hanging space. Closets with sliding doors save space.
“If you want to improve your life immediately, clean out your closet. Often what we hold onto holds us back.” – Cheryl Richardson
Follow my 52 Week Organise your Life Programme
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