If you’ve spent time online, you’ve probably seen pictures of those incredible wardrobes belonging to the super rich – huge amounts of space, plenty of hanging bars, shelves and drawers for everything. I know it gives me a massive case of wardrobe envy.
But the wardrobes don’t have to be huge. I’ve seen plenty of much smaller wardrobes organised to within an inch of their lives. I feel exhausted just looking at them. How do some people manage to keep it all so tidy?
Reality is, though, that first thing in the morning when you’re running late for work and trying to find the right pair of slacks, it would be a really big help to have everything in your wardrobe well organised and tidy. Rather than randomly tugging at what you think is the right pair of slacks and having the whole stack land at your feet in a tumbled mess.
So let’s delve into the exciting world of decluttering and organising your wardrobe. It doesn’t need to be overwhelming, you just need to approach it with a system in mind. Today’s post is about part one of that journey – decluttering.
1. Be Prepared
If your wardrobe is out of control, be prepared. It’s not going to be fixed in 5 minutes. So allow yourself plenty of time. Next, clear the area in preparation. Move furniture if necessary to make sure you can open the wardrobe doors completely. Clear off the bed and make it, so you have a good working area at hand. Have rubbish bags at the ready.
Make a decision – are you going to declutter the whole wardrobe in one go? Or just one section? Then you’re ready to start.
2. Pick A Category
Choose one category of clothing – for example, trousers. Start pulling everything from that category out of your wardrobe. As you go, sort them into 3 piles:
1. you wear them regularly
2. good condition, you never/rarely wear them
3. only good for the bin
3. The Keepers
Pile 1 contains the clothes you’re going to keep. It’s been shown many times that we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time, so don’t be surprised if the pile is smaller than expected. Put these to one side, or if you’re doing your wardrobe overhaul in stages, put them back in the wardrobe until you’re ready to reorganise. If there are clothes in this pile that you haven’t worn in over a year, chances are they should be in a different pile.
4. Reduce
Take the pile of clothes in pile 2 and bag them. These are going straight to a charity shop – the sooner the better. If you have clothes with designer labels, then you could consider selling them online or through a recycling boutique. But only hold on to the clothes if you’re likely to take action on selling them within the next few weeks. Otherwise, they go to the charity shop too. Otherwise you’re just shifting your clutter from the wardrobe to somewhere else in the house. Or they’ll eventually sneak back into your wardrobe when you’re not looking!
5. Reuse or Recycle
For the clothes in pile 3 that are long past their glory days, time for the bin. Or, if the material is suitable, chop them up into rags to use around the house. If you’re crafty, maybe you can come up with a creative way to reuse some of the items. Your choice! Again, don’t let “one day I’ll…” good intentions give you an excuse to hold on to these clothes or put them back in the wardrobe. If you don’t find a way to reuse them within a week or two, it’s bin time.
6. Final Thoughts
The most important thing to do throughout this whole process of decluttering? Ignore the I might wear / fit / need it one day mantra playing in your head. Get real! If you haven’t worn it in the last year, which is a full cycle of seasons and temperatures, chances are you’re not going to wear it in any future years either. If it doesn’t fit, get rid of it. Most of us don’t change clothing size that often. The only exception is the “I might need it one day” part – but only in the case of specialty items, such as ski gear. And only if you really MIGHT go skiing again one day.
By the time you’ve gone through this process with all the clothing categories in your wardrobe, you’ll be fired up and ready for part 2 of the process – reorganzing your wardrobe!