How to declutter your wardrobe

Spring is a great time of year to clear out your wardrobe.

The seasons are changing, bringing with it the glorious warmer weather (sometimes as if over-night) and you will likely find yourself suddenly digging around for your summer clothing.

If you are finding yourself shoulder deep in your wardrobe, pulling clothes out from the darkest corners, finding items that you forgot you even had, maybe it’s time to declutter your wardrobe.

And with most of us having an excess amount of time on our hands at the moment, what better time than now to do it?

If you’re anything like me and have been living in jogging bottoms, t-shirts and oversized jumpers for the past 4 weeks, organising your wardrobe will give your clothes a new lease of life and might just encourage you to wear a pair of jeans again.

How to clean-out your wardrobe successfully

It’s important to be in the right mind set before you start a wardrobe clear out. The very thought of it can be quite daunting, so make sure you have a free afternoon, some up-beat music on, a handful of re-usable bags and a full-length mirror to hand.

Brace yourself: you will need to take everything out of your wardrobe. And I mean everything. I would advise starting piece by piece, so you can assess which pile it will need to go in; Keep, Throw or Last Chance.

For each piece, whether clothes, shoes, bags or accessories, ask yourself: How often do I wear this? Do I still like it? Does it make me look and feel great when I do wear it? Does it fit properly? Is it still in good condition?

Tip: Try the piece on, see how you look and feel in the mirror; it might help make your decision easier.

If you wear the item a lot and have no intention of throwing – it goes in the Keep pile.

If you can’t remember the last time you wore the item and it doesn’t work with anything else in your wardrobe – it’s time to put in the Throw pile.

If you just cannot decide whether to keep it or not and it’s pulling at your heart strings for whatever reason – you can add it to your Last Chance pile.

For any items in your Throw pile, consider how you can recycle these to avoid adding to landfill. You can take to a charity shop, sell second hand or if the item has flaws and isn’t suitable for wearing or re-selling, try and send to a textile recycling company, such as Recycle Now.

How to arrange your wardrobe neatly

Now it’s time to start putting your keep and last chance pile back into your wardrobe. With it now completely clean and clear it’s easier to visualise and organise your wardrobe storage.

Understanding how to re-organise your wardrobe starts with a key question: which clothes do I hang, and which do I fold?

To keep your clothes at their best, items such as dresses, jumpsuits, blouses, dress trousers, blazers and cardigans should be hung, ideally with a velvet or clip hanger. Try to avoid using any thin wire hangers and for any delicate pieces and blazers, try to use hangers with padded arms to help keep the shape.

Items such as heavy knitwear, t-shirts and jeans are better when folded and placed on open shelving, so you can see your options more clearly.

Knowing how much space you need for hanging and folding allows you to arrange your wardrobe with the right amount of shelving storage, hanging space and drawers, if you have these. You might also want to think about how much full height hanging space you might need for longer dresses or jumpsuits.

Ideally your wardrobe should look clean, organised and visible, which will help finding your favourite top or jeans super easy. Being able to see exactly what you have in your wardrobe will also aid the ‘I have nothing to wear’ problem and helps you to shop better in the future too. After a clear out and organise, you will notice the areas you are lacking or over-shopping in, helping you to make better decisions when adding to your wardrobe in the future.

Consider trying out a well-known tip; when hanging your clothes back up, place the hanger so it’s backward. As you choose and wear your clothes over the coming months, put the hanger back the right way around. This way, any clothes with the hanger still the wrong way around in 3 month’s-time are items you don’t wear and should be removed from your wardrobe. Especially if they were in your Last Chance pile too!

How to store clothes

I would always advise having a Summer wardrobe and Winter wardrobe. At the start of spring/summer, put away winter clothing such as heavy, thick jumpers and anything that’s not transitional for the summer months. This helps to keep your wardrobe uncluttered with items you won’t be needing to wear for a while and helps you to clearly see what you do have to wear.

How you store your winter items is key to protect them. Either a plastic box or vacuum bag work best to keep your clothes safe and protect against unwanted pests, such as moths. However, any items made from natural fibres, for example wool, will need to breath, so avoid vacuum packing these.

Keep your storage boxes in cool, dry places away from damp, sunlight or any type of heat. I usually keep mine under the bed.

Always wash / dry clean these items before storing and make sure they are completely dry before putting away. This will discourage any moths or bugs to fester! Do avoid ironing though, especially with starch, as this can weaken the fibres and make them prone to tearing at the creases.

Fitted wardrobes

Fitted wardrobes are a great way to design your storage space specific to your particular needs.

Using a modular system, we can include shelving, hanging rods, drawers and specific shoe storage to design a format that is ergonomic and organised so items are easier to find and ensures all your clothing can be properly stored and easier to keep tidy.

Everyone’s storage needs and the space available to them is different, which is why a bespoke fitted wardrobe is ideal to ensuring that we maximise the customer’s storage space within the bedroom.

Having well designed clothes storage is an essential element of the bedroom; it impacts the rest of the space you have to use in the bedroom, as well your day to day routine of choosing an outfit.