Earlier this week I decided to have a big clear out of my wardrobe and at the same time tidy and reorganize it.
I would say my wardrobe is pretty standard size with two doors. I have a lot of clothes though as I have no self control when it comes to buying clothes I like! (I'm sure most will understand :P) So in order to fit everything in I had to be smart with where and how to place each type of item.
I would say my wardrobe is pretty standard size with two doors. I have a lot of clothes though as I have no self control when it comes to buying clothes I like! (I'm sure most will understand :P) So in order to fit everything in I had to be smart with where and how to place each type of item.
This is my full wardrobe- it is packed to the brim!
As you can see, I've tried to utilise as much space as I have in my wardrobe. I have to regularly clear out my wardrobe as I sometimes forget about items of clothing that gets lost in the back of the wardrobe. Here are some things I've noticed that have worked for me!
Some Wardrobe clearing/re-organising tips:
Invite a friend over- Make sure your friend/sister/mum or whoever you've asked to help you out is someone's opinion you trust and also someone who you know will be absolutely blunt and straight up with you. I find I get rid of so much more clothes when I have my sister helping me, she tells me what she has and hasn't seen me wear and what looks good and what doesn't. Definitely a huge help!
The three piles- Throw aways, Give aways, Maybes- these are the three piles I have on the floor while clearing my wardrobe. They will absolutely help you with what to do with unwanted clothing. The Throw aways are clothes that just belong in the trash (e.g. holey socks, holey underwear, clothes with permanant stains, etc). The Give aways are clothes that are in good condition and wearable. I will usually further divide this pile into 3 sections- giving away to charity/clothing bin, giving away to friends and selling. And the last pile, Maybes, is a pile with clothes that you are unsure of keeping or throwing. I will keep this pile until the end and make my decision whether or not to keep the items depending on how much I've thrown out/given away and what I have kept.
Invest in hangers- They don't have to be expensive ones but I find the flimsy wire ones tend to bend out of shape easily and many items of clothes do not hang well on them. I like plastic hangers with the hooks on the sides as my dresses all hang nicely on these. Also if you have all the same hangers, it means that your wardrobe will look tidier and you will also be able to fit more hangers on the rack.
Folding knits- I use to hang all my knit cardigans and knit jumpers and always wondered why they would always be out of shape around the shoulders. Of course it was the hangers that were putting the bumps in the shoulders and stretching them out of shape so I decided to fold them all. Same thing with sleeved tops, they are best folded and as you can see in the above picture I have all my tops colour coded in the cubby holes, which brings me to my next tip...
Have a system- Whether it be colour coding or organising by season. It makes choosing an outfit everyday ALOT easier when you know where everything is in your wardrobe. I have 2 systems in my wardrobe that work for me. One is colour coding my tops. I find this works well because I can choose what colour top to go with my outfit so much easier! Also I love the way it looks. :) And the other system I have is sorting dresses by occasion. On my dress rack, I put all my special occasion dresses that only come out once in a blue moon right at the back and of course the ones I wear more often on a daily basis closer to the front. This means that I don't have to keep fishing at the back of the rack for dresses that I just want to wear out shopping.
Use vacuum bags- Absolutely great for storing out of season clothes! I currently have all my winter scarves, jumpers and tops packed up in vacuum bags. They save so much space and means you have a lot more room in your wardrobe. They are also easy to store for example under your bed or the top of your wardrobe and you don't have to worry about the clothes collecting dust somewhere.
Some Wardrobe clearing/re-organising tips:
Invite a friend over- Make sure your friend/sister/mum or whoever you've asked to help you out is someone's opinion you trust and also someone who you know will be absolutely blunt and straight up with you. I find I get rid of so much more clothes when I have my sister helping me, she tells me what she has and hasn't seen me wear and what looks good and what doesn't. Definitely a huge help!
The three piles- Throw aways, Give aways, Maybes- these are the three piles I have on the floor while clearing my wardrobe. They will absolutely help you with what to do with unwanted clothing. The Throw aways are clothes that just belong in the trash (e.g. holey socks, holey underwear, clothes with permanant stains, etc). The Give aways are clothes that are in good condition and wearable. I will usually further divide this pile into 3 sections- giving away to charity/clothing bin, giving away to friends and selling. And the last pile, Maybes, is a pile with clothes that you are unsure of keeping or throwing. I will keep this pile until the end and make my decision whether or not to keep the items depending on how much I've thrown out/given away and what I have kept.
Invest in hangers- They don't have to be expensive ones but I find the flimsy wire ones tend to bend out of shape easily and many items of clothes do not hang well on them. I like plastic hangers with the hooks on the sides as my dresses all hang nicely on these. Also if you have all the same hangers, it means that your wardrobe will look tidier and you will also be able to fit more hangers on the rack.
Folding knits- I use to hang all my knit cardigans and knit jumpers and always wondered why they would always be out of shape around the shoulders. Of course it was the hangers that were putting the bumps in the shoulders and stretching them out of shape so I decided to fold them all. Same thing with sleeved tops, they are best folded and as you can see in the above picture I have all my tops colour coded in the cubby holes, which brings me to my next tip...
Have a system- Whether it be colour coding or organising by season. It makes choosing an outfit everyday ALOT easier when you know where everything is in your wardrobe. I have 2 systems in my wardrobe that work for me. One is colour coding my tops. I find this works well because I can choose what colour top to go with my outfit so much easier! Also I love the way it looks. :) And the other system I have is sorting dresses by occasion. On my dress rack, I put all my special occasion dresses that only come out once in a blue moon right at the back and of course the ones I wear more often on a daily basis closer to the front. This means that I don't have to keep fishing at the back of the rack for dresses that I just want to wear out shopping.
Use vacuum bags- Absolutely great for storing out of season clothes! I currently have all my winter scarves, jumpers and tops packed up in vacuum bags. They save so much space and means you have a lot more room in your wardrobe. They are also easy to store for example under your bed or the top of your wardrobe and you don't have to worry about the clothes collecting dust somewhere.
Hanging bikinis on hooks- It is Summer here in NZ at the moment so I have my bikinis out on display on the inside of my left wardrobe door. I'm lucky that I have the right amount of bikinis to hooks!. The set of hooks is just one that hooks over the top of a door and I purchased this one from a $2 shop. It does the job well and I love that I can see all my bikinis easily!
Hanging scarves on a hanger- They were originally on the hooks that my bikinis are currently on but I thought it was too bulky and I couldn't shut my wardrobe door properly so just tied them all on to a hanger. I personally love the way my scarves are hung as it makes it easy to grab one when I'm on the way out without having to fumble in a drawer or box. I've hung them on the inside of my wardrobe door but you could easily just hang on a rack.
Hope you enjoyed these tips and that if you decide to use any of them that they work as well for you as they did for me! :)
Kim xo