Declutter your wardrobe in 5 easy steps

Have you ever had one of those mornings when you stand in front of your (overflowing) wardrobe and think “I have nothing to wear”? The easiest solution would be buying some new clothes. But is that really a long term solution?

The truth is, when this happens, it’s more likely that your wardrobe need some decluttering and reorganising. By doing this, you will re-discover things – things you once loved and treasured – but forgot about because they’re hidden behind a pile of junk you don’t need.

The below guide will help you to declutter your wardrobe in the most efficient way. The result will be much more satisfying than going shopping – plus you won’t have to spend any money!

Step 1: Plan

Let’s be realistic, you can’t really declutter your entire wardrobe in an hour! So make sure you set aside enough time for this.

You’ll need from half a day to a day – depending on how much stuff you have. It will be useful to have a full length mirror, some storage boxes, a cloth rack and a smart phone/camera.

Step 2: Purge

Empty your wardrobe completely. If you would like to reduce the task by half, do that by putting out-of-season clothes away first. You can then tackle this at another time, but it will have to be done eventually.

Winter clothes can be put away if you declutter during the summer. 

Step 3: Sort

Try everything on and sort them into 3 piles:

1. Throw away:
   • Items that are worn out
   • Items that are stretched even when you’re not wearing them
2. Charity: (or you put it on eBay or sale them at garage sale, depending on the value of the items.)
   • Items that are too small or too big
   • Items that simply don’t flatter your figure.
   • Items that you have not worn during the last 2 years – yes, many others would suggest the 6 months rule – but to be honest, that’s a bit ruthless, what with the season and all. But if you haven’t worn something for 2 years, it has to go.
   • The exception: evening wear (because they are worn less so they stay in good shape much longer) and classic/collectible items (your favourite fashion moment, things you would like to pass on to your children).

3. Keep:
   Anything that survived the above filters can be kept. Hang them on the clothes rack.

Step 4: Ditch

Put the stuff that belongs to the first 2 piles in storage boxes and label them.

If you find that it difficult to let go, hold on to the charity box for a while. Keep them out of sight, in your garden shed or in storage. Open the box after 6 months and if you don’t miss any of those things then it’s time to give them away.

Step 5: Organise

Put everything back into your wardrobe.

Try to organize things in a way so that you can find them immediately. For example, you can sort the clothes by:

• Tops
• Bottoms
• Dresses
• Evening dresses
• Jackets
• Coats – it’s probably best to have an area dedicated to outer wear.
• Shoes – if you have a lot of shoes, keep them separately, otherwise you can use the floor space of your wardrobe for them.
• Handbag
• Accessories

Tips: to achieve a neat look, invest in uniform cloth hangers. Thin hangers will help you maximize your space as you can hang more clothes with them.

You can also sort your clothes by colours as this will give a less cluttered impression.

Get inspired:

• Now that you have a “detoxed” wardrobe, every clothing item that you have should be visible to you so you can be inspired to create different outfit combinations.
• Put them together and take pictures of each outfit.
• Make note of the things you might need to make your outfit more special and add that to your wish list.
• You can also try to create a weekly outfit plan.  You can use the clothes rack to hang the outfit you’ll be using over the week. This way you’ll save yourself a lot of time in the morning contemplating what to wear.

Finally, remember:

• Clutter is the enemy
  Don’t waste your precious space for the thing you don’t need.
  Give them away or for things you have trouble parting with, or keep them in storage for a while before you decide what to do with them.
  Did you know that Shurgard offers a wide range of dry, clean storage options that could fit your need.
• Keep the “1 in, 1 out” rule
  If you bought something new, try to get rid of something you no longer need/wear, this way you’ll keep the size of your wardrobe manageable.
• Stay organised
  Always put your stuff in the right place from the start. You’ll lose less time trying to find things or worse, even forget that you have them.
• Stay updated
  Go through your closet twice a year (in spring and autumn) to re-asset your wardrobe – this helps you clear out the out of trend stuff, things that no longer fit and inspire you for the next season’s outfits.

Feature image by TeeRish