Whether you have to sort through endless piles of clothes when trying to find something to wear in the morning or close your wardrobe door quickly to avoid an avalanche of clothes falling at your feet, there are many reasons why you should consider decluttering your wardrobe.
However, if it's been some time since you’ve last worked on this task - it can be hard to know where to begin. With that in mind, here are some expert wardrobe decluttering and organisation tricks to get you started on the right track.
Why should you declutter your wardrobe?
There are many reasons why you should consider decluttering your wardrobe this Spring.
Firstly, it's a great way to create more space in an overpacked wardrobe , whether you’re looking for the perfect excuse to indulge in a little retail therapy or struggle to find a specific item of clothing among the chaos.
However, it's also important that clutter is scientifically proven to be detrimental to your mental health. For example, a recent study on clutter found that:
48% of adults believe that clutter within their home has a negative effect on their mental well-being, increasing feelings of stress and anxiety
80% of adults feel more focused and motivated when they’ve cleared out the clutter from their home
73% of adults feel overwhelmed when their home is untidy and cluttered
Clutter can also have an impact on your physical health, even if it is tucked away in your wardrobe. This is because cluttered environments are spaces in which dust, pollen, and other allergens which can lead to a wide range of respiratory issues and conditions.
Finally, ditching the wardrobe clutter could even provide you with an opportunity to make some extra cash. After all, it means that you could properly sort through your clothes and sell anything you no longer wear. Considering that during a recent survey, two-thirds of respondents revealed that they’d worn “less than 50% of all the clothes in their wardrobe in the last 2 months,” this likely means you have a lot of clothing and accessories that you could part ways with quite easily.
Top Tips for decluttering your wardrobe.
Put together a plan of action.
If you’ve decided to declutter your wardrobe, getting started is the hardest part. After all, if it has been a long time since your last clean-out, the project could take up a good few hours of your time. However, carefully planning your approach ahead of time will make it much easier not only to declutter but to keep things organised moving forward.
Be prepared to be ruthless.
One of the best pieces of advice to take away from this article is that you must sometimes be ruthless when decluttering. While sentimentality will likely take over, it's important to remember that there is little sense in keeping hold of items you no longer wear or intend to wear in the future. After all, they are then doing nothing but taking up space.
Netflix fans may be familiar with Marie Kondo’s methodology, which is to throw an item away that no longer “sparks joy.” That jumper that you accidentally shrunk in the wash? The pants that never fit correctly? The band t-shirt from a band whose songs you can’t really remember? Time to go!
Create a “donate” and a keep pile.
When re-organising your wardrobe, it's best to start from a blank canvas. This often means that you need to take everything out before putting it back in. However, this makes it much easier to sort through the clutter, as you can lay out all of your clothing in front of you to see what you are working with.
Before you begin putting clothing back, try to sort everything into two (or three piles). The first pile should be clothing that you’ll keep hold of, such as the clothes you wear regularly. The second pile should be a donation pile (or a selling pile). Finally, you should make a pile of clothes that have seen better days and need to be thrown away rather than sold or donated.
Invest in storage bags and boxes.
Investing in storage bags and boxes is also key during this time, as it makes wardrobe organisation as easy as possible. For example, any items that do not need to be hung up can then be neatly folded and stored away. Not only does this create extra space in your wardrobe or closet, but it could also make it easier to find what you are looking for.
For example, you could box or bag items by category, using one box for t-shirts and another for underwear and so forth. Alternatively, you could store items by season, bringing specific bags or boxes to the front of your wardrobe, depending on the time of year.
Beyond this, there is a wide range of storage bags and boxes to choose from based on your specific needs. For example, our cotton storage bags can easily be stacked on shelves or at the bottom of any wardrobe, making excellent use of the space that you have available to you. If you are looking for something a little more structured, make use of the storage boxes , which can easily be folded away when not in use. Alternatively, you could capitalize on limited wardrobe space by purchasing a hanging organiser with enhanced layers .
Finally, if you’ve purchased a few too many pairs of shoes or are building up quite an impressive collection, you could save valuable wardrobe space by utilising an over the door organizer .
On a similar note, now is also the perfect time to invest in new quality clothing hangers!
Place occasion wear in garment bags.
From long, flowing dresses to formal suits and everything in between, formal wear can take up a lot of room in your wardrobe. This can be incredibly frustrating, especially as you are only likely to use these items a handful of times each year. However, you can drastically reduce the amount of space they take up and keep them in mint condition by purchasing garment bags . These items can also prove to be invaluable if you are sending items to storage.
Consider placing items in storage.
If you are truly lacking when it comes to space, not only within your wardrobe but your home as a whole, investing in a storage unit or pod can prove to be incredibly beneficial. This way, you can store away non-seasonal items of clothing (or rarely used formal attire) in a safe and secure place without having them take up too much space in your wardrobe.
Consider alternative ways to store your clothes.
If you are running short on space, even after following the advice above, consider other ways in which you could store clothing within your room without creating more clutter in the process. For example, our storage bags work flawlessly as under-bed storage containers, too.
Alternatively, you could place some of your favorite or most aesthetically pleasing items onto a garment rack . Not only will this free up space in your wardrobe, but it can also become part of the overall design of your room, creating a dynamic yet versatile focal point that can be switched up as often as you like. For example, you could feature clothing in autumnal shades of brown, orange, and gold during Autumn, before switching to something a little brighter in the Spring.
Think carefully about how you’d like to arrange your wardrobe.
Once you’ve purchased the essential wardrobe organisers, it's time to actually put clothes back into your wardrobe. Before doing so, think carefully about how you’d like them to be laid out. From a practical standpoint, you may want to group clothes based on their function, such as by placing all coats and jackets on one rack and shirts on another.
Alternatively, you may want to group them by occasion by placing all of your workwear in one place, sportswear on another shelf, and general day-to-day clothing elsewhere. This could prove to be particularly handy if you’re often guilty of snoozing your alarm in the morning, as you know exactly where to look for your outfit in the morning.
If you’re feeling particularly creative, you may want to arrange your clothes by colour. While this is considerably more time-consuming, when compared to the options outlined above, it does look great.
Stay organised!
Once you’ve gone through the hassle of decluttering and organising your wardrobe, it is important that you work hard to stay organised moving forward. After all, it would only take a few days (or a few outfit changes) to undo your hard-work otherwise.
One of the easiest ways to ensure you remain on track with wardrobe organisation is to remind yourself that there is a place for everything and that everything should be kept in its place. For example, while you may be guilty of shoving clothes in your wardrobe wherever you see available space or not folding things up properly, taking the extra time to do that will make it easier to keep your wardrobe neat, tidy, and presentable. This means that you’re unlikely to need to do another clean-out any time soon!
Final Thoughts.
Whether it's been quite some time since you last deep-cleaned your bedroom, or you cannot remember ever decluttering your wardrobe, there’s no better time to start than today!
While this may seem like a mammoth task, the sooner you get started, the sooner you will be finished - and there are plenty of steps you can take to make the process of decluttering your wardrobe that much easier. For example, as outlined above, you should:
Put together a plan of action. Set a time or date to deep clean your wardrobe, turn on your favorite playlist, and get started!
Be prepared to be ruthless. If you come across an item you no longer need or use, be willing to part ways it. Otherwise, it is just taking up valuable space in your wardrobe - space which you’ll need for upcoming shopping trips.
Create a “donate” and a keep pile. Splitting your clothes into separate piles will make it much easier to sort through your clothing and decide what to do with each item.
Invest in storage bags and boxes. Whether you’re lucky enough to have a walk-in wardrobe or your closet is on the smaller side, investing in storage bags and boxes will make it far easier to make the most of the space you have available to you, while also ensuring your wardrobe remains as organised as possible.
Consider placing items in storage. Storage units or pods provide you with the perfect opportunity to free up space in your wardrobe, especially if you tend to change up your outfits quite considerably between seasons.
Consider alternative ways to store your clothes. From racks to under-bed storage, there are plenty of other less conventional ways to store clothes outside of your wardrobe without having to leave them in piles around your bed.
Think carefully about how you’d like to arrange your wardrobe. Decide upon a specific organisation method for your clothing (colour coordinated, by occasion) and ensure that you stick to it.
Stay organised. Stay on top of wardrobe organisation, ensuring that you put everything in the right place after each load of laundry. Clean out your wardrobe periodically to keep things neat and tidy.
Following the advice outlined in this article, make organising your wardrobe as simple as possible, even if its been years since you last completed this task. This is a project that you should aim to complete at least once a year, especially if you have recently changed your style or are experimenting with different types of clothing.
After all, there are many benefits associated with good wardrobe organisation, from making it easier to find what you are looking for when running low on time, to improve your mental and physical health.
