The recent glimpse of sunny weather means spring is here! With it comes an urge to organize and spring clean, especially when it comes to your wardrobe! Now is the time to do your seasonal closet swap. This means beginning to put your cold weather clothes and shoes in storage, and maybe even heading to the shops to treat yourself to some of the latest spring fashions.
When a wardrobe is coordinated, you’ll be amazed at how much time you save simply by knowing where everything is and how much more manageable it is to have a well-organized space! Each bedroom is unique and how you come to organise your wardrobe will differ based on the space you have, the size of your wardrobe and other factors. However, there are many useful universal tips that you can follow for any wardrobe to help you feel the joy of accomplishment that an organised wardrobe can bring!
Purge
This is perhaps the most-dreaded task, yet one of the most important steps in the organising process. Remove everything from your wardrobe, including hangers, baskets, bins, and anything else, and get in the mindset of focusing on what to keep rather than what you’re getting rid of. To make it manageable, separate everything into these four piles:
- Keep: Anything you love and wear often.
- Sell: For clothing, shoes and accessories that are in good condition but you know you’re not going to wear again. (With this extra bit of money you make, you could always treat yourself to an actual brand new wardrobe from our collection!)
- Donate: Consider donating items that are in a “gently used” This will give you a sense of satisfaction knowing someone else will enjoy them as much as you have!
- Bin: For anything that is beyond repair, out of style, or that you would be embarrassed to donate.
Don’t forget the one-year rule. If you haven’t worn it in a year, it’s probably time to remove it from your wardrobe!
TOP TIP – If you’re really having a hard time deciding whether to keep an item, create a “maybe” pile. Put your maybe pile into a box and revisit it 6 months later. If you forgot about these items or never thought about wearing them, you can confidently donate or sell them!
Clean
After you have purged your wardrobe, now is the perfect time to give it a proper clean. You need a clear, neat space to plan and visualize how you’re going to re-organise your wardrobe.
It can be time-consuming and a little overwhelming to pull everything out of your wardrobe, dust the shelves, rods, boxes and bins and vacuum the floor, but a good purging and cleaning of the space should take place at least once a year. Otherwise, it will take more time and cause unnecessary stress trying to navigate through a messy closet that is full of unused things!
Shop
Don’t get too excited, this is not the time to go out and start filling up your closet again! The shopping we mean is for the things that will help you create and maintain a more organised wardrobe. Working out the right storage solutions for your particular space can be challenging. Luckily though, there are lots of great options available that are easy to install and budget-friendly.
Hangers: Hanging not only avoids wrinkles, but creates a cleaner, less cluttered appearance. You can use a variety of hangers depending on what you are organising. A sturdy, wooden hanger is good for heavy coats and suits. Hangers with multiple metal hooks will hold belts, ties and scarves. Thin, wooden hangers with clips are good for skirts, and thin felt hangers will suit practically everything else and by using thin hangers, you end up with more space too!
Boxes and Baskets: Boxes are perfect for stacking on shelves and can be clear or labelled so you know what’s inside. Bins and baskets can also be used for belts, scarves, hats, gloves and purses. This not only looks more aesthetically pleasing (as you are neatly hiding away all the odds and ends!), but it’s a great option for storing those essential accessories if you have limited hanging space.
Hooks: Hooks are great for belts, robes, necklaces, hats, scarves and purses (and helps keep their shape). You can hang hooks on the inside of your wardrobe door. Consider an over-the-door shoe rack if you have the space as this can turn your door (a previously unused space) into the perfect area to store either shoes, accessories, or both.
Organise
This is where you put everything back together in a way that makes sense to you, cleverly utilising all of your available space, and attractive enough to motivate you into keeping it organised. The easiest place to start is to think about where it makes sense to store each category of clothing and then think about the easiest spots to reach in your closet.
Reserve the front and middle of your closet for clothes you wear most often. If you spend most of your time in your work clothes, then make sure these clothes are at the front of your wardrobe. Lesser-worn items like occasion wear and out-of-season should be stored toward the back, high up or out of sight (under a bed or in another room). If your wardrobe has handy shelving built in like they do in our Westbury Range, then the top shelves are the perfect place to store out-of-season items in labelled boxes or clear bins.
It’s a great idea to organise all your clothing by category, grouping similar items together and deciding the best place to store each item as a group (i.e. hang pants in wardrobe, fold and stack jumpers on shelves etc). Working in groups of items will help you figure out how much space you need and the best way to store each type of item.
And don’t forget that a spacious chest of drawers could also help your organisation efforts for folded items or smaller garments like underwear.
BONUS: Maintaining Your Newly Organised Wardrobe
The more often you work on wardrobe maintenance, the less time it will take. Ideally, you should sort through your wardrobe and complete a quick makeover once a month and tackle the full re-organisation process once or twice a year. Make it easier on yourself by creating and following a cleaning schedule, either by season, or on a motivational date (such as New Year’s). You can always tell it’s time to reorganise again the next time you can’t find an important piece of clothing, that’s the sign you need to get motivated and get it organised!
At Furnished with Style we want to help you to get the best storage solution for your clothes and bedroom space. Our Selection of wardrobes have a variety of styles and sizes.
Made with ever changing decor in mind, the wardrobes have been designed using neutral colourways, therefore complementing your room perfectly.
All pieces come with interior fittings included, such as clothes rails or shelves – not only helping you find that outfit quickly when you’re in a hurry, but keeping your space looking clean, clutter-free, and making your personal space feel calm and tranquil! Shop our wardrobe ranges here