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Everyone wants a wardrobe that's neat and orderly, but getting it organised in the first place, is quite another thing. If having a cupboard declutter is one of those jobs you put off until the doors won't close, here's how to tackle the task. Not only does it streamline putting things away, it also means it's far easier to put outfits together.
1.Make things visible
How often have you had to dig through your wardrobe to find something you need? Probably too often. When we tuck our clothes away in drawers and cupboards, it makes it difficult to assess our options when getting ready to go out.Be guided by the size of your wardrobe. You may need to part with some items that are rarely or seldom used to a charity shop or sell them online. This way you can keep your remaining clothes visible so that you can easily glance at what you have to wear.
Pull out everything and lay it on the bed. Go through all your clothes and only keep items which you either really need (e.g. your black vest top) or you really love (and we mean love, not just vaguely like). This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Also, get rid of anything which is difficult to wear, for example because it needs to be ironed every five minutes or requires a particular type of underwear you don’t even own.
Finally, look at what you have multiples of and narrow this down – for example, if you have six ‘useful’ white T-shirts, get rid of any that are greying or scruffy.
Hanging your clothes in a category and colour order means you can see what you’ve got more easily. GH's fashion editor Jo Atkinson recommends running from left to right: evening dresses and party wear / jackets and blazers / tops / blouses / trousers / skirts / outerwear.
Use non-slip hangers to keep your clothes in place. You don't want them falling to the bottom of your newly organised wardrobe and being forgotten.
2. Consider what really counts as sentimental
One excuse we frequently use for hoarding possessions is sentimental value. Whether it’s the dress you wore on your first date with your husband, or a top you always associate with a fun girls’ holiday when you felt epic, many items can end up hanging around in your wardrobe long after you stopped wearing them.While it’s completely understandable that you may want to hold on to one or two items forever, it’s important not to use the word ‘sentimental’ as an excuse.
Many of us keep clothes that don't fit us anymore. Consider whether having these clothes around is just making you feel bad about your body — you might feel better after letting them go.
Instead, think of how they could be put to better use. Would granny’s old coat be happier gathering dust in your wardrobe forever, or finding new life after being picked up be a stylish student at a charity shop? Remember there’s joy to be found in giving clothes a whole new life, as well as from holding on to them.
3. Create a holiday box
Realistically, there aren’t many weeks a year when it’s sunny enough to wear strappy dresses, kaftans and sandals, so having them clog up a sizeable chunk of your wardrobe just doesn’t make sense.Instead, create a holiday box, full of items like bikinis, sun hats and floaty summer dresses which you only wear on holiday. Wall items destined for this carefully first and pack into a plastic container with a sealable lid.
Make sure it’s clearly labelled and pop it up on a high shelf or in the attic so it’s not taking up valuable everyday wardrobe space. What’s more, you’ll feel a real sense of excitement every time you reach up and bring your holiday box down for a trip.
Read More: How to Renovate a Living Room
4. Store occasion-wear separately
As with holiday clothes, special occasion attire can be stored away from your everyday wardrobe – after all, a ballgown takes up a significant amount of room, and probably only gets worn once a year at most!Pack special occasion items away carefully using acid-free tissue paper to keep them in perfect condition. Make sure the box is clearly labelled so you know exactly what’s in there, before stowing away on a high up shelf or above a wardrobe.
5. Appraise your wardrobe
"A signature style can often become a style rut – if we don’t tweak it, we can find ourselves wearing the same thing 10 years down the line and not having updated our wardrobes at all," Annmarie O’Connor, fashion writer, stylist and author of wardrobe self-help guide The Happy Closet said. "In fact, you should really be doing quarterly wardrobe appraisals."As a way of assessing what to keep and what to cull, Annmarie has a nifty trick.
"Every time you wear something, twist the head of the hanger it's on. Over two or three weeks you can use this visual marker to see what you’ve worn and what has stayed untouched." Then, she says, you can think about why that's the case and which items need to go.
This all makes perfect sense, of course. But when it comes to emotional attachment (and pretty clothes!) cutting back is easier said than done. Taking the plunge and decluttering your wardrobe is indisputably challenging, but try it for yourself, Annmarie urges, and you’ll find the rewards are liberating and utterly worth it.
"When we think of getting rid of things we think of loss," she says. "But you have to prune things in order to grow. You need to think a bit less about what you’re losing and instead think about what you can gain."
6. Protect your clothes
One of the joys of creating a clutter-free wardrobe is that you can actually cherish and protect your clothes properly. Once you’ve done your clear out, first clean the entire inside of the wardrobe or chest of drawers, ideally using natural cleaning products.Next, add in some form of moth protection – cedar bales are a good choice.
Avoid wire hangers – these will misshape your clothes – and instead opt for skinny hangers which don’t take up too much room (wooden hangers can be very bulky).
Finally, make sure you don’t let you wardrobe get out of hand again; you could try a ‘one in one out’ policy, or just start regular pruning to ensure that everything you own truly deserves its place in your clutter-free wardrobe.
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