5 tips for an organised wardrobe

I’ve always struggled to keep my wardrobe organised, and I think it’s a problem lots of people have. You might have clothes in there that are 10+ years old, clothes that don’t fit you any more, shoes you don’t wear (or can’t walk in) and more. We tend to collate a lot of stuff, and if you don’t sort through it regularly, it can become a nightmare.

This can be a challenge when you want to find a particular piece of clothing or accessory, and you can’t find it, which leads to emptying out drawers, checking under the bed, asking your children/partner and is just stressful.

This is where it’s better to have a sort out instead of constantly finding new ways to store your existing items. You should choose carefully what is allowed back inside your wardrobe to make it as organised as possible.

But going through every piece of clothing you own can be daunting, so I’ve decided to put together a post for you full of tips on how to clean up the space (and you don’t have to spend a huge amount to have your fitted wardrobes clean and tidy).

Below, you can find out how to how to re-haul your cluttered wardrobes in just five steps, whether you have a large walk-in wardrobe or a simple standing one.

 

1. Declutter and ‘edit’

If you’re as Netflix-obsessed as me, you’ll have heard of a little company called The Home Edit. Their Netflix show is dedicated to helping people sort out the most cluttered rooms of their homes, from offices and playrooms to pantries and bedrooms.

Clea and Joanna’s first rule is to ‘edit’ out any items first. You need to filter out the good from the bad and the ugly. If anything still has a tag on it and you haven’t worn it in 2 years, you aren’t going to wear it now.

Be ruthless!

Get rid of any shoes that you like but can’t walk in (you won’t wear them) and any clothes that you like but can’t fit into (and don’t convince yourself you’ll go on a diet to fit into them). Just get rid, and if you do happen to lose weight, buy new.

You should start three piles: keep, charity, bin.

The ‘bin’ pile is stuff that can’t go to charity, or isn’t worthy of it, like boots with holes in, underwear, earrings, used products. Most things should be able to go to charity if they’re in good condition.

In some cases, people want to add a sell pile. This might be stuff that is good quality from a reputable/designer brand that you don’t want to give away for nothing. Vinted will be your best friend!

Now that all the rubbish is out of the way, you can start to get your organised wardrobe ready with the items you want to keep.

 

2. Categorise and zone

With the remaining items, you need to create categories or ‘zones’ in which the items can be organised into. If you have to wear formal clothes for work, you might want to have separate zones for work items and casual/weekend clothes. This can really help to keep you organised and you’re more likely to be able to find what you need quickly if it’s all in one place.

If you have a smaller wardrobe, you may have problems fitting everything in. This means you need to separate your winter clothes from your summer clothes.

In winter, you should keep all your summer clothes in storage boxes under the bed or even in the loft, and switch everything over come summer. This is easier said than done, especially when you live in the UK and it can go from 12 degrees and raining to 20 degrees and sunny.

However, I have some clothes that I only wear on holiday that stay under the bed all year, and come out when we go away. In summer, thick winter coats aren’t needed, so you can bag them into vacuum bags so they shrink, and then store them under the bed or in the loft. Vacuum bags are amazing, not just for clothes, but for bedding and even wedding dresses. Plus they keep the dust out!

 

3. Organise your storage and clean it

At this point, you probably have very few clothes left in your wardrobe, with most of them on the bed.

This is a great chance to look at your wardrobe and establish what storage items you might need.

How can you make the most of the space and add storage to it? If your fitted wardrobe has a door, you can maximise its use by hanging an over-the-door storage tool to place shoes, bags or other small pieces of clothing. This will allow you to keep things in order better. Maybe you can add a shoe rack on the floor. There are plenty of options.

You can also use this opportunity to clean the space. Vacuum it, scrub it, wipe it down, and do anything to keep your wardrobe pristine.

 

4. Decide on a layout

Hopefully by now, you’ve purchased any extra storage items you might need, including new slim-line velvet hangers (I love the waterfall hangers that save so much space). Think about where the best place is for these items, and play around with your new storage solutions to see where they fit best.

There are a number of ways you can layout your wardrobe. Mine’s organised by event and colour, so my day-to-day clothes are on the left, organised from white to black. My going out dresses are on the right, again organised by colour from white to black.

If you’d prefer, you can do it by type, e.g. t-shirts, shirts, dresses, etc. It’s best if you keep all longer items together, so maxi dresses should all be grouped at one end.

I love this wardrobe below, because they’ve used drawers where shorter items hang, instead of wasting the space underneath:

 

You will also want to consider accessibility. The things that you need most often/every day should be the easiest to get to, whereas items you don’t wear a lot, like occasionwear and formalwear can go nearer the back.

For underwear, handkerchiefs and other accessories, think about which storage bins you’ll use and where they’ll go.

 

5. Use drawer dividers

I love drawer dividers because they make organisation (and staying organised) so much easier. We have them in the kids’ bedrooms, in our bedroom, in our kitchen drawers. I hate opening a drawer and seeing everything go flying, batteries rolling right to the back — you get the gist.

Instead of just throwing everything in, you can separate items to find them more easily, and prevent things from getting lost. You could roll your ties into one, keep sunglasses in another, etc.

 

Once everything is in, you should be able to see every item more easily and know exactly where your belongings are.

But this isn’t a one-time task! You’ll have to keep on top of your organised wardrobe so it doesn’t go into a state of decline again. Whenever you’ve worn something, or done some clothes washing, you should place the items back where they came from. This also goes for shoes and accessories, as these are the culprits in our house for being left in the hall or on the floor.

Happy organising!