Save. Spend. Splurge.

6 Ways to Organize your Wardrobe & Closet in a Day

save-spend-splurge-6-ways-to-tidy-up-closet-in-a-day

Note: When I say “a day”, I don’t mean 8 hours. I mean 12.

Take the FULL DAMN DAY, people!

{ QUICK ONCE-OVER PURGING SESSION – 2 HOURS }

Very quickly (don’t stop to think!), go through every hanger and each piece in your closet and make 4 piles:

  1. Keep
  2. Donate/Giveaway/Sell
  3. Discard
  4. Repair

Once you touch a piece of clothing, a bag, a single SOCK, throw it in one of those 4 piles.

You can set up 4 huge baskets if you’ve got them, but the floor works just as well.

It will take a long time, but it will be worth it.

{ TRY ON WHAT IS LEFT IN YOUR CLOSET }

Whatever is wearable and left, try on whatever you haven’t worn in the past 6 months or can remember wearing.

If you haven’t reached for it lately, then must be a reason why you haven’t touched it. Figure out what it is.

Is it the fit? The colour? You don’t feel good in it? The style is no longer “you”?

Whatever it is, evaluate the piece hard, and compare it against a piece that you wear often.

At this point, you can ask yourself the final question: If I had to choose between this [favourite] piece and this piece I haven’t worn in a while, would I EVER choose the unworn item?

If the answer is yes, then consider trying to re-work it back into your wardrobe rotation.

If the answer is no, then donate it, sell it, tailor it, or trash it.

{ ORGANIZE BY TYPE THEN COLOUR – 3 HOURS }

Now that you have your KEEP pile, start hanging it all up by type, and then within each type, by colour.

It has to look something like this:

{ HANG IT ALL UP }

You’ll have a tendency to want to fold everything neatly, and then stack it, right?

WRONG.

You’ll never keep up with that method unless you’re an OCD robot who spends 2 hours a day folding and refolding sweaters, jeans and things for pleasure.

Hang. It. All. Up.

Jeans, skirts, dresses… I even hang up sweaters but I lay them halfway through the hanger.

{ USE MATCHING SKINNY HANGERS }

Skinny, velvet flocked hangers have been my saviour.

Not only do SKINNY hangers give you more closet space by taking up less of the closet rod, your clothes stay on the darn hangers too so you don’t have to worry about touching a piece and having another fall down.

{ A DISCARD BASKET ON THE FLOOR }

Now that your whole closet is organized, keep a basket on the floor and as you go through your ritual of trying to pick out something to wear, if you happen to come across an item you are iffy on, toss it in the basket.

At the end of the month or at the end of the season, go through the pieces, or just dump them all into a big bag and donate it.

If you haven’t reached for it a single time during that season, it means you won’t ever reach for it again.

10 Comments

  • .

    In my opinion, the best decluttering question that cuts right through the guilt of the price, any sentimental value or other clouding feelings is simply: ‘If I didn’t already own it and would now see it in a store, would I buy it again?’

  • Serena

    I like to wear never-worn/forgotten pieces to give me a boost. I feel like I’ve shopped and tend to get compliments to boot!

  • Minh Thuy

    Great tips, I will put them to use right now.
    Right my issue is that I actually need to go buy clothes because I’m beginning to notice that I don’t have much to wear, especially after I purge the things I’m already not wearing because it doesn’t look right on me when I put it on anymore. Strange how that happens and here I could remember where I would wear the same piece of clothing a year ago quite often.

    • save. spend. splurge.

      That’s interesting that now you need to go shopping because you’re getting rid of stuff so often. For me, I just need to stop going into stores. It’s also too easy to shop online.

  • Rachel

    The comment to hang it all up had me wondering, how do you store your socks, underwear, and tights (if you wear them) ? Do you use a dresser or caddy?
    I hate folding socks. I fold them into pairs and though it does make it easier to just grab and go, I don’t like doing it!

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