One of the first things that I did when I read Marie Kondo’s book last year was to declutter my wardrobe. I gathered up clothes from my wardrobe, and anywhere else, and then sorted through them, creating 4 piles:
- keep
- bin
- charity shop
- sell
The declutter itself didn’t take more than a couple of hours and at the end, I had a pile of clothes that:
- fit well
- looked great
- had something about each item that I loved, whether it was the colour the style or simply how I felt wearing the outfit.
A place for everything and everything in it’s place.
This week, I’ve been reviewing how things are organised within my house as a whole, and so my starting point was my wardrobe. Benjamin Franklin famously said: a place for everything and everything in it’s place. That’s essentially what being organised and tidy is all about. So when you organise your wardrobe, make sure that each and every item in it has a home:
- coats and jackets
- dresses
- tops (t-shirts, blouses, shirts etc)
- bottoms (skirts, trousers, shorts etc)
- night wear
- underwear
- costumes
- swimwear
It maybe that you have a place in your hallway for coats and jackets in use, and store the remainder in your wardrobe or closet. You may store winter or summer clothes somewhere else when not in use. Whatever you have, each item needs a home, and items in the same group should be stored together. If you store tops in a drawer, then all tops should be stored in a drawer. If they are hung up, then they should all be hung up. That way, when an item isn’t in use, then it can be returned to it’s rightful place, and everyone knows where that is.
Making the most of storage
I decided to try out those thin clothes hangers last week, and so ended up taking everything out of my wardrobe and hanging them up on these hangers. It took about two hours because I’d bought 3 boxes of 50 hangers and did my husband’s wardrobe as well!
I grouped the colours together, and had dresses on the left, then trousers and shirts, then tops. The nice thing was that the thin hangers meant that they looked well, and took up less space, so my wardrobe doesn’t feel over-crowded. In addition, nothing slips off. I love them!
I shared this on my Facebook profile, and my friends loved the new look. The nice thing is these hangers come in a range of colours, so if you love pink or purple, then you could choose those colours instead!
Storing swimwear
All my swimming suits can be found in one drawer. Along with any scarves worn on the beach. I’ve kept these two scarves separate because that is the only time that I wear them, so to me it made sense. All my other scarves are kept together on a hanger.
Storing underwear
All my undies are now in one drawer, and folded the #KonMari way. I’ve been quite surprised that I’ve been folding everything returned that that drawer. Mainly because it doesn’t take long, and looks really nice. I love being able to see what I have, and it reinforces the idea that I don’t need anything.
Storing handbags
When I decluttered my handbags, I went from 35 down to 9, however, I’ve since come across several dotted around the house! (I found one absolutely gorgeous bag what I’d totally forgotten about. It was in it’s original bag, in the place I put it after it was bought.) They are all now stored all together in a plastic container with a lid on a shelf in my closet. As I’ve been through every room now, I know there are no more surprises!
Storing shoes
In my closet, I have three shelves for shoes: one for winter shoes, one for summer and one for special shoes that are kept in their original boxes. These are shoes bought for evening wear or special occasions like weddings.
Storing hats
I’m not a big fan of hats, as I find very few that suit me, however, those that I kept I sat on top of the handbag boxes. That way, I can see what I’ve got.
Storing scarves
You may want to put these in a specific drawer. Personally, I’ve put all those that I use onto one hanger, looping them through so that they don’t fall off. The only exception is the two scarves I mentioned above.
Storing belts
Personally, I don’t have any belts but my better half does, so these are stored on the hanger with the relevant pair of trousers.
Storing jewellery
The stuff that I wear every day is in a pretty box on my night stand, and the rest is in my jewellery box. This has separate section for rings, and again, I group my pendants together and keep my bracelet separate. I tend to wear the same things, so when it came to decluttering my jewellery, I was quite radical and cleared most of it.
Laundry
I used Sheila Chandra’s toothbrush principal (no matter where you are, you can always find your toothbrush because you automatically put it in the same place) and moved my laundry basket from the bathroom to a space next to the door in my bedroom. This was the place my little one would dump his clothes, so now everyone puts their laundry in for washing in the same place. Yay.
Maintaining a tidy space
I decluttered my wardrobe several months ago, and unless it’s in the laundry basket, or awaiting ironing (still working on that one, I must confess), then everything is reasonably tidy.
Over to you
That’s how I’ve organised things in my room. Have you got any tips or suggestions about where you store specific groups of items. I’d love to hear, so comment below.
Take care for now
Karen x