Yvonne Manomano, Cleaning Operation Manager at Handy gives her best tips on de-cluttering your wardrobe ahead of winter. As we only wear 20% of our wardrobes 80% of the time, a seasonal clear-out is a must. Here are Yvonne’s Top Ten Tips for de-cluttering your wardrobe.
Focus
Choose a focal point to begin with - whether it’s your clothes rack or your shelves, or accessories and shoes. For example, if you are cleaning and organising your shelves, sort them until they are done and then move on to the next point, to avoid unfinished jobs. If you work from top to bottom, you will also avoid going over the same thing twice.
Create extra storage
Even in the smallest of rooms there is always some hidden storage space like under the bed or a seating bench with built-in cupboards. Additionally, hanging hooks on the door and on the back of the wardrobe will create a bit of extra room.
Hang instead of fold
Clothes can take up a lot of space, especially during winter. Instead of putting your jumpers in drawers, organise them into a hanging canvas unit. This will also make colour coding easy and will also show off all your options at once. For belts, instead of folding them try hanging them up, which will look better and free-up valuable space for other items.
Pretty baskets
Get decorative baskets and place them on the bookshelf or on the sideboard. This will help you clear the clutter of smaller items in a cost effective yet stylish way.
Vacuum storage bags
These are a perfect way to store seasonal items in your wardrobe. It will save space in your bedroom and protect the pieces from dirt, dust and damp. You can also repeat the same trick when you are de-cluttering for summer, as you can store large items like duvets in vacuum bags too.
Wardrobe hanger trick
Getting rid of old clothes is not that easy, so I use these tested methods: find out what you don’t wear by putting the hangers backwards on the rod and switching them when you wear the item, or put a post-it and remove it once you wear the clothes. This way you will find out what clothes you don’t wear. Donate or organise a clothing swap party for all the unwanted clothes and shoes.
Make sure to try everything on
It may require a lot of time, but just because something looks great when it’s hanging up, doesn’t mean that it will be comfortable or practical when you put it on. Trying on all the clothes will make it easier knowing which ones suit you and you should keep, and which need to be thrown out.
Get your friends involved
Not only is it much more fun to de-clutter with friends, but they will also give you some great advice about what looks good and what doesn’t. Also, it is definitely easier to give unwanted clothes to friends or even to charity than to just throw them out.
Take your time
Getting rid of clothes can be difficult, especially if you have lots of them or if they hold sentimental value. Every time you get stressed out take a break and think about the reasons for your de-clutter. This will keep you stress-free and motivated.
Maintenance
With what you have left, make sure you iron and de-bobble - you will realise how much you actually have by restoring items to their original state. When we cram clothes all together, they are likely to be creased. Line all your clothes up, put your music on and get ironing! You can also save clothes that have gathered fibre balls by running a razor along the fabric and then use sticky tape to collect the excess off your garment.