Sorting a wardrobe.

Madame Razz

How best to sort a wardrobe?? I mean really sort it; so it's organised; and logical; and everything is easy to find even if there is a lot of stuff?? Should everything be hung?? Should things be folded in accordance with colour; or as is situationally appropriate e.g. Work clothes, casual clothes, gym clothes etc.


I am finally in the position of having a room dedicated to my clothes, shoes, and make-up; a sort of dressing room I suppose. It's something I have always wanted, and now that I have it I want to get it right; as otherwise it will just become a disorganised mess and frankly I've had enough of that:p;)


All and any suggestions welcome:)

I saw a programme about this a few years ago, and it said that you should hang by length as well as colour. It means that all the short things are together giving you space below in the wardrobe. Has worked for me!

As for folding, colour I think works best for me.

chupi

Ooooh! Lucky you! I've been meaning to write a how to organise your clothes blog for ages so have some of it already written:

1) Detox first! Take everything, and I mean everything, out of your wardrobe and go through it to make sure you're not filling up space with stuff you don't actually need/want.

2) Decide how you want to merchandise your stuff. Look at what you have, I have looooooads of dresses so hanging space is most important for me. It's different for everyone as maybe you'll have loads of tops so shelves are more important. For me I have a chest of drawers for my jumpers/cardigans/wool stuff, a little chest for pants/bras/tights, fold my jeans on the floor of my wardrobe and then hanging space for tops & dresses.

I find I like to pick my clothes by colour so I organise everything by colour.

If I could have a fantasy wardrobe then I'd love shoe storage space like this


3) Get yourself decent hangers. Dunnes do 8 wooden hangers for €4, bargain! Trust me, it is so annoying to flip through your clothes only to watch them all fall onto the bloody floor because they're on those nasty wire hangers.

4) Be ruthlessly tidy!

Lucky you

Faith

Mine is: Shorter tops hanging on top rail of one closet, longer tops, short dresses and skirts hanging on the bottom half. I used have tops sorted by colour, but I lost track of it. The next section has longer dresses hanging, along with skirts I mightn't wear too often. There's shelves above it which used house jumpers, but now don't do much. The 3rd section is all shelves. The bottom two shelves are shoes I wear often, the next shelf up is jeans/pants I wear often and above that is jeans/pants I rarely wear.

The I've got a huge drawer for socks, tights and knickers, and a smaller drawer for bras. My jumpers go in a drawer under my bed.

That being said, I don't have different 'occasions' like work clothes etc, so that could be a sensible way of sorting things.

chocgirl

You're so lucky having your own dressing room. One day when I own my own house... I tend to sort by item though; I'll have jeans hanging together, cardigans, tops, dresses etc.

Then smaller things like underwear, scarfs and light tops go in drawers.

I do think it's nice to have a separate section for work clothes though, nothing worse than rifling through your work gear on a saturday night.

Little Acorn

Now I can get very untidy at times, but when I have everything organised it goes like this.

The Groupings:

TOPS:
.Casual Tops
.Smart/Casual Tops
.Dressy/Glam Tops
.Sporty Tops

JUMPERS
.Wool etc. (smart/casual)
.Sporty zip-ups
.Smart/Casual Cardigans
.Hoodies

TROUSERS
.Bootcut Jeans
.Skinny Jeans
.Straight cut jeans.
.Combats
.Tracksuit Bottoms
.3 1/4 length jeans/trousers.

SKIRTS
.Smart (pencil/fitted etc.)
.Casual
.Dressy

DRESSES
.Daytime Dresses .
.Glam Dresses

COATS
.Casual/Smart short fitted jackets
.Short Coats
.Long Coats

SHOES
.Heels
.Flats
.High Heel Boots .
.Flat boots
.Runners

HANDBAGS
.Large (weekend handbags)
.Glam (Clutch/sparkly etc)
.Everyday (Colourful/funky)

ACCESSORIES
.Bracelets/Bangles
.Necklaces
.Rings
.Hair accesories (bobbles/clips etc.)
.Scarves
.Gloves
.Hats
.Nail Varnish

UNDERWEAR
.1st Drawer>> Knickers and Bras
.2nd Drawer>>Socks and Tights




NIGHTWEAR
.Pj's
.Nightdress
.Dressing Gown
.Slippers
(I don't actually wear pj's to bed,but they are comfy after a nighttime bath,reading a book etc.)


.Every sub group is arranged according to colour, and length if I'm really bored.
.Jeans, Hoodies, Jumpers, Zip-ups, Tracksuit Bottoms, Underwear and Nightwear are all kept in drawers.

Everything else is hung up.

By the way my room only looks like this if I'm EXTREMELY bored/have alot of time on my hands. It will usually only last about 3 weeks max. Normally it looks like a bomb hit it.:)

HardyEustace

I think before you organise your clothes, you've to organise your storage.

Ikea have fabulous storage solutions. Go there, have a look at their show room and then figure out what you need. If you're not in Dublin I think their delivery is very expensive - find some to share with and hire a van for the day. I did this and I'd definitely recommend it.

OldGoat

Whoops has it right. Rule of thumb is dark to bright, long to short. Put the longest darkest stuff in the most awkward corner so that the short stuff if at the most accessible place in the wardrobe leaving you easily accessible storage space underneath.

Get some vacuum storage bags. Split your stuff into Winter, Summer and Spring/Autumn and store the off season on top of the wardrobe - out of sight out of mind.

If you haven't worn it in the last two years chuck it out. It's taking up valuable space that could be displaying something new. You are allowed to make ONE exception to the two year rule.

Madame Razz

HardyEustace wrote: »

I think before you organise your clothes, you've to organise your storage.

Ikea have fabulous storage solutions. Go there, have a look at their show room and then figure out what you need. If you're not in Dublin I think their delivery is very expensive - find some to share with and hire a van for the day. I did this and I'd definitely recommend it.

I've been to Ikea and got me a few bits, and I have some actual shop rails aswell as himself's Aunt has a boutique(2 of the 6 ft ones; I think these might be good for bulky items and coats??). There's also quite a large wardrobe, 2 chest of drawers, a shelving unit, and a dressing table. I also bought heaps of those Lidl shoe boxes when they had them in January; and I also got them the time they were released previously. So I think I have enough storage; but deciding what goes where is the conundrum.

OldGoat wrote: »

Whoops has it right. Rule of thumb is dark to bright, long to short. Put the longest darkest stuff in the most awkward corner so that the short stuff if at the most accessible place in the wardrobe leaving you easily accessible storage space underneath.

Get some vacuum storage bags. Split your stuff into Winter, Summer and Spring/Autumn and store the off season on top of the wardrobe - out of sight out of mind.

If you haven't worn it in the last two years chuck it out. It's taking up valuable space that could be displaying something new. You are allowed to make ONE exception to the two year rule.

ONE exception:eek:

But....but....but.....:pac:

I already store the off season away. Really I should be putting away my winter stuff but the weather is so odd I don't know what to do.


I do like that rule of thumb tho; makes a lot of sense;)

Madame Razz

chocgirl wrote: »

You're so lucky having your own dressing room. One day when I own my own house... I tend to sort by item though; I'll have jeans hanging together, cardigans, tops, dresses etc.

Then smaller things like underwear, scarfs and light tops go in drawers.

I do think it's nice to have a separate section for work clothes though, nothing worse than rifling through your work gear on a saturday night.

Yeah, I was kind of thinking that on the work clothes thing aswell; there really is zero crossover between my workwear and normal wear; even the shoes. But then I don't know

It's not quite a dream dressing room mind, I'll have one of them someday; but it's still nice to have it; and I think it will work well (albeit not the most aesthetic:o) which is why I really want to make a go of organising it right.

Little Acorn wrote: »

Now I can get very untidy at times, but when I have everything organised it goes like this.

The Groupings:

Your post is fantastic!!! Real food for thought in it.

Thanks for taking the time to put it up here;)

OldGoat

Madame Razz wrote: »

ONE exception:eek:

But....but....but.....:pac:

The only way around the two year rule is to wear that thing thats been sitting there for two years unregarded if you really want to keep it. If you can't bring yourself to wear it then get rid of it. Be ruthless - it pays dividends in the longrun.

Madame Razz

OldGoat wrote: »

The only way around the two year rule is to wear that thing thats been sitting there for two years unregarded if you really want to keep it. If you can't bring yourself to wear it then get rid of it. Be ruthless - it pays dividends in the longrun.

/cries

:pac:

You're right tho; I have to be ruthless. In fairness I was ruthless before christmas and got rid of loads of stuff, but I still have far too much so I think I need to be ruthless again.

It's something you really need to be in the mood to do tho.

OldGoat

Spring cleaning is all about the positive mental attitude.

[Runs away giggling]

dancingqueen

Wow! Lucky for me I have a "Dressing Room" too but it's also my OH's office so we share it

I have a wardrobe with hoodies and tracksuit pants in the shelf up top, and Jeans and Work trousers handing inside. I have a big plastic storage drawers set then on the floor of that, which has vests, and shoes in the drawers (it's too ugly to be out on it's own!)

Then I bought these in Argos: http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/8754619/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CHome+and+furniture%7C14417894/c_2/2%7Ccat_14417894%7CBedroom+furniture%7C14418001.htm

In the wardrobe I have cardigans, sorted in length. Shirts with short sleeves, mid length sleeves and long sleeves. Going out tops also hang here, Some bags and shoes in the bottom. Dresses also hang here.

In the shelving unit, I have all my tops, short sleeved, casual, long sleeved, gym etc. - and also jumpers and short skirts are on these shelves. Best thing is, I can see them all so no messing with drawers in the mornings when I'm not awake.

I have another unit with socks and pjs etc in the drawers and I also put make up and do my hair on that.... Loving it!!!

Twee.

I've been waiting all my life for my brother to move out so I can have his room and mine can be a dressing room But it looks like we'll be moving out at similar times. Lame!
Really good tips here though, has given me some good ideas for my wee wardrobe as it is. I'm terrible for keeping things that I never wear, just in case! Stackable boxes and ones that fit under the bed are great for out of season clothes.

mood

HardyEustace wrote: »

I think before you organise your clothes, you've to organise your storage.

Ikea have fabulous storage solutions. Go there, have a look at their show room and then figure out what you need. If you're not in Dublin I think their delivery is very expensive - find some to share with and hire a van for the day. I did this and I'd definitely recommend it.

+1

Proper storage will keep dust off clothes etc.