A step by step guide to declutter and organize clothing, shoes and accessories. Follow along how I transformed my clothing storage and curated my perfect wardrobe. Featuring the Ikea Pax wardrobe.
Getting Started on Decluttering
If you watched the video above, you will see the dreaded broken furniture my clothes were previously stored in. The first step to getting my wardrobe sorted was deciding on clothing storage. I have wanted a custom fitted wardrobe for years but most are out of my price range. Fortunately, Ikea offer a more affordable customisable option that worked for me. I still saved up a good 6 months to buy them but I have finally got them built and all my clothes are stored away in a functional way that looks great too! I would never suggest you go out and replace all your furniture but if they are falling apart, maybe you should consider it…
Step 1
Do your laundry the day or day before decluttering.
Step 2
Put all your clothing in one place, from your dresser drawers, wardrobe, bags under the bed, in the attic/basement, hanging on doors, in your car and anywhere else you might find items.
Step 3
Categorise items into piles. E.g. tops, trousers, skirts, jumpers etc. This step is important so you can see how many of certain items you have.
Step 4
Now you can see how many items you have, it will be easier to decide to get rid of certain things (Unlike myself with like 10 black tops, they are all different I swear!) You might find you need 10 black tops as they are the only tops you wear. However, if you have for instance 20 bikini sets and 10 are in a colour you never wear , consider if you need that many. Go though all categories and really think about if you wear it, if you would buy it again, is it damaged or stained, can it be repaired and do you feel good in that item?
Step 5
Decide how you will organize your clothes back into their spaces. Do certain items need to be hanged or folded? Will you fold your clothes the Konmari way or does that not work for you? Do you need to get containers, organizers or hangars to store your items? Could you store off-season clothing elsewhere?
Step 6
Gather your shoes in one place; check your entryway, closet/wardrobe, boxes, under the bed, attic, basement, car and anywhere else you can think of. Decide what to get rid of and again, think about how you feel when you wear them, would you buy them again? Are they too damaged/worn.
Step 7
Gather all your accessories in once place. This includes jewellery, bags, belts, hats, gloves, scarfs and umbrellas. Categorise them if you have lots of items.
Step 8
Go through each category and think about how each item makes you feel when you wear it. Often jewellery can be sentimental, don’t get rid of things that you really love and want to keep if you don’t wear it. Decide how you want to store your accessories before you put them back.
Step 9
If you have any items that need fixing or cleaning, now is the time to do so. Do you have any clothes that need repairing? What about shoes that need cleaning/polishing or re-soled? Do you have items that need to be dry cleaned? I like to maintain my clothing regularly, especially my shoes as they last a lot longer.
Step 10
Take all the items you are donating or recycling to either a charity shop/thrift store, friends and family or a recycling centre. It’s so easy to let those bags sit around for weeks, so pick a day and get the out of your home and commit to it.
Step 11
If you have any items that are sellable, spend time taking pictures of them and listing them. I find the best places for the best prices are Depop and Ebay. If you have any vintage or handmade items, list them on Etsy. This can often take hours so I would suggest doing this a different day to decluttering.
Step 12
Do something really awesome for yourself, relax, treat yourself and appreciate how amazing your clothing collection is now.
Decluttering & Self-Discovery
I try to declutter my clothes every season because it gives me an opportunity to think about the items I am in need of for the new season. Despite this, I still manage to have lots of items to get rid of. As I mentioned in my Youtube decluttering series, one of my major BPD traits are frequent identity crisis’ which leads me to changing my style often. Through all the trial and error, I have discovered that my style is a mix between minimalist classic and alternative so I am sticking to this style a minimal colour palette. It is amazing how decluttering can lead to so much self-discovery and I am very grateful for that.
I hope you found this guide helpful and inspiring, I have linked below a checklist you can print out to help you declutter your clothing.
