Do you have wardrobe shame?

Ask yourself – can you resist a sneak peek into a set of fitted wardrobes when you view a potential new home? After all, you’re only checking the hanging space .v. shelving ratio, aren’t you? Perfectly reasonable. Now ask yourself, when viewers visit your home – what will the inside of your wardrobe say about you?

An overfull, cramped, disorganised wardrobe, with extra bits and bobs shoved in as you can’t think where else to put them (regifting pile, anybody?) says “not enough storage” to anyone who takes that irresistible sneaky peek, which is not the message you want to send when selling your home.

Time to declutter – but where to start?

Here is our simple six-step guide to a wardrobe declutter that will, in the words of the most famous declutterer of all, bring you joy.

1. Go to Amazon and order 200 velvet hangers. Black, grey, blush pink with rose gold (ooh!), it doesn’t matter, as long as they are all the same.
2. Mark off three zones in your bedroom: Keep, Sell, Donate.
3. EMPTY your wardrobe, starting from the end least visited and working your way along. As you go, ask yourself – when was the last time I wore this? Does it still even fit. Is it last year too? Be really firm with yourself. Chances are, if you haven’t worn an item in the last 18 months, you are never going to. Place each item in the relevant pile.
4. Once your hanging space is empty and the contents allocated to the relevant pile, put your KEEP pile back into the wardrobe using only the lovely new hangers. Face everything the same way and organise by season, by colour, and by clothes type. So- black trousers will all sit together, starting with summer weight and progressing to winter. Put all your blouses together, from light to dark, in seasonal blocks. When you wear and wash, make sure you hang the item back where it came from, and don’t revert back to the limited section you pulled all your clothes from before, ensuring you wear everything you own, as you don’t forget you have it.
5. Next, repeat the process with the contents of your shelves and drawers. If you have shelves, invest in some clear plastic boxes and use these for t-shirts (rolled, of course), nightwear, shorts, gym kit, etc. You can easily slide the box from the shelf and see at a glance what you have, nothing gets buried at the bottom of a pile. Hang, rather than roll, your long-sleeved or more high-end t-shirts, so you can see them at a glance on a daily basis.
6. FInally, deal with your DONATE and SELL piles.

DONATE

Don’t assume any item of clothing, bags or shoes aren’t good enough for charity. All national charities will sort through your donation, choose what to sell in their shops and then sell the rest by the kilo. Everyone’s a winner. And get rid of it the same day, or next day. If you have lots to deliver, call the shop and arrange a drop-off time, this way you’re more likely to actually do it within a couple of days.

SELL

eBay, Vinted, Facebook Marketplace, Shopify – there are many options for selling clothes online, and they don’t need to be designer (though if they are designer, find a local dress agency near you and maximise your return). Just ask yourself – would you be okay receiving this in the post? Freshly washed and ironed, no mysterious stains and no repairs needed – and you’ll make a thrifty shopper very happy, while earning some extra cash. What’s not to love?

After a wardrobe declutter, not only will you be able to show people into your bedroom or dressing room with no risk of wardrobe shame, you’ll also feel truly content, if not positively smug.

Friday 7th April 2023 – Eddie (Picture used from Chandos Road South, Chorlton).