Wardrobe organisation help needed

lacoste1985_2

Hi

I have a BIG problem....I have too many clothes and not enough storage spac to put them all away. I currently have 2 double wardobes (one of which has 2 pull out drawers) and while the other has a large shelf on the top when the dorrs are open yet ive still managed to fill them. I have an ikea material type shoe rack holder thing laying on the base of the larger wardrobe and another one hanging up from the ceiling in my room to store shoes in.

Ive bought a couple of those vac bags to store jumpers in etc but have filled the bottom drawers under my bed with them and no i want the jumpers out of them for the winter i dont want to screw up all my 'summer' clothes incase i want to wear something from them over the winter months, esp with the nice weather we're having atm.

I also have a standard size 5 drawer dressing table which has already been filled with underwear, pjs/nighties and socks and another drawer has tops folded up in.

Id just like to know how other people organise their wardrobes, are there any basic rules to wardrobe sorting, throwin clothes out that havent been worn for more than 2 yrs kinda rules.

Any adice would be appreciated as im thinking of buying a bigger dressing table with more drawers in to accommodate all my k rap!!

thanks

from a desperate lacoste1985!

nearlyrich

First job get everything out and really look at it, does it fit? does it suit you? when are you next going to wear it?

If you are storing stuff you never wear take it out of the wardrobe and ask yourself why? Maybe it reminds you of something or you paid a lot for it?

How many sock bras panta and pjs do you actually wear? get rid of the tatty stuff you deserve to have decent underwear on and if you drawers are full of old drawers you won't have room for nice new sexy one's.

Take the decent stuff to a charity sop or sell it on ebay, get a couple of plastic crates to fit your shelf and put out of season clothes in there.

Hope some of these ideas work for you!

toffeegirl

Options:

1. Buy a bigger house
2. Stop shopping
3. Get rid. You said it yourself: 'I have too many clothes'

This nice weather is not going to last too much longer. You only need to keep out a couple of fair-weather outfits - the rest can go - either to the charity shop or into hibernation under your bed.

There was an article in last month's Marie Claire about organising your wardrobe - I'll dig out the name of the woman / see if she has a website or something......

onlineid

Prob time to be ruthless and not buy more drawers as it will just be more room for you to fill up with new clothes

I'd go through everything and anything looking a bit shabby get rid of. Do the same with anything not worn for a couple of years or which isn't likely to fit again (too big or small).

Do the same with your shoes - any that pinch / too high / don't suit etc which it is unlikely you will wear again.

The vac bags are a great idea (I've been thinking about some for me, just need to oganised enough to get them!) and you can put away anything you aren't likely to wear until the summer.

Most stuff can be donated to charity - I gave all my pre child bras to a charity which sends them out to Africa etc and a lot of my clothing to a local childrens hospice which sells items at car boot sales to raise funds.

If you are pretty ruthless and make some space, you could always make some money selling the clothing you don't wear and put it towards something you really want!

pattycake

I too have a lot of clothes. I have a a four bedroomed house and all the wardrobes except one are full of my stuff. However, I am now having the master bedroom refitted and I need to clear out the wardrobes and drawers in there in readiness. As I have had to get everything out it has made me far more ruthless than I am normally and I have had a good cull. There is tons of stuff I have not worn for ages or that I really do not like any more. It is all going to the charity shop.

I have also put some stuff I cannot bear to part with in the loft. Trouble is, when my lovely new wardrobes are fitted, I am having double hanging in two of them. That means I will have twice as much space as before. Watch out, shops, here I come again!

27col

If you have not worn something for a year then the chances of you ever wearing it again are pretty low. If it goes into the loft, then the chances have got to be zero.Get rid of it. There are lots of charities that would be glad to receive and recycle it.
I am only a man, who doesn't have a lot of clothes, but even I have too many. In particular trousers that I cannot comfortably wear due to my waist size expanding a bit.

Errata

Be ruthless, pack stuff you haven't worn for a while into bin liners, stick them in the loft and if you haven't missed them after two years - you don't need 'em.

Js_Other_Half

Would something like this be of help?
http://www.betterware.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=038535&cid=926&language=en-GB

loracan1

I've tried organising things by colour, type of clothing etc but the thing that really works is just hanging stuff on one side. What I mean is, when something is washed and hung up I put it on the left, you get to see which items are worn most often and end up finding out which never get worn. (That shiny lilac skirt and top have never shifted from there).

toffeegirl

FINALLY!!!! I found the piece of paper on which I wrote this woman's name ....

and here is her website.... for what good it may be.....

https://www.practicalprincess.com

Peartree

One of the best things I ever did was put in an extra rail, halfway down one of my two double wardrobes. It doubles the space for tops and short skirts and the like.

I am pretty brutal about chucking out on most fronts but with clothes I do tend to buy good quality classic stuff that I wear for years (in the sales). I know I don't spend any more on clothes than any of my friends but I do buy more wisely and I'm not hard on my clothes - so I have loads more than anyone else I know!

I am embarrassed to say that I have two double wardrobes in the spare bedroom with most of my work clothes in them, a small wardrobe in my bedroom with jackets, etc, a cupboard in the porch with my outdoor coats, and three chests of drawers! And that doesn't count the 'seasonal' items I swap around which I keep in large baskets on top of the wardrobes squished down in space bags.

I wear all of them, sometimes not often in a year but cost per wear they don't owe me anything - which is the most important factor! I mean, we have had two crap summers so some of my summer clothes haven't seen an airing for a couple of years. That would mean chucking them out by decluttering standards and I'm not prepared to do that.

Even so, I always do a cull when putting away summer/winter clothes or when getting them out again.

I know I'll probably be shredded for having so much stuff, but here are my main tips. Add an extra rail if you can. Use the space on top of wardrobes with huge matching baskets (I got mine at Dunelm) so that you can store out of season stuff without it looking like a jumble sale.

But also, maybe, be a bit more honest with yourself. It is depressing putting your summer clothes away in September/October but, really, how much of that summer wardrobe are you going to get to wear in winter. Keep out a couple of mid-season type items out but stick the rest away. Or do the swapover in two stages.