It's that time of year again - lighter evenings, warmer days, flowers all around.......and apparently the prime time for cleaning. When I was younger I remember my mum setting off on a frenzy of crazed cleaning about twice a year. Every ornament would be off the shelves and soaking in some kind of soap solution, we'd be cleaning under the sofa, dusting cobwebs off the ceiling and de-cluttering everything we owned. I swore to my mother that I'd never spend my time cleaning or worrying about de-cluttering and sorting things out when I had my own home. Fast forward 15 years and I'm not ashamed to admit that cleaning and organising are probably one of my favourite hobbies (feels really sad to write down but it's true!)
I tend not to do the whole twice a year manic deep clean and I prefer to do little bits throughout the year and generally stay on top of organising and cleaning so that things don't get too unmanageable. After a long winter of wearing mainly uggs, jeans and a chunky cardigan, I decided to go through my wardrobe to organise it. Here are the steps I took that might help you too:
1. Make sure you're in the right frame of mind.
Before I do any type of deep clean or organisation task, I make sure I am in a good mood and that I have enough time to complete the task. Having to stop half way through will make it a much bigger task to pick up at a later time. One of my guilty pleasures is trashy TV and so I put on an episode of TOWIE on my laptop or something else that doesn't require much attention as background noise to keep me entertained.
2. Get all of your clothes out of your wardrobe so that you are working with a clean space.
I keep my clothes in two separate wardrobes - one that I can hang clothes up in and another wardrobe with only shelves. I did one wardrobe at a time to keep it more manageable and so that my room wasn't too full of clutter whilst I was organising.
I completely emptied each wardrobe and laid out all of the clothes on my bed and then wiped down the shelves/ rails ready to put the clothes back in. I think it's really important to work with a clean space and completely empty out your wardrobe so that you can put your clothes back exactly how you want without having to work around items still left there.
3. Decide how you're going to organise your clothes
Before I go through my clothes and put them back into the wardrobe, I have a quick think about how I'm going to re-organise the space. Most of the time I put my clothes back in the same order, although just a little bit tidier than before, but it's always worth having a quick think about how the space is working for you and whether you can organise it in a different way that will make your life a little bit easier.
4.Go through each item individually to decide whether to keep or get rid
When I am clearing out my wardrobe, I always take one item at a time and decide whether it still fits me , whether I still like it and whether it's appropriate (I'm talking about the very short dresses from my university days that I parted with during my recent wardrobe deep clean!).
Going through each item individually can be quite time consuming but it's worth it as you know all the items you put back in your wardrobe are ones that you love and can see yourself wearing.
5. Get rid of your unwanted clothes ASAP
This one is crucial for me. I used to leave the pile of clothes I was going to donate in the spare room for a few weeks just in case I decided I didn't want to get rid of them. I found myself going through the pile again and pulling items back into the wardrobe that I regretted parting with. Most of the time I didn't wear these clothes again and they ended up cluttering the space leaving less room for clothes I actually wanted to wear.
My trick is to donate the clothes as soon as possible after sorting through your wardrobe. I currently have a pile of clothes to donate by my front door that I am going to take to the charity shop the next time that I am going anywhere. The majority of the time you will not think about these clothes again. But if they stay around your house for weeks after your de-cluttering is over, you'll always find an excuse to go back and take items out.
6 . Reward yourself
Once it's all done and dusted (quite literally dusted), it's time to reward yourself - whether that's watching a film or ordering a takeaway, do something that makes your feel happy. Unless you're like me and you think that clearing out you wardrobe is actually quite fun in itself.....
I'd love to hear your cleaning and organisation tips. Happy organising!
xx A xx
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