Have you heard of Marie Kondo?
Have you Marie Kondo’d your home?
(hummm….It’s both a proper noun and a verb)
These are questions I hear all the time lately. She is an author and has an incredibly popular TV show, which I’ve never seen.
Curiosity got me, so I checked out a few episodes. I quickly realized that the basic principles she works with are similar to those I’ve always done and continue to do in my own home as well as when going through a client’s wardrobe and closet. That being said, I suggest you do what works for you, your wardrobe and the space you have available.
The key questions to ask when going through your own wardrobe are:
What to keep?
What NOT to keep?
How to organize it in your closet & home?
What needs some alteration to update and keep it modern?
I came up with 8 SUPER tips on how to declutter and organize as it pertains to your wardrobe and added a bit of my own 2 cents.
- Organize by category i.e.: T-shirts with T-shirts and sweaters with sweaters
- Organize items by size and use i.e.: tall boots w/ tall boots… underwear with underwear.
- Give everything a home. This one rings particularly true as my father told my brother and me, what seemed like thousands of times: “a place for everything and everything in it’s place.” I’ve noticed over the years that if I look for something that isn’t where it’s “supposed to be”, I don’t always know where it is… funny how this is…I now say the same thing to my kids
- Store items based on frequency of use– What you wear most often should be front and center in your closet or in your top drawers. If you have limited closet space, change the clothing in your main closet from winter to summer based on the season.
- Put all of your like items together before figuring out what to get rid of. ie: Put at all your belts together, this way you can look at the quantity and condition of each of them to figure out if you want to keep it or give it away.
- Compartmentalize– when storing items in drawers and boxes, create separators to keep like with like, including placing boxes inside drawers and other boxes. ie: underwear and make-up. In a pinch, use a shoe box or small box.
- Fold items in small vertical packages. I find this is only necessary when people are incredibly space challenged.
- Last but not least. Everything you keep should bring you joy! When working with my clients, I always say that you need to LOVE EVERYTHING IN YOUR CLOSET! If you don’t love it, you’re not going to wear it when you want to look good. You’ll always choose something else you love or like that makes you feel better.
