Wardrobe Edit Tip 1: Gather all your Clothes – The Power of the Pile
When did you last do a wardrobe edit?
The Konmari way is to tidy by category not location, starting with clothes. Clothes are the ideal category to practise with, rather than photos or sentimental items. First gather all your clothes from everywhere into one spot, you might use your bed as a sorting station. Empty all your storage. It doesn’t work to peep in the drawers, you need to see how much you have of any one thing.
This is called the Power of the Pile. If you have loads of clothes, work in sub-categories: starting with short sleeve tee shirts, then long sleeve tee’s etc. If you are short on time or working around the kids, take it one sub- category at time. It becomes addictive and you’ll be eager to work through all categories.
Wardrobe Edit Tip 2: Follow the Order
Do you get stuck or discouraged even though you long for a complete wardrobe edit?
There’s a get out clause when it gets difficult: As you are sorting clothes and you come across something sentimental that you know you’ll not wear again but you just can’t let go of – like your wedding dress – put it to one side to be dealt with last. Getting stuck on making decisions about sentimental items is one of the top reasons people get discouraged when they start to tidy. Carry on sorting, keeping and discarding. The KonMari Method™ deals with the sentimental category after clothes, books, papers and komono (miscellaneous). By the time you have done everything, you will be so practised at tidying that you’ll be ready even for the sentimental bits.
If you need to try something on before making a decision, put it into a try-on pile and tackle it right at the end of sorting your clothes.
Wardrobe Edit Tip 3: Does it Spark Joy?
How do you decide what clothes to keep during your wardrobe edit?
The criteria for deciding what to keep is whether something Sparks Joy. This is where the magic lies. Imagine a time when you have sorted your entire house and everything in it Sparks Joy, you will never want to go backwards.
Pick up and touch each item of clothing. If you feel a little thrill, keep it. If there is no joy, you’ll feel a little heavier. Give yourself time to practise this, it’s important and not everyone figures it out right away. You could try selecting the top 3 items from a category, those you love to wear the most and always feel good in. Comparing each item with the others of the same type, will soon have you connecting with what Sparks Joy and give you a good benchmark.
We’ve all got a mindset that ‘it might come in handy’ and anyone who does DIY, gardening or any other messy activity probably has a big pile of old clothes that are well past it. No more. Keeping clothes (or other things) that ‘might come in handy’ but don’t spark joy, just adds to over-stuffed drawers, creates clutter and hides the things you truly love. You’ll not miss anything ‘that might come in handy’ and find it’s easy to substitute and use something else.
Wardrobe Edit Tip 4: Storage is Temporary until you’re done
During your wardrobe edit, don’t worry about where you’ll store your clothes until you have finished with sorting and tidying the rest of your house. That might be a disappointment to everyone who hankers after new furniture or a new smart organising device. But seriously, consider all storage to be temporary until you’re at the end. Just put everything back where you think it works best for now, you’ll adjust it later. You might get to the end and find you have more than enough space and can even get rid of some furniture. While you are going through a complete tidy, keep hold of any boxes (nice shoe or gift boxes) that you come across and use them as dividers in drawers.
Hanging or folding?
Folding your clothes allows you to fit more in. If you have limited space, consider using a smaller section of your hanging rail and fit a chest inside the wardrobe, giving you more drawer space. If you have shelves, using boxes will give the same results as using drawers.
All garments can be folded but some fabrics that are very fine, silky or bulky are ‘happier’ if they are hung. Keeping hangers all the same is a quick win too.
Folding is such a restful and mindful activity. The diagram shows how to fold. You can adapt the 
final shape to fit your box and drawer space.
The basic folding technique is to create a rectangle, fold it in half and then fold 3 times. Avoid making a stack of anything, instead store each garment on its side.
You’ll love how your drawers look and you’ll get faster at folding with practise.
Editing your clothes will cut down on frustration and save time and money – the benefits of a wardrobe edit are multiple:
- When you love ALL your clothes, you will rarely be tempted to shop for something just because you like it. And you’ll really enjoy shopping to replace something or fill a gap
- You’ll save time as getting dressed will be faster. You can see what you’ve got and everything fits you. You won’t waste time trying on clothes you like but never wear
- Say goodbye to jamming hangers into an overfilled wardrobe, bursting drawers that won’t shut or struggling to put laundry away. You have to deal with your clothes every single day so it makes sense to take away the stress and make it a pleasure
- Banishes guilt. Sometimes a garment might have been expensive or a gift and every time you saw it, you were reminded that you made a costly mistake or felt guilty for not using it. After joy- checking your clothes, you’ll realise that these types of items have been donated, sold or altered. Result? No more guilt.
Now you are free to get on with more important things in life, like thinking more clearly, sleeping better and tackling the next category! Keep posted, if you liked the Wardrobe Edit 4 Step Plan, we’ll be sharing more tips over the coming months.
Have you done your own wardrobe edit? Please do leave a comment to share your views and ideas and check out the Gallery for inspiration.
