You may think I'm mad, or a complete domestic bore, but I've been dreaming of having new wardrobes since we moved into this house! If you haven't been following me on Instagram stories over the past few weeks then I guess you haven't seen my whole journey of sorting, getting organised and put away into our new finished bedroom! I know, I know, total first world problems but I am my Mother's Daughter and getting organised just sparks so much joy and calm for me. Since we moved in, my clothes have been spread between our current bedroom, the spare room and a trunk on our upstairs landing. Since we started renovating the new bedroom, I haven't had access to the little spare room as it's been filled with junk, so trying to find any clothes has been a hard task. I always dreamed of the day that I could get everything organised and put away, out of the trunk of doom which is impossible to find anything in and into neat, sections where I'd know where everything is. On hangers so I can see what I own and so it's not full of creases from the bottom of a pile. It's been a mammoth project, emptying out everything and having a huge clear out. Some of the drawers I hadn't been able to open for about a year or so. It's made me get rid of anything that I won't wear, give 2 huge sack bags to the charity shop, stick a load of stuff onto my Instagram for sale page to sell, and then reorganise what I do want to keep {still an awful lot} and section it.


You can see how Ben built the new wardrobes in here on this bedroom makeover post. But today I just wanted to share some thoughts on organising clothes and the inside of the wardrobes. I now have the wardrobes in our old bedroom which have my winter clothes in, jumpers, cardigans, jeans, long dresses, tops etc. And a chest of drawers in there for underwear and PJS. But in this new bedroom I finally have a place to store all of my summer clothes. I knew that I didn't want all rails in this wardrobe, I wanted some kind of built in storage that wasn't just for hanging. But I also know what I'm like with drawers in that they get stuffed full to the brim and you can't really see what you have. So Ben & I were looking up storage options, looking on eBay for bookshelves or metal shelving units before we remembered that we had this shelving unit that Ben had made for our first flat together in London. We used to use it as a TV unit and for books etc but we still have all of the parts in the loft which serendipitously, fitted in here perfectly. So we got it out from the loft and assembled it at the weekend. I was ITCHING to start putting things away in the sections, and so this past week, any spare time I've snatched has been spent going through the piles and working it into this.

So many of you recommended Marie Kondo's book for me, which has arrived but I haven't had a chance to read yet. But I will! And will then go through everything again/folding it into the way she recommends etc. But for now I'm just so pleased as this is SUCH an improvement. I've folded my shorts and vest tops/t-shirts onto the shelves with the rails for dresses and nicer tops. I've got sections for bags, purses, travel pouches etc and room for shoes at the bottom. I know that I still have way too many clothes, I'd never be somebody who could live from a capsule wardrobe. I think it's partly because I've stayed the same size, give or take, for as long as I can remember so I still wear, and love, clothes that are years old but of course also add to the collection over the years too.

It's just such a revelation that I can see everything! And have been wearing things I've had for ages but forgot I even owned over the past few weeks. Pulling out shorts from the pile, all arranged by colour, and then finding a t-shirt or a vest top without rummaging through drawers. Things stay less creased this way too laying flat on a shelf rather than shoved in.

I love how I want to keep it all neat and tidy now because even though it's behind closed doors, visually I want it to keep neat. I'll fit a full length mirror to the back of one of the wardrobe doors.


Some tips that I've learnt to organise;
- Read this book. Marie Kondo is the master at organisation and making you really think about what you actually want to have in your house. In brief, the message is that an item should spark joy for you to keep it. I've also ordered this too to help me work out how to fold things properly.
- Be ruthless. I think the rule goes that if you haven't worn something in over a year, get rid of it. I'm not that ruthless but I do definitely think about if I'll wear something again or if it doesn't fit well anymore/it's too short/not my style.
- Max out on storage if you can. We've gone for ottoman beds for storage undeneath them that would otherwise by wasted space {and a dust trap}.
- Build storage in. We've built a cupboard under our stairs and built the wardrobes to maximise the size we could have compared to free-standing pieces and keep costs low.
- Buy good hangers. I bought these as you can fit more in than the standard clunky ones and they're soft on your clothes and non-slip {these were the cheapest I could find for a large quantity that would be delivered fast, I wanted to hang things up ASAP! But i've heard good things about Costco hangers if you wanted to go there}
- It will always be an ongoing process. I like to review my wardrobe every 6 months or so and give it a tidy up. It will definitely be easier to do so now we have more storage and I know where everything else.
- Get a friend to help. One of my really good friend's offered to help me with mine but I actually didn't want to subject her to the sheer volume of clothes to sort through. But lots of you advised that getting a friend or your Mum to help, if they're willing, can make it more fun.
- Podcasts or music to listen to whilst you sort. Essential!
- The end result will be SO worth it. Tidy wardrobe, tidy mind.

Next on my list is my sportswear drawer which is under our spare bed. It's a HUGE mixed pile and I want to organise it so shorts are all in one pile, leggings in another etc as every morning I spend too much wasted time trying to find things in there. Also I must read that Marie Kondo book and apply it to our garage & shed {or just my life in general}.

This isn't finished at all, it's just the start! But it's made me feel so much better already and I can actually see what I own now. I've rediscovered so many outfits I'd forgotten about/I'd given up looking for.

Was this really boring or are you a fellow organisational lover?!

R <3 xx


Piecing together the unit again. Ben made this out of cut down wardrobe rails with wooden dowels in the middle for extra strength. But you could use regular shelving, industrial kind of shop units, book cases. Ikea have some amazing wardrobe storage options too. In my other wardrobe I have a small chest of drawers in the bottom but I find things just end up getting crushed into them/the drawers don't open properly. This time I really wanted visually open storage to see what I have!