I love the term “shop your wardrobe”. The idea of taking what you have and mixing it up in new and creative ways. Whether you are inspired by a magazine, a pin, an Instagram pic or someone’s awesome street style, it’s refreshing to find a new outfit and not spend a cent.
So if your wardrobe was a shop, what kind of shop would it be? A well-designed, easy to navigate boutique? Or a trash and treasure sale? I must admit my wardrobe goes to trash and treasure pretty quickly if I don’t keep on top of it. But if I want to effectively shop my own wardrobe,things need to be well organised.
Here are my tips for a beautifully organised wardrobe, worthy of shopping in.
Things must be visible
I think visibility is absolutely key. You won’t wear it if you don’t see it. So that means no over-crowding. Don’t put more than one thing on a hanger. Make sure your folded items can be seen. Hang your jewellery and scarves in easy to see places.
Things must be accessible
This is a pretty close relation to visibility. Make sure you can reach everything easily and that taking one thing out doesn’t result in a complete mess. Again, no over-crowding! If you have high shelves, keep a small ladder or sturdy chair nearby so you can easily access that storage.
Know your stock (ie have a system)
How frustrating is it when you can’t find that favourite dress because it’s hiding way back in the wardrobe? By having an organised system, it should be immediately apparent where a thing is. I like to sort by type of clothing and then colour.
Keep it seasonal
Store away the things you won’t wear and review your wardrobe every six months. I live in Brisbane, which means I can safely store my winter things over summer but need to keep a few summer things on standby during the cooler months. Because the sunshine can never keep away for long. Think about what works for you. Make sure the things you place into storage are still accessible. I like shallow plastic boxes on wheels that can be stored under the bed.
Allow for inspiration
Wardrobes are fairly utilitarian places but that doesn’t mean they can’t be pretty. If you have space, pop up a mood board. Display your jewellery in a beautiful way. Make it inviting, just like a shop makes their space lovely. In addition to looking nice, arrange your clothes in such a way that they lend themselves to inspiration. I like to hang my tops on a high rail and my skirts underneath. This immediately gives me an idea of what might match.
Keeping your wardrobe in boutique condition will make shopping in it a lot more fun.
Want more wardrobe tips? Catch my live video at the Mumtastic for a sneaky peek at how I organise my wardrobe.
Your wardrobe sounds lovely. I don’t know what a mood board actually is, must google it!
One of those new-agey things were you collage together the things you like 🙂
Eeeek, reading this I know my wardrobe needs to be organised better! Can’t wait until my reno’s are finished and we have a walk in robe 🙂 I have so many beautiful things just hidden away! xx
It’s so nice when you have space to see it all.
Some great ideas! I need sort out the mess that is my jewellery boxes 😉
That’s a whole different ball game isn’t it?
I love the idea of shopping in your wardrobe. I think I have a task this weekend. 🙂 #lifeandstylelinkup
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Oh – let me know you go!
I feel like the best way to organise my wardrobe would be to throw out everything I own and start over – ideally with someone else doing the choosing. I really feel like I suck at clothes. And I always end up buying black so then my outfits are black on black with black. Gah!
One time I tried to organise my hanging clothes into colours…. it was 95% black.
Nothing wrong with black. Maybe you can play with colour in accessories first?
Robyna, thank you for this post. It was perfect, I’m going to share it to my peeps now.
xoxo liat
Hadar Fashion & Interiors
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Thanks so much for sharing xxx
I like these tips. I did a big wardrobe cull before we moved to Sydney and now that we are here, I actually want to cull more – so that I LOVE every piece in my wardrobe.
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I reckon that’s the way to go – loving every single piece.
What a great idea Robyna! Organise your wardrobe like a shop! Mine is definitley a very messy trash and treasure, not very inviting space. I actually hate my (small) walk in robe – maybe that’s why I struggle to keep it organised. We actually walk through it to enter our en-suite. Not a design I would do again. Feeling inspired. Time to make it pretty. Thanks for sharing your great ideas. Xx
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Our is designed in exactly the same way. Hope it offers some inspiration.
I love this! It’s visual merchandising for your own stuff!
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That’s exactly it!
I must remember your Mumtastic Live event! My wardrobe organisation must have is same coathangers. Any odd hangers send me bonkers!
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I’ve jumped into the velvet hanger revolution and it’s pretty fabulous 🙂
I had a big clean out of my wardrobe just before Christmas and have been trying the capsule wardrobe idea. It’s working pretty well, although I feel like I’m wearing the same things all the time, so I’m going to have to get a few more pieces to mix and match with. But only keeping things I like and that fit has really cut down what I have to choose from. You’re so right about keeping it seasonal too!
If you only keep what you love, you’ll always love what you are wearing I figure!
Oh yay I can’t wait to take a guided tour in your wardrobe! I wish I had a better set up in my wardrobe, it’s all a bit higgledy piggledy in there. I love order but the layout of the wardrobe seems to induce clutter and mess. See you Tuesday. x
It should be fun (I hope!)
I’ve made a real effort this year to keep my wardrobe and drawer space well organised and tracking progress on the blog has kept me accountable! Fully agree that stock must be visible and accessible.
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Doing a Facebook Live post on my wardrobe certainly held me accountable! 🙂
Great tips Robyna! Yes I organise my hanging items by colour…dresses have a rail of their own then tops, pants categorised and colour coded. Showing my OCD tendencies hehe
Me too! I think it just makes it easier to keep it neat really 🙂
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Personally, I prefer to store my tops, thin sweaters and not-usual-worn-this-season in drawers because I dont have enough space to hang everything. My closet is one metre wide and its almost completly full with blazers, blouses and buttoms only.
I totally understand that – I just like to hang as much as possible (as long as it doesn’t damage the clothes) so that I can see it.