Julie Cliff, declutter coach at Space and Time, and and I combine forces again to give you 7 tips to help you edit your wardrobe.

1. Turn coat hangers backwards in the wardrobe and return it the right way around when you wear the garment so you can see what's being worn. Make a date in 6 or 12 months to review what’s being worn and what can be donated or sold.

2. Take a photo or video of the special outfit / dress / garment and frame it (or a photo of you wearing it) and let go of the item knowing you have captured the memory digitally.

3. Donate as soon as something is no longer working for you rather than hanging on to it just in case.  The longer you hang on to it, the less likely it is to be in fashion when you do let it go, and the more likely it will end up in landfill.  Be honest with yourself about whether you will wear it again.

4. Pick the best.  If you have 3 navy tops, pick the best one (see next joint blog for criteria).   

5.  Keep a very small number of messy clothes for gardening, painting etc.  Make these your best ones too. 

   Anne said: “I kept a couple of old comfortable outfits for gardening and got rid of the rest. This was a bit of a challenge for me but it was great to know everything left would look good.”

6. Do one area at a time.  Make it achievable. Choose a category (t-shirts, jeans, skirts etc) and work on it until you're done. Lyn found this process so much more manageable than trying to tackle the whole wardrobe at once.

7. If you have lots of clothes in washing baskets and in the laundry, these are the ones you obviously like so start with the clothes in your wardrobe. These are the ones you aren't wearing.
   Julie did an experiment recently; She washed all her clothes for 3 weeks, but didn’t put them back in the wardrobe (but had them neatly folded out of the way). There were so many more clothes, untouched in the wardrobe after the 3 weeks - way too many.

Give it a go

Give the tips above to edit your wardrobe a go so you love what you have, make life simpler, and reduce the stress in your home.

Still too hard?

Reach out to Gina (Canberra-based) or Julie (Melbourne based) if you would like us to help or grab the DIY guide.