Wardrobe makeover: Living joyfully in your favourite clothes every day

1. What is your ideal lifestyle?

Deep within I believe we all already know what brings us joy and what kind of life we want to live. We might have just buried it all under work, commitments, stress and random piles of physical clutter. Usually when we start tidying there is initially more chaos. That alone might become a shock and turn us numb. Maybe we’re having a hard time letting go, or finishing a task at hand? For all of these circumstances we need a WHY and focus on the goal!

What should have space and presence in your home and life going forward?

It’s crucial not to skip this step. It will help you reconnect to yourself, your values and what matters most in your life. As a consequence, when you tidy your clothes you will use these self reflection goals to help make decisions. This way you will know more clearly what kind of belongings will support you in achieving your ideal way of living. Ask yourself:

1. Where do you currently stand?
2. What would you like to have more of and what less of in life?
3. What should have space and presence in your home and life going forward?

Make a list, a visual mood board, a drawing, a mindmap…anything that helps you find YOUR unique ideal lifestyle.

2. Gather all your clothing and make a pile

Let’s go! Gather all your clothing in one place. All of it. Also from the entrance and the basement and wherever you keep pieces of clothing. Usually what you have currently in the laundry is stuff you wish to keep. If not, let it go with gratitude. Make a pile on the bed or somewhere where you have enough space to make a mess.

3. If you are short on time, make sub categories

If you can’t find the time to do the full makeover in one go you can easily break it down into smaller chunks and do a few sub categories. Examples of sub categories could be tops, bottoms, underwear and socks, sportswear, shoes etc. I would, however, recommend that you do not leave too many days in between the sub categories, as you might lose momentum and the light in the tunnel.

4. Joy check – what does spark joy even mean?

When going through each piece of clothing, focus on what you want to keep. Always. Your intuition and your previously assessed lifestyle goals will help you determine what sparks joy for you. Make sure to find a few absolute favourites to start with and compare other items against these. Remember, if it’s not a clear yes it’s usually a clear no.

We should always care for and handle our belongings with respect throughout their life cycle. If they have outlived their purpose, we can respectfully let them go with a “thank you” . This might feel strange to start with but give it a try! It will feel so natural after a while. After all, this item has served you and its purpose well and is for sure worthy of some gratitude. Make sure to think sustainably and categorise discarded items for selling, donating, recycling etc. and make an effort to part with the discarded items as soon as possible.

By involving our hearts when we tidy clothing, we can thank our items for all they do to protect our bodies and express our identity.

MARIE KONDO

5. Fold and hang, give everything a home

By now you should have chosen all your favourites to keep. If you haven’t tried file folding yet, this is your moment to try. Not necessarily with materials that love to be hung, like thinner blouses, shirts and some nice dresses or business suits, but with most other things. Depending on your wardrobe structure, fold what can be folded and hang the rest. If you have lots of drawers, they are simply made for neat folding. The ultimate goal is to see everything you have with one glance. It saves you a lot of time and energy in the morning when you have a full overview and you’re able to choose only from belongings you simply love.

6. Storage & final touches

Indeed, organisational supplies are pretty – but they are never the solution! So before moving on to storing your favourite clothes, please check that you’ve ticked all the below boxes first:

• * Finish discarding first before starting to fold
• * Hang all sensitive items rising to the right. For a visually optimised finish they should hang from long to short, from dark to light.
• * Find a permanent home for everything
  * Finally, add a final touch to your closet with something you love! A precious item could for example be a favourite photo, a pair of special shoes or a favourite piece of jewellery. This item will make you smile and remind you of a special event or memory each and every time you open your closet!