Week one of the LYSdeclutterthon - CLOTHES

Welcome to the first week of the LYSdeclutterthon! Today we are on the first category of the 8-week LYS declutter challenge; clothes. This process will take you through every item, category by category, leaving you with the items you LOVE and freeing you from stress and unnecessary clutter. Let’s get started!

Vision

Think about what you want from your clothes/wardrobe. We change, our styles change, our bodies change and it’s great that we take time to help our wardrobe change with it. Are you keeping things for ‘one day’ or have things from times gone by? Here’s my vision: I want a wardrobe with only pieces I love 10/10, that I can throw on and feel amazing. I want fewer, quality items not quantity. Write it down, add it to Pinterest or just take a minute to acknowledge your own vision for your clothes.

Before you start, TAKE 'BEFORE' PHOTOS! It's such good motivation, even if you think it won't change so much. You’ll also need a couple of things, including a container or bag for 'donating' and/or for 'selling'.

Division

Get everything out in one place. Marie Kondo advocates this, and I completely agree, that seeing all your items together helps you realise how much you have. If you try to pick out what you don’t want, you might miss items, but you also can’t do the important next step: clean the space!

Once in a pile, divide into what you’re keeping versus discarding. When doing this, BE STRONG. I did my declutter transformation years ago but I suspect my wardrobe has some 8/10 and 9/10 but my objective this time is to have only items I love (i.;e. score 10/10). Once you know what you’re keeping (or as you’re sorting if you're able to) then divide into sub-categories such as T-shirts, bottoms, dresses, sports clothes, etc.

Position

This is the exciting bit; things are going back into place. Before you do, CLEAN IT! Give the area a quick dust, wipe, clean. You can now start putting the clothes you love back in position in their subcategories.

We know on a macro level that your clothes are going back into wardrobes or drawers, but it’s also a good moment to think about the positioning. It might seem obvious but put the clothes you use more frequently in the places that are easier to access. For me, sportwear is used often so it goes higher up. I change my pyjamas once a week or so, so they go lower down. At the bottom I keep items I rarely use, such my Indian sari.

For drawers, fold (or roll, if you prefer) your items and store them vertically; this almost always works better than stacking and helps you see and access everything you have. I use shoe boxes as dividers – they work great. I'll also show you later how to fold, but Marie Kondo has some great illustrations in her book 'Spark Joy'.

For hanging, hang from heavy from one side (such as knitted, or long sleeves) to light on the other side (such as short sleeves, silk). If you have several items of the same subcategory, you can also arrange from dark to light.

LOVE

Congrats! You now have only what you love in the most efficient places in your wardrobe. You can start enjoying your favourite clothes (which are ALL OF THEM) but you also might be able to make a few small changes to help you love that space even more.

- Upgrade your drawer dividers. I use shoe boxes but, now that you know how much you need to store, you can upgrade to better suit the space.

- Matching coat hangers – this makes SUCH a difference. Whilst I don’t advocate replacing for the same of it, matching coat hangers can make all the difference. Perhaps it’s a case of swapping all the wire coat hangers from around the house to one place, all the wooden somewhere else, etc.

Important work to do

You have done amazingly well but… there is an important part let to do: the discarding. Remember when you sorted between the keep and discard (with some to clothes bank, charity shop and to sell. You now need to make that happen or you WILL have a bag of loveless clothes under your bed or in the boot of your car for 6 months.

Donate: book a time to take the donation clothes to the charity shop. Now, they are overloaded, so check it’s OK.

Clothes bank: Locate your local clothes banks, understand the rules for depositing there and book in a date in the next 7 days to go there.

Sell: second-hand online clothes stores are more common than ever, you can use Vinted or Vestiaire Collection. Whichever you choose, give yourself until the end of the week (your deadline for the dash to the charity shop) to post and then two weeks to see if they sell. I’m setting a reminder for 24th April to part with anything I don’t sell.

Last but not least, take after photos and compare with what the photo before you started. I bet you’ll be in love with the progress and don’t forget to post with the hashtag #LYSdeclutterthon. If you took clothes category in stages, then also keep the momentum and crack on with the other categories, including jewellery.

GOOD LUCK!