As Good Housekeeping’s household advice editor, I am by nature a tidy person (it's sort of in the job description). However, recently, my wardrobe has taken a turn for the worse.
I last cleared it out some months ago when I was testing the Ski Slope declutter method. Despite trying to keep on top of it since, I recently opened the doors and realised I was (almost) back to square one. To add insult to injury, some of the storage solutions I'd put in place seemed to have made things even more messy. Where did I go wrong?
To save you from making the same mistakes, I’ve shared some of my biggest errors here along with what I will do differently going forward. So hopefully, you can learn from my wardrobe woes!
1. Stacked shoe racks
The biggest problem I have has to be shoes. I’ve got countless pairs of boots, trainers, ballet pumps and heels, all of which take up a vast amount of space. And don’t even get me started on much room my partner’s size 11-feet take up. But this isn’t a contest.
I thought that a shoe rack would be the answer to everything. I placed it in the bottom of my wardrobe. In fact, after measuring up, I realised I could stack two racks on top of one another, doubling my shoe space. This would give me room for at least 16 pairs. Reading this back, I'm judging myself – why on Earth would I need 16 pairs of shoes in regular rotation? But that’s what happened.
At first, I was super pleased with the neat results. I even bought shoe organisers I could stack on the rack and save even more space. And that’s where the problems started. Anything longer than a shirt was draping over the top of the racks. So, my dresses and coats were touching the dried mud on my shoes, which I hated. I also couldn't see the top two levels of shoes because of the items covering them.
In the end, I’ve had to pull the racks out and reserve only the floor space for shoes. It was too upsetting to see the hems on my long dresses gradually getting dirtied with mud. I haven’t thrown all my shoes away of course; they’ve been moved to another room for now. But I’ve since realised how little I wear most of them, and I think it will be easier to let the bulk go because of this.
2. Stuffed hanging shelves
This was more my partner’s mistake than my own. When we decluttered the wardrobe, he decided to opt for one of those shelf organisers you hang off the rail to give yourself additional compartments. It fit like a glove and he organised items by category for each slot; shirts in one, trousers in another etc.
You could immediately tell he was overloading the organiser; clothes were stacked to the brim of each compartment and the shelf was literally bending down into a U-shape from the weight.
Fast-forward a few months and things have got a lot worse. As he’s tried to pull items out of each stack, it’s dragged others out onto the floor. He’s also mentioned more than once that he just can’t find what he’s looking for. Our wardrobe is quite a dim space, and storing items in these small compartments hasn’t helped things.
The only solution is for him to declutter again and remove the excess. If you’re filling your storage solutions to the brim like this, you haven't decluttered properly in the first place and you’re using them to hold onto as much as possible, rather than to organise.
3. Too many handbags, shoes and coats
I've made quite a few purchases since I last decluttered - what can I say? I'm a sucker for sales! But I forgot to practice the ‘one-in-one-out’ rule (letting something go when you had a new purchase) to stop the excess from building up again.
I’ve ended up moving the extra items to other hidden areas around the home where they will likely never be seen or used. Handbags have found their way under the bed, while coats have moved onto the extra coat hooks in the hall. Shoes have crept closer to the front door, hidden under the bench where you take them on and off.
As alluring as sales are, to break this habit I need to consider what I’ve already got before I make another purchase. I also need to ask myself if I’m buying it because it’s cheap or because I really need it. And if I go ahead with the purchase, I need to be prepared to let something go in its place.
4. Wedged drawers
When I last decluttered, my folded clothes were categorised and lined up immaculately, drawer-by-drawer. Everything from jeans and T-shirts, to pants and socks were stacked. But since then, it’s steadily becoming a mess, with categories crossing over and getting wedged over the edges as I shut the drawers.
I did try to keep these items as organised as I could for as long as possible, but the late night rush of putting the washing away combined with digging and grabbing items first thing in the morning have taken a toll. It doesn’t help that I’m very tight for space with only one small drawer and two larger drawers (my partner and I share one chest of drawers).
The solution to this, after I’ve decluttered the excess, is putting in measures to stop items from mixing so easily. Drawer dividers can help and don’t take up much space so they’re my next purchase. There are also items in my drawers than can be moved to a better place. For instance, a scarf I’d forgotten about should really be in the wardrobe, next to my coats.
Sentimental items that are worn less often, like slogan and concert tees, can be removed if they’re not being regularly used.
5. Things falling off hangers
Finally, the hangers in my wardrobe are a mish-mash of plastic and wood that came with the clothes. It’s not very aesthetically pleasing as they’re different shapes and sizes. But, I figured there was little reason to replace what was already working.
But, I soon realised, they’d never worked. Dresses, cardigans, and anything with an open front would easily slide off a plastic hanger. I didn’t even notice half of it until I’d removed the shoe rack. Items were coated in dust and fluff where they’d fallen down the back, and some had even made their way over to my partner’s side. Not sure how that happened – I blame the cat.
It did seem too good to be true that every time I needed a new hanger, one was always going spare – now I know why!
The answer to this is slimline velvet hangers. I have smaller ones for my scarves and they're brilliant. They give you grip while taking up minimal space on the rail. You'll still need thick wooden hangers for those heavier items, but velvet is the way to go for everything else.
Ultimately, my mistakes have shown me that even though I did declutter, it obviously wasn’t thorough enough! I’d say about 60-70% of my wardrobe still goes unworn, which is far too high. Once I’ve cleared out my wardrobe (again), I plan to watch what I'm buying more, and stick to that one-in-one-out method.
Wardobe declutter kit
