How to Store and Restore your Closet
Revamping your closet isn’t about drastic, dramatic, and extreme transformation, also confused with “throwing everything out”. We tend to believe that success is in discarding bags and bags of clothes and just making them disappear. But where do they go? What to do with what is left? Yes, out with the old and in with the new, but mindfully. The key thing here is to realize the impact of what we are doing upon our closet space, the actual clothes, ourselves, and the planet.
First off, the space in your closet is the measure of the shape your wardrobe should take. The clothes you have mindfully decided to keep should all fit into that space, with a little room left to buy the new pieces you –again, mindfully– decide you need. The way you rearrange them, that is the storage method you use, should also come from conscious decision-making.
My basic recommendation for storage is Marie Kondo’s book Spark Joy, which has beautiful drawings about how to fold your garments. She offers simple tricks that are very well explained throughout. I use this as a foundation.
Another basic piece of advice is to buy quality boxes to compartmentalize the different clothing sections, especially for the smaller items. IKEA has great options for these, like the KOMPLEMENT line that matches their PAX closets but can be used regardless or SKUBB. It is best if the boxes are made of fabric or lined with fabric for the delicate pieces (like underwear) but can be plastic for seasonal clothes that will go into higher shelves or under the bed (be sure that they can be sealed closed). It is important that your boxes are modular (that is, standardized by a self-contained unit) so that you can play with different configurations depending on your needs that might shift over time.
Lastly, consider buying all the same hangers, just a small investment. Yes! This will give the whole space a different feel. I see this all the time in people’s closets, just an accumulation of all kinds of hangers. Get rid of all those dry cleaner wired hangers that damage your clothes. Remember that the weight of your garments on the thin wire will take that shape and leave a trace on the fabric. While wooden hangers are beautiful, they are also quite heavy and bulky (think of the moment you will be boxing them for your next move). I personally prefer the plastic rounded-section ones, all in the same color. Mine are black as they go with my Color Palette.
Stay tuned as I will share more tips on how to restore your closet space. Now we know the basics about how to reorganize what’s left, next I will be talking about what to do with the clothes you have chosen to discard. I really like to keep things mindful, coherent, and minimal, so discarding should go into this sustainable cycle.
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