It's well worth it to take the time to do things properly when it comes to seasonal clothes storage. You'll extend the life of your clothing. And when your organized seasonal apparel emerges from its hibernation months from now, you'll have fewer headaches to deal with.
“A seasonal closet is a great idea,” says home organizer Jill Koch, founder of home cleaning and organizing blog Jill Comes Clean. “It not only makes the space look more tidy, but it's easier to keep organized and reduces the overwhelm since there's less to look at when choosing what to wear.”
Color-coordinating your closet is a must. Not only will it look pleasing to the eye but it will also save you time when choosing your OOTD.
Go through your closet, complete a quick tidying once a month, and tackle the full re-organization process twice a year. Make it easy on yourself by following a cleaning schedule, either by season, by date (such as your birthday or New Year's), or by an event.
Begin with the hanging clothes, and once you've done those, move on to the pieces kept in a dresser. Items that you love and wear often go into the “keep” pile. Items you love but haven't worn in a while and you don't know how they will fit go into the “try on” pile.
The researchers found that a “sufficient” wardrobe consists of 74 garments and 20 outfits in total. As an example, they've suggested six outfits for work, three outfits for home wear, three outfits for sports, two outfits for festive occasions, plus four outdoor jackets and trousers or skirts.
In a nutshell, you allow 33 garments into your closet for a period of three months' time. At the end of those first three months, you'll select another set of 33 garments for the next three-month cycle, until you've completed four cycles that take you through the year, and each season.
Separate the clothes into two piles: spring-summer clothes that will be stored for next year and fall-winter clothes that are coming up. Sort by category, making separate piles (sweaters, pants, skirts, jackets, etc.). This way, you'll be able to see more clearly for the next step, which may take some time and energy!
Adding drawers to your closet makes perfect sense. Drawers that are included in a closet's custom cabinetry helps to keep all of your apparel in one main area. That can free up space in your bedroom by allowing you to get rid of a dresser.
Arrange your wardrobe in a way that makes sense to you. You could arrange your clothing by garment type, colour group, or even by outfit combinations. If you want you can also have a designated section for your weekly outfits. This is especially helpful if you like planning out your outfits in advance.
They say that the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, holds true with wardrobes: Most of us wear 20 percent of our clothing, 80 percent of the time. Why waste valuable space on the other 80 percent of your wardrobe that you rarely wear?
"The most important principle in closet organizing is to group like things together," says professional organizer Barbara Reich of Resourceful Consultants. "Shirts with shirts, pants with pants." That way, there's no question about where to find those items when you need them.
Designate a section of the closet for each clothing group (ie. sweaters, skirts, pants) then begin putting the clothing into each section by color. If you want to create the rainbow effect, the colors should go in the following order: white, tan, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, gray and black.
The idea behind Project 333 is simple: Wear only 33 articles of clothing for the next 3 months. All clothing, accessories, jewelry, outerwear, and shoes count towards your number. Exceptions include wedding rings, underwear, sleepwear, in-home loungewear, and workout clothing.
How many clothes should be in a capsule wardrobe? A capsule wardrobe can have as many or as few clothes that work for you, but commonly they have anywhere from 30-50 pieces. The capsule checklist I've put together has room for 44 items, including shoes and accessories, but you can always have more or fewer than that.
The 50/50 ratio (or proportion) rule
One of the areas that is quite often out of balance, is the "ratio" of skirts and tops. The ideal ratio is 50% of your outfit consists of the top and 50% consists of the skirt.
So how much clothing is too much? There's no magic number of clothing items that you should have in your closet, but a good rule of thumb is only to keep clothes that you love and actually wear.
Shopping for new clothes every two or three months is a reasonable plan if your main goal is keeping your wardrobe fresh.
For most people, 40 to 50 items are plenty enough, including 4 to 5 pairs of casual pants or denim jeans.