4 tips for a tidy wardrobe

It's daylight saving time, spring has officially begun, and tomorrow it will be a whopping 20 degrees. That calls for an update of your wardrobe. We're tossing those winter sweaters up to the attic and rolling out the red carpet for summer dresses. I always find tidying up my closet a fun idea, but once I get started, I get a bit depressed. With these tips, tidying up becomes easy, and you'll feel happy every day when you open your closet.

1. Step by step
Many decluttering sites preach that you should throw everything out of your closet and then start building from scratch. That doesn't work for me. When I see that whole mountain lying on my bed, I just want to throw everything off the balcony at once. That's why I embrace the step-by-step principle. Start first with your underwear drawer. If you still feel like it, move on to your sock drawer and then tackle the pile of T-shirts. It's perfectly fine to stop there for today. Tidying up a closet can easily take four hours of your time. Be aware of that and plan a bit. Don't put too much hay on that little fork of yours.

2. The same hangers
An obvious one that we all know, but please throw away those ugly dry-cleaning hangers immediately. Make sure all your hangers are the same and choose a type that you like. Some people prefer thin fabric hangers, which allows for a lot to fit in your closet. I'm still the biggest fan of the wooden hangers from IKEA because they support your clothes well and make them look much nicer. Moreover, I love having calmness in my closet and not a cramped situation.

3. Fix it
Is a jacket missing a button? Did you kick the hem out of those beautiful trousers and is there a coffee stain on your evening dress? Get it repaired and dry-cleaned. If your closet is full of items that still need something done, the overwhelming feeling when you open your closet will be: “I have nothing to wear.” So make sure everything hanging there is literally ready to wear.

4. The secret pin
That dress that's too beautiful to throw away but that you never wear... We all have one. Or two. My secret trick: pin a little note to it and just hang it in your closet. If next year the note is still attached and you haven't worn the dress in question for a whole year, that's the sign that it needs to go. Is the garment really that beautiful? Take it to a good vintage shop and give the item a second life and make someone else happy.