Seasonal changes often call for a wardrobe makeover. As the colder weather approaches, it’s time to store away your summer clothes and make room for your warmer autumn/winter attire. It’s also a good opportunity to switch out household textiles that no longer suit the new season, including bedspreads, duvets, blankets, curtains, or cushion covers.
Finding a place to store these textiles for six months isn’t always easy. However, this seasonal change is also one of the best ways to create more space and organise your wardrobe so that it’s easier to find what you need in your daily life.
RIMA offers some ideas for this seasonal transition and efficient organisation of clothing and other textiles in your wardrobe and additional storage spaces.
1. Separate What You Use from What You Don’t
The seasonal wardrobe change is the perfect time for a seasonal closet cleanout, separating the textiles you don’t use from those you genuinely wear. There are several ways to approach this, with the most drastic option being to remove everything you know you won’t wear in the new season from your closet immediately. This way, you only hang and store what you want to keep.
Another option is to take all your clothing out of the closet and store it in another room. Each day, choose the pieces you want to wear – only clothing that is worn and washed should go back into the closet; everything else stays out. You can also stack your clothes in the closet as you wear them, with the most frequently used items on top and less-used items on the bottom.
An original way to assess what you wear most often over time is to hang all your hangers backward in the closet. As you wear and rehang your clothing, turn the hangers back to their conventional position, giving you a better visual of what’s worth keeping.
These methods help separate the clothing you wear (about 20% of what’s in your closet) from what you don’t wear (about 80%), creating space for new pieces and seasonal items. This separation also allows you to donate unused items or discard those no longer in good condition, making room for last season’s pieces.
2. Store Off-Season Clothing
After separating your clothing, you’ll need to find a place to store off-season items until the next wardrobe change. The chosen space should be cool and dry to protect textiles from moisture and dust.
If you have an additional closet in another room, that’s perfect. If not, there are other areas of your home you can utilize: unused drawers, the top of a bookshelf, under the bed, or any other cabinet or space that can accommodate boxes of clothing (like these from IKEA). If your home has a garage or attic for storage, those are also great options for seasonal organisation. If your home has a garage or attic for storage, those are also great options for seasonal organisation.
It’s essential that the boxes, if you choose to use them for storage, are made of a sturdy and dry material other than cardboard to maintain the right preservation conditions.
There are various ways to organise your wardrobe, but the most popular by far is organizing by colour. You can hang your clothes according to this criterion, and within each color group, it may also make sense to organise by occasion: everyday wear, weekend wear, more formal wear, and so on.
Alternatively, organising by outfits is another option to consider. It helps group together clothes that go well together (regardless of color) and allows you to find pieces quickly for immediate combinations.
More important than any color or outfit organisation tip is to arrange your closet according to how you think when choosing what to wear. If you start by considering formality or informality, that might be the best option for you. If color plays a significant role in your daily attire, organizing by color would be the ideal way to keep your closet practical and efficient.
The basic idea for anyone seeking a functional wardrobe and easier outfit selection is to keep frequently worn clothing more accessible. Your most-used items should be readily available on hangers, including pants, jackets, and dresses. On shelves or in drawers, well-organised sweaters should be stored.
On visible hangers, you can also keep the bags and backpacks you use most frequently to make them easily accessible – if stored in drawers or additional cabinets, you tend to forget about them and always use the same ones. Accessories like watches and jewelry should also be visible and within reach, whether hung up or stored in transparent containers.
A creative option that helps save space and keep small accessories visible is to use organisers to store scarves, socks, and other frequently used small textiles individually, or smaller hangers to hang them. Shelf and drawer dividers are also an alternative to boxes, separating clothing and making it more visible.
As for blankets and bedding, since they’re not used daily, they can be stored in drawers, less visible, or even incorporated into the interior decor of your home, such as on sofas or beds, where they can add to the overall ambiance.
Within the closet, you can also create new ways to organise your jewelry or shoes by hanging them on the door, utilizing an area that’s traditionally left unused. If placed on a shelf, pairs of shoes should be positioned toe to heel to save space. Outside the closet, you have complete freedom to showcase them!
For seasonal textiles, you can add an extra row of hangers inside the closet, thus utilizing previously unused space. Another option is to hang them outside the closet on wooden or metal standing hangers, creating a unique decorative element that also serves as additional storage space. .
Elegant luggage and unique boxes or even storage ottomans can also be used as decorative elements in your room, remaining outside the closets and visible while adding a fresh look to your space. However, if you have additional hidden storage space that you don’t want to display, you can hang a curtain from floor to ceiling to conceal it behind an original decorative element.
This is undoubtedly the best solution for tailoring your storage needs to your home’s characteristics and maximising your available space. Creating custom-made wardrobes, built into the walls and following your room’s layout, allows you to utilise and make the most of spaces that would otherwise go unused, gaining practical and accessible storage space.
Speaking of custom-made wardrobes also means considering the creation of a walk-in closet, either in a purpose-built space or by converting a room in your home into this dream closet that many people desire. A walk-in closet provides additional storage space and better organisation for your clothes and accessories, keeping them within easy reach. A mirror inside the closet is a must-have decoration that allows you to try on and discover perfect combinations.
As we tend to accumulate more items than we need, extra storage space isn’t always abundant. Sometimes, it requires creativity to find solutions within your home, including incorporating textiles into your interior decor. In some cases, seeking professional assistance to make your home more functional for additional storage may be the ideal solution.
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