wardrobe storage: how to spark joy in your wardrobe

Marie Kondo, High Priestess of Tidy, has attracted millions of devoted followers and kick-started a world-wide trend for de-cluttering with her KonMari method, accompanying book ‘The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up’ and subsequent Netflix show. With a waiting list several miles long, it’s unlikely any of us will be employing her to sort out our wardrobes anytime soon, so we’ve put together a summary of Marie’s top tips for sparking joy in your wardrobe.

It's all too easy to allow wardrobes to become a dumping ground – firstly because it all seems too hard and secondly because it’s easy to just shut the door on the chaos. Kondo firmly believes that mess and clutter create stress and that a minimalist approach can lead to a happier life. Research certainly seems to support the idea with Psychology today citing a 2010 study that found women with cluttered homes expressed higher levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.

So, it seems fair to say that making a commitment to taking a hard look at your wardrobe contents and making some tough decisions can reap real results and radically improve your life!

To begin with, Marie advises pulling absolutely everything out of your wardrobe and putting it into one big pile on the bed. The genius of this is that you can’t go to bed until you sort it out.

The KonMari method entails going through every single item you own, one by one, and asking yourself whether the item ‘sparks joy’. Do you really love it or does it leave you cold? If you don’t love it, lose it. If you love it but it needs cleaning or repairing, put it to one side. For the items you’re discarding Marie says you need to thank them for serving you and show gratitude. Then donate them or throw them out.

Once you’ve been through every item and decided if it’s a keeper, it’s time to put all the keepers back into your wardrobe. And that’s where Marie’s famous folding techniques come in. In summary, she says folding your clothes vertically makes it a lot easier to find something and a lot harder to mess up later. The folding techniques are all detailed in her books.

Once you’ve folded and stacked all your joy-sparking items in your wardrobe, step back and admire all the extra space you have! You’ve probably even discovered clothes, shoes and accessories you forgot you had. After organising your wardrobe, it’s time to get rid of the rest. Bag it up into donate and throw piles and put aside anything you’re keeping that needs mending or cleaning.

There’s no doubt that every time you open your newly-de-cluttered wardrobe you’ll experience a little rush of joy and satisfaction. You’ve probably re-discovered some old favourites and are finding getting dressed in the morning a lot less stressful. You’ll also discover ‘holes’ in your wardrobe storage so anything you do buy will work with your other clothes. You may even discover your true sense of style.

Sounds like those Marie Kondo devotees might be onto something!