7 steps to successfully spring cleaning your wardrobe

“To truly cherish the things that are important to you, you must first discard those that have outlived their purpose.” — Marie Kondo.

1. Start with a vision

Every good project starts with a great vision, so you should start with asking yourself what you want to accomplish. What kind of lifestyle do you want? To me, it was simply living with less stuff.

Ask yourself ‘why’ 3–5 times, until you find the ‘real’ answer. I wanted to have less stuff so that I could spend no more than 10 minutes in the morning dressing up, I would feel like I always have something to wear and I’d only wear clothes that I love. Why? Because wearing clothes I love makes me happy, and having extra time in the morning to do things that I enjoy would also make me happy. So essentially, tidying up will make me happy.

2. Prepare yourself

Marie Kondo says that tidying is like a meditation. It is a ritual that cleanses your environment as well as your soul. Evaluating whether to keep or discard an item is a conversation with yourself — when you’re asking yourself what makes you happy you are getting to know yourself better. Not only this will help you declutter but you may start making different decisions in the future. She therefore recommends starting to tidy in the morning, when you have energy and a clear mind. She also recommends doing it in silence so that you’re not distracted. I opted to listen to soft Asian meditation music (Marie is Japanese, after all).

3. See everything you own

Take everything out of your wardrobe, shelves, drawers, and storage boxes and place it all on the floor or your bed. This will help you make sure that you’re dealing with everything at once and nothing will be left behind in a forgotten closet. It will also help you see the sheer amount of possessions you own.

Before (134 pieces)

4. Count everything

If seeing everything in one place is not enough to give you a bit of a shock, for the sake of interest, count everything you own. This will also help you put things into categories, making it easier to go through the big pile.

I had 134 pieces in total (not counting outdoor jackets and coats, shoes, undergarments, pyjamas, sportswear and accessories):

• 26 pairs of trousers, leggings and shorts
• 8 skirts
• 6 jackets
• 38 dresses (including fancy, summer, knitted, etc)
• 39 tops (blouses, t-shirts, shirts)
• 19 cardigans, sweaters and hoodies

5. Go through your clothes category by category

Marie Kondo has the following logic which she swears by (to start with, I only went through the first three categories):

• Tops (shirts, sweaters, etc.)
• Bottoms (trousers, skirts, etc.)
• Clothes than shoud be hung (this is mainly dresses, suits, coats and jackets as she thinks most clothes should be kept folded)
• Socks
• Underware
• Handbags
• Other accessories (belts, hats, etc)
• Clothes for specific events (swimwear, ski-wear, etc)
• Shoes

6. Decide what to keep, discard or mend

This may look like the hardest part if you don’t know how to make the decision. There’s so much advice out there — throw it away if it’s older than two years, if it hasn’t seen the light for three months, if it doesn’t fit your figure... Marie Kondo makes it very simple. She encourages you to take one item at the time and ask yourself — does this spark joy? In other words, do you really like it, do you want to wear it next time the weather is suitable?

If something doesn’t bring you joy, there is no guilt, and no thoughts like “what if one day…”, or “but this reminds me of…”, there’s only gratitude. You just thank the item for serving you well and you put it aside. Even if it’s something you once bought and never wore, it served you well by teaching you what you don’t like. Each item has a purpose in your life, and sometimes things outlive their purpose.

I also allowed myself the third pile of ‘unsure’ just in case I really couldn’t decide, knowing I’m not very good at making decisions and even worse at throwing things away. However the question whether something sparks joy or not is actually a very straightforward one — if you’re unsure, it doesn’t. So I only had a few items in that pile, most of which had missing buttons, so I decided to fix them to allow those things to bring me joy again.

Don’t cheat yourself. Don’t force your unwanted clothes on friends and family unless they genuinely want them. Don’t ‘downgrade’ to loungewear. Clothes you wear at home have to bring you joy too.

After (half of what I have left)

7. Count again

Here’s what I had at the end of the day:

• 15 pairs of trousers, leggings and shorts
• 2 skirts
• 5 jackets
• 19 dresses
• 18 tops
• 7 cardigans, sweaters and hoodies

That’s 66 items or roughly half of what I had before. Whatever you’re left with, if you’re honestly only keeping things that really bring you joy, you will be left with the right amount of stuff.

What’s next?

In order to really fulfil on your intention, there’s probably a bit more to do. For me, to make sure I spend as little time as possible dressing up in the morning and loving what I wear consist of storing clothes in a convenient way, making sure I have matching sets for all items, and avoiding buying tons of things that won’t bring me joy.

But for now, look at your fresh wardrobe, relax, and enjoy the joy it brings you.

Based on the Life-changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo.