If your wardrobe is a battleground for wire hangers, stray flip-flops and mounds of garments that haven't seen the light of day since 1982, it may be time for a serious de-clutter.
Taking a feather duster and a bin bag to your closet might seem too much like hard work, but pause and consider the benefits. You'll be freeing up room to give yourself the perfect excuse for a shopping trip, plus saving those precious minutes wasted each morning trying to find something clean to work from amongst the piles.
That's not forgetting the feng shui principle which insists that clutter in the home equals clutter in the mind. And if you don't believe in all that, remember how good it felt the last time you ticked something off your to-do list that had been sat there for way too long. So, what are you waiting for?
Arm yourself with a shoe-organiser, a pile of plastic coat hangers available in any pound shop, and a couple of bin liners. Clear a big space on the floor or bed where you can create piles of clothes.
Next, take each item out of the wardrobe, and ask yourself when you last wore it. If the answer is "over a year ago", put it in a pile for the charity shop. If it no longer fits, on to the pile it must go too. Along with those tatty, washed out items or anything you're hanging on to for sentimental reasons. No buts, be ruthless!
Now focus on your other piles:
Things to keep: anything new, anything you wear regularly, neutral pieces like black dresses, white shirts, linen trousers, and trench coats and anything you know to be valuable (if you really don't want that 1985 quilted Chanel bag or pair of '98 Manolo Blahniks, you can always flog 'em on eBay).
Things to store away: grab the suitcase you usually use for your summer hols, and pack it full of the bathing suits, sarongs and flip-flops that are cluttering your drawers. This way you'll know precisely where to find your holiday wardrobe when you're packing for two weeks in the Caribbean.
Things to mend: collect up any clothes or underwear which needs altering or fixing up, and leave it by the sofa to be dealt with the next time you have a TV night in. Any shoes which need new heels put near the front door to remind you they're there the next time you head into town.
Next, dust out your cupboard. Hang an air freshener before re-filling it, one item per hanger and shoes in the organiser or in their boxes. You could take a Polaroid and attach it to the front of each shoe box if you're not worried about looking like too much of a control freak.
Take stock of how much space you have and hit the shops. If you want to be really good, make a list of everything you want and then go home and sleep on it before you make any purchases. Remember that the trendier an item is, the sooner it will be out of fashion.
Concentrate on the basics. Your wardrobe should reflect how much time you spend working, relaxing and socialising. If 50% of your time is spend in front of a computer and only 10% sees you out on the town, your wardrobe should reflect this.
1. Buy a shoe organiser and a pile of coat hangers
2. Grab a handful of refuge sacks and clear a space for sorting
3. Take one item from the wardrobe and (being ruthless) consign it to either the charity shop, the bin or back in the wardrobe
4. When you're left with what you're keeping, make a pile of clothes that need mending or dry cleaning
5. Stuff all your holiday clothes into a suitcase and store away
6. Give your empty wardrobe and drawers a good dust, and re-stock
7. Hit the shops!
