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LK Bennett

As we enter a new season, many of us will be thinking about giving our wardrobes a refresh and looking to better organise ourselves. In preparation for the seasonal wardrobe switchover, we asked professional organiser, interior stylist and neat freak, @organisedbycharlotte to give us her top tips for a super-duper organised wardrobe.

I get asked all the time ‘where do I start’ or ‘how can I optimise a smaller space?’ as let's be honest our wardrobes can never be big enough. So, my top tips show you how easy and simple it can be to claim back your wardrobe - however big or small the space.

Use a change of season as a good excuse to go through your wardrobe and see what can be donated or sold. It is sometimes really hard to do this on your own, so my suggestion is if you find it difficult to let go, why not invite a friend over for a glass of wine and get them to help you decide. The more you can let go of the easier it will be to see what you have and what will actually be worn.

I find it helpful to create a ‘maybe’ pile so that you can revisit any items if you are unsure. I also find it useful to put any ‘maybe’ items in another wardrobe/space and if you do not miss them then it is a clear sign they could go. Sometimes less is more, and if your wardrobe is too packed you won’t be able to see what you have and favourite items could get lost under a sea of clothes you don’t wear.

I hate it when longer items like dresses drape down over a double hanging rail, and it also leaves huge potential for damage to delicate items. So, if like me you have limited long hanging space, you can use this simple hack to fit longer items in a shorter hanging space. By using two slimline hangers you can hang longer dresses so they will fit in and not overcrowd other areas of the wardrobe.

Simply hang the dress as you would do normally, then with another hanger push the bottom of the dress through until midway and drape down. The dress will then be neatly hung across two hangers preventing the potential for any damage from the items hanging below. In my opinion, it is important to use slimline hangers, not only does it look more unified to have the same hangers throughout the wardrobe, it is (especially in smaller spaces) essential to maximising the space.

Shelves are always the problem area in wardrobes. Not only are they a dust trap, but people tend to pile their T-shirts sky high, and no matter how much they try they will always get messy, it's impossible to keep tidy. Try to store T-shirts and tops in drawers to minimise the mess. I also find folding t-shirts using a ‘fold & roll’ method as well as using drawer dividers helps keep everything in order.

Why not display handbags on shelves instead? You can even use shelf dividers to help position smaller bags and keep them upright. I also tend to stuff bags with old packaging from deliveries so the bag looks fuller on the shelf and it holds its shape better. And for larger bags, try using hanging bag hooks.

Most of the time there are more shoes than space. If you have too many shoes for the space, try splitting them up by season, making the shoes for the appropriate season more easily accessible and then changing them over when the weather changes.

Try storing sandals and flatter shoes in baskets if you have limited space, and you can also display shoes back to front, which will give you even more room.

It is ideal to hang as much as possible, but if you are limited on space or you have a lot of shelves to fill, thicker items like jumpers are easier to maintain on shelves than thinner items like T-shirts. I recommend placing two to three jumpers (depending on the height of the shelves) on top of each other to help keep a tidy system in place. I also like to colour code them so it's super easy to see what you have as well as being more visually pleasing.

I tend to prefer to hang trousers, but it does depend on the space. It is ideal to place the trousers solo on a hanger but you can place up to 2 pairs of trousers on a hanger so that you can easily see them. I find categorising them into type (jeans versus trousers) as well as colour coding, helps you maintain neatness and an organised system. You can easily see what you have, so there’s no need to pull everything out of the wardrobe when you are looking for something to wear. You can also buy two or three tier hangers which are perfect for trousers and fitting more into smaller spaces.

I hope these tips were useful and help you make a start on a wardrobe refresh this season - however big or small, sometimes a change can make you feel good.

Remember, this is no quick process. It can sometimes take me days to complete a client's wardrobe, and I am a professional. So, don’t try to do everything all at once, start with decluttering and then give yourself smaller goals to work towards; changing over hangers one weekend and tackling drawers another, each step leads to a more organised space.

If you would like to see more tips and transformations head over to my Instagram @organisedbycharlotte to give us her top tips for a super-duper organised wardrobe.