Anyone who lives and breathes fashion will tell you that it’s a dream to have their own mini boutique closet space in which they can showcase all their fabulous outfits. We all secretly lust over OTT celebrity closet spaces and add drool worthy images to our pin boards. A lush fantasy land of enriched ornate custom carpentry, floor to ceiling glistening mirrors, strip LED lighting and lavish marble dresser table tops.
While our closet space might not exactly look like this …
The reality is that it looks a lot more like this…
Don’t despair, the majority of us feel your pain and that’s why we are here to help with our step by step guide. Feel one step closer to achieving a lust worthy small closet space that will surely become the envy of all your friends. Welcome to our guide to the perfect small closet space!
1. Know Your Basics: The Checklist
The key to utilising a small closet space is understanding your fashion basics. Although here at GlamCorner we never steer clear of a bold new trend, we understand that the fundamentals of organising and sustaining a good fashion closet are to keep it basic. Opt for fashion items that don’t date such as neutral coloured cotton shirts, jean elements and black leather accessories. See below our cheat sheet checklist for the must-have basics to add to your closet!
Every Day Wardrobe Essentials
Must have items every girl should have in her closet.
The Colour Palette
Mix and match base colours for the perfect year round fashion style.
2. Cull Your Wardrobe: Closet Detox
When it comes to organising your closet space, it’s always considered best to start with a thorough clean out of your wardrobe. You need to cull through what you already have to determine whether or not you really need it. You might want to ask yourself questions when was the last time I wore this, is the item damaged beyond repair or could I get a tailor to improve the fit? The important thing is to be realistic and not hold onto anything you haven’t worn in over two years, unless of course, it holds some sentimental value (e.g. mum’s high waisted jeans from the 70’s).
The Closet Cull
A simple diagram you can use to determine what to keep and what not to keep.
3. Design Your Space: Plan It
Before you begin organising your closet space have a clear plan. By this stage, you would have sorted through all your clothing and eliminated what you use or don’t use. Now you can begin planning your space. Don’t stress as this step doesn’t require any special design talents or abilities, all you need to do is work out how the space will best work for you. To start off, draw up a rough floor plan or diagram of the space you have to work with, then you can start allocating what goes where. This will help you customise your closet to your exact requirements.
The Draft Plan
Roughly sketch a layout plan before you start organising any of your clothing.
4. Utilise Your Closet: Make Space
When we look at a small closet space all we see is no space. We don’t see the potential of what a space could be or become and, as a result, become constrained within our visible boundaries. When it comes to creating space the possibilities are truly endless. For example, we can use the back of the door for hanging our shoes, storage pigeon hole holders to organise our handbags or perhaps corner shelves to help combat any wasted space. Also, a great tip is to use shelving to display your items. Some design tricks to help your closet space appear larger are adding a large mirror to the back wall of your wardrobe to create added depth or painting the space a fresh light colour.
5. Donate Old Clothes: Give Back
Culling through your unworn, small fit or old clothing can be a little ego bruising as the sudden reality of how much you have actually spent on your credit card hits you. But don’t worry, it’s not all bad as you can play your part and give back to the community by donating your unwanted clothes to your local charity or a cause that may be close to your heart. Helping the needy can be incredibly validating and make you feel fantastic as you know your pre-loved goods are helping someone less fortunate than you. It’s also a fantastic way to reuse and recycle items of clothing which, of course, here at GlamCorner we absolutely love and honour!
6. Sell Clothes Online: Share It
In the good old days, the way to earn your keep or pocket money was by fulfilling choirs around the house. Although we strongly support a helping hand around the house, we’d like to welcome you to the 21st century, the era where social platforms mean business. We live in an age where if you aren’t using it, somebody else is bound to and that is where the power of sharing comes in. Utilising platforms like eBay or Carousel are a great way to not only declutter, but also are great for making some money back off your pre-loved fashion items. These platforms are the revolutionary thrift shop as consumers can use them to browse worldwide from the comfort of their own home.
7. Add Good Lighting: See It
People take for granted how much of a difference good lighting can make to space, especially if that space is small. A well-lit space can offer the illusion of an instantly larger space. The easiest way to instantly brighten and reflect more light in a space is by installing a brighter bulb inside your closet space. A LED light bulb will not only offer a brighter light source, but also help preserve energy and care for the environment making it not only practical but satisfyingly green as well. Ambient lighting is also a great source of light. Large windows may offer natural lighting or alternatively, a ceiling light may create the ambience you desire.
8. Organise Your Week: Take Action
This step may sound a little over the top organisationally, but you’d be surprised how incredibly easy it will make your life come Monday to Friday mornings when you’re frantically scrambling to get yourself ready for work. Realistically speaking, taking the time to organise your fashion looks for each day of the week will only take 10-15 mins of your Sunday afternoon and will give you ample time to enjoy your morning coffee and a good chat as opposed to running out the door with one shoe in hand. For the extra keen fashionista, try using an app like Closet+ to manage your fashion looks and time effectively.
9. Storage Seal Bags: Store It
When you have limited storage space anything with the words ‘vacuum seal’ is going to grab your attention quick and lovely. The best way to utilise all your space all year round is by considering the use of temporary storage solutions like the humble vacuum seal bag. Nobody wants the sight of big bulky winter jumpers sitting in the way of valuable closet space come summer time. So for the best temporary solution pack it, zip it and seal it, literally as easy as 1,2,3! The great thing about vacuum seal bags is that not only do they shrink the size of items making them easier to store in high closet spaces, but they also keep them dust and dirt free till you need them. Try one today!
10. Regular Clean Outs: Maintain It
To gain the best results possible and maintain a super organised closet space, we recommend you cull through your wardrobe every 6 months. However, deciding how often to cull your closet is really up to you depending on how much you personally buy or use. This recommendation is based on a harmonious balance between the cooler to warmer transitioning months of the year. This will ensure that you don’t end up with a backlog of unmanageable clothing and a mess that you will have to regrettably and frustratingly rummage through to find what you need. Remember the overall key is to regulate it so it doesn’t get out of control, think of it as a little routine therapy!
When it comes to redesigning or reconfiguring a space, research is your best friend. For more cupboard inspiration take a stroll down to Ikea this weekend, they have to be the quintessential masters of small closet space solutions. Draw inspiration from what you see and try to apply or visualise it in your own closet space at home. The key to getting the best result possible is to plan well and maintain regularly, follow that mantra and you’ll be closet organised and ready all year round. Remember, It’s amazing what you can fit in a 1200mm x 600mm space so don’t be afraid to think outside the box! For more tips and tricks read our Cleaning Out Your Closet: How To blog post.
