THE EASY DRAWERS EDIT
Some of us may have watched the Marie Kondo thing on Netflix. I haven’t, but I heard about her way of folding garments into drawers like sushi rolls (I don't think she describes it that way though) which came to me like:
“No waaaay that’s awesome!”
Every now and then, when I see myself wearing the same tops again and again, I do a Drawer Edit. This time, the motivation was accentuated by the rain outside and maybe… lockdown…
When everything is all crushed together, you don’t see anything clearly. Stuff gets creased and even potentially damaged (experienced a top tucked in the rails of the drawer, very sad moment). It’s such a great way to refresh and look at what you already own.
So… what are the steps...?
TAKE IT OUT
Everything: on the bed, on the floor (if clean), on the sofa or wherever you have good space and visibility. Take advantage of this to vacuum and clean up your inside drawers. I personally put in my drawers all knitwear, tops, denim, some pants and skirts.
It isn’t glamorous but I usually give everything a little sniff, it can be easy to forget a top that has skipped a washing load and started to spread the smell to the rest of the knits family. Have a quick look at the general condition of your garment: if you see a specific stain or mark, it goes in the wash. If you aren’t sure of what the mark is, spot cleaning by professional is probably safer. Please note: A stain has more chance to be removed if it’s recent.
Maybe you will notice some holes or buttons that have come off, put them to the side. You want to fix these before the day you want to wear the item and realise “Damnit, can’t wear it now, no time to fix, let’s forget about it…” Never ending story!
I promise that you will hear yourself saying once or twice during this process: "Oh here you are, I thought I lost you" or even "Gosh I forgot about you!"
Often you will see something that doesn’t bring any joy and you want to put it back in the bottom drawer. Maybe put those aside and reconsider at the end if you might prefer to get rid of it? (We will come back to this point lower)
ORGANISE
Some people do it by colour to make it look prettier. Don’t need to look pretty when it’s in the drawers, it needs to be efficient and clear. I personally organise by weight and warmth: when you want to pick something to get dressed, before even thinking how nice you want to coordinate things, you check the weather, the temperature, you think about what environment you will be in throughout the day: warm office or outside in the cold? The warmth feature is your first target. So let’s keep all the thick wool and cashmere together, cotton sweatshirts separately, then fine wool etc…
The other reason to avoid organising these by colours: It makes it harder to see what you have, especially at 6:30am when you are half a sleep… You can alternate light, dark and colour block. Now, everything stands out.
Where I step out of the Sushi roll rule, it’s for the tee shirts. First, because to be honest, in Wellington, I don’t get so much use of tee shirts… So if they are in a pile, I don’t damage the pile by pulling something out of it every morning which makes it staying tidy relatively long time. The second reason is mostly because tee shirts tend to crease way more than sweatshirt or jeans. Especially when you are a linen / cotton addict like I am.
FINAL TOUCH
Everything looks nice and tidy, that’s great, well done.
If you are bougie, you can place a couple of dried lavender bags or Cedar wood blocs (anti mites for cashmere).
However, you might have noticed that some styles might be better off somewhere else in a different storage. Ex: Creasing trousers, light weight and fragile tops: hanging in a wardrobe could be more practical. Don’t leave them hanging around - sort out the final touches without procrastinating.
Finally: You have probably found some treasures that you have decided you didn’t need anymore. How exciting! This means two things: You can help someone in need by donating them to your closest of favourite Op shop. If your item still has some financial value that you would like to re invest in new pieces, you can also sell them. Whether you choose option 1 or 2, keep them separately in a bag. Ideally don’t hide the bag, keep it visible somewhere so you remember to work on it sooner rather than later!
Now it’s up to you to keep it tidy for as long as you can! Remember: Try not picking the same favourite pieces all the time, play with everything you have so you don’t over wear and tear your most loved piece.
Eugenie xxx
