The 80/20 Rule is alive and well in most people's closets. According to organizational expert Peter Walsh, we wear 20 percent of our clothes 80 percent of the time. Further, we often tend to buy the same things over and over again.
It's perfectly fine to lock into our fashion favorites and keep those items well stocked in our wardrobes. Walsh suggests hanging similar items together so you know exactly what you have on hand in your working wardrobe.
It's a good thing to periodically sort through your clothes and separate them into "keep" and "donate" piles. If you haven't worn an item in the last 6-12 months, the likelihood is that you never will.
After purging the closet, which often results in a closet that feels more spacious and uncluttered, try ridding the closet of wire hangers and upgrading to nicer wooden hangers, all of which match for an organized, coordinating look.
Now, start out with all the hangers hung in the reverse direction. Test the 80/20 Rule yourself. Since you wear 20 percent of your clothes 80 percent of the time, for the next six months, whenever you wear an article of clothing and hang it back in the closet, hang it the correct way. After six months, if you have items that are still hanging backwards in your closet, ask yourself, "Am I ever going to wear it again?"
If it can be altered or repaired, have it done. If not, donate it and replace it with more functional pieces in your working wardrobe.
