How to put your clothes away like a pro, and create more space in your life

In an age of information overload, and way too many things to put away, people are looking for ways to make more space so that we can stop being overwhelmed by too much stuff in our lives.

This also applies to our homes.

According to author and organising consultant, Marie Kondo, having more space in your home helps you sleep better, and feel more joy.

Believe it or not, there is an art to putting things away.

In her bestselling book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie explains how you can declutter your home to simplify, organise and store, and the calm, motivated mindset this can inspire.

Marie says, “Putting your house in order positively affects all other aspects of your life, including work and family. Having devoted more than 80 percent of my life to this subject, I know that tidying can transform your life… basically, when you put your house in order, you put your affairs and your past in order too.”

So if you’ve collected a mountain of clothes over the years and are running out of places to put them, here’s Marie’s brilliantly simple system for organising them:

• Tackle categories rather than rooms
• Put everything in a pile in the centre of your room in order to see exactly how much stuff you own
• Decide what to keep, not what to get rid of
• For each item, ask yourself if it sparks joy – keep it if it does
• That should leave you only with items that make you happy
• Respect your belongings, and thank the ones you’re not keeping

Once you’ve worked out what clothes to keep, Marie has a great way to put them away that creates more space in your cupboards.

Her system frees up a lot of space, and stops you leaving some things at the bottom that never get worn.

It’s a brilliantly simple system that makes tidying a dream and puts the joy back into your wardrobe.

Here’s a video showing you how to do it: fold your clothes, so everything fits neatly in a chest of drawers or cabinet!

They must be ahead of the game in India because everyone folds clothes there rather than hanging them, so most of the cabinets they make, and that we stock, have shelves inside rather than a hanging rail.

Which is good news, because folding clothes instead of hanging them is now officially the new black.