Wardrobe update

For this week’s fashion post, I’ve decided to take a break from outfits, trends and shoplogs. Recently, I changed the way I organize my clothes ever so slightly. And sometimes the smallest changes can lead to big results. I love the change so much that I just have to blog about it. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos prior to making the change, so you’ll just have to believe me that it’s for the better.

Ta-dah! My wardrobe. It’s a customized Ikea Pax Malm in a white oak finish. I don’t think you can still buy this, as Ikea changes its lines from time to time. They still have a similar looking one, but it’s now called something else. In any case, this thing is massive. It’s got 1 wide section on the inside and 2 smaller units. It’s as high as Pax wardrobes come and the shelves are 50 cm deep. The doors slide and one of the doors is covered with a mirror. Since the wardrobe is so massive, having that door also be solid wood would make my space look smaller and the wardrobe all the more massive.

I bought this wardrobe 4 or 5 years ago and I had vowed to myself that my clothes would fit into this thing. Well forget it. When I bought this, I wasn’t obsessed with dresses and once I did, my dresses soon no longer fit into the designated space. I bought a clothing rail last year, but because my house was built some 400 years ago, it’s not too straight. Gravity started taking its toll on the clothing rail and bent it at an angle which looked so dangerously that it would fall over any minute. Needless to say: the clothing rail had to go, but where was I going to put those dresses? I don’t have any more space for a new or bigger wardrobe and that was also going to be a tad too expensive. I just wanted to fit everything into my lovely Pax again. But how?

Enter idea no. 1: different clothing hangers. Not only my dresses, but also my button down shirts needed a tad more space. I was using quite bulky wooden hangers to hang my button down shirts. So when I found these ultra thin hangers that are covered in a velvety material, I knew this would be part of the solution for creating more space. A good part about these hangers is that they don’t break the bank. At €1.99 for 5 hangers you don’t need to invest too much money to change out your hangers. I decided to also use these with my dresses, as the hangers have a velvet layer it easily prevents clothes from sliding off them and that is so handy with dresses. The hangers I used before went back to where they came from (H&M) or were donated to my local thrift store. So they didn’t just end up in the trash.

Enter idea no. 2: vacuum storage bags. Even with thinner hangers, I wasn’t going to fit all my dress into my wardrobe. I was using the clothing rail to make a summer/ winter division between my dresses. I kept the in season stuff on the rail for easy access and put the out of season dresses in my wardrobe. Then I found a pack of vacuum storage bags (called Space Bags on Tell Sell) at HEMA for €6/ 3. And I thought: that could work! So I took my winter dresses, folded them neatly and put them into the bags. My initial plan was to put these into an empty suitcase, but the suitcase became so heavy that I wasn’t able to put it back on top of my wardrobe. I then noticed a virtually empty shelf in my wardrobe that I only used for some old hoodies. The bags with dresses fit right into that spot and all my summer dresses fit right into my wardrobe, using the thin hangers.

So there you go: problem solved! With a minimal investment, I achieved maximum output. I did need quite some hangers to hang everything again but I also found some 10 for €3 pack at a different store and so that made it even a bit cheaper in the end. The hangers I used are available from budget stores Wibra (they sell the 5 for €1.99 ones) and Action (10 for €3 but often sold out). The thing I am curious about is how my winter dresses will look when I change them out. I’m still scared they will come out crumpled and nasty looking.

What would you do to create more space?