Wardrobe: the method for a closet that stays tidy

It's 7:20 and Aline is already late. The closet in her Geneva flat is full, the bedroom chair has vanished under clothes tried on and discarded, and yet she feels she has "nothing to wear". One Saturday morning, she took everything out. This is the method she followed.

Step 1: take everything out, one category at a time

Not the whole closet at once, but one category at a time: trousers first, then tops, jumpers, dresses, shoes. Seeing all your jeans piled on the bed is often a healthy shock: Aline had eleven pairs, and wore three.

Step 2: four questions per item

• ✓Have I worn it in the past year?
• ✓Does it fit me today — not "when I've lost two kilos"?
• ✓Do I feel good in it?
• ✓If I saw it in a shop today, would I buy it?

Two "no" answers and it goes. For genuinely uncertain pieces, Aline made a "maybe" box, sealed and dated: if it hasn't been opened in three months, it goes to donation without being reopened.

Step 3: store by how often you wear things

What you wear every week goes at eye and hand level. Off-season clothes go up high or into boxes under the bed. In French-speaking Switzerland, where you swing from winter jumpers to summer dresses, rotating twice a year frees up a third of the space on its own.

Step 4: fold vertically

In drawers, T-shirts and jumpers folded upright can all be seen at a glance. No more lifting a pile to reach the one at the bottom, and the order lasts much longer.

Step 5: one rule to make it last

One item in, one item out. And a small basket in the closet for things to donate: when it's full, it goes. No new piles, no overflowing chair.

"I kept less than half of my clothes. I get dressed in five minutes, and I finally feel I have things to wear." — Aline

Want a second pair of eyes?

A wardrobe edit is one of our most requested packages, from CHF 250 for about three hours. We sort with you, organise the space and take care of donating the clothes, across Geneva, Vaud and Valais.