It feels like it's been a long winter, and I don't know about you but the minute the sun comes out I'm itching to ditch the thermals and throw on some lighter layers.  So now is the perfect time to go through the wardrobe and get it shipshape and ready for a busy summer of use.

I run a programme called Wardrobe Revival Week - it takes participants through the ultimate wardrobe seasonal switch over step by step, and in this blog, I'll be sharing those steps with you.  You can do one step a day or all in one go, but at the end you'll have a beautifully organised wardrobe for the next six months, and a shopping list of things to look for to fill in any gaps.  You'll also have a handy go-to set of outfits to call on whenever you're short on time - bonus!

So, if you're ready to dive in, here’s my five-step Wardrobe Revival Plan:

Step 1:  Get things out of your eye line that you can’t wear now. 

When you open the doors of your wardrobe to get dressed, everything you see should be something you could wear now.  You'll save time and space by taking out all your winter clothing and things you don’t wear often. 

First remove all your winter clothing from the wardrobe, fold it and pack it away, or if you have space elsewhere in the house, move it to another wardrobe.  Personally, as I have a small wardrobe, I put my out of season clothing away in storage bags you can suck the air out of and store under the bed (these bags have the added advantage of being space saving and with no air inside them, they are unlikely to be safe harbour for moths).  What counts as winter clothing?  Heavy jumpers, coats and thick jackets, heavier fabrics like corduroy or velvet and sometimes darker colours.  If you're not sure see if you can envisage yourself wearing it in August, and if the answer is no, it might be a winter piece.  Remember knitwear doesn't like to be hung up as it makes the shoulders stretch, so definitely fold knitwear if you're packing it away.

At this point, you don’t need to sort and organise those clothes as you don’t know how you’ll feel about them when they come out again in the Autumn, so for now, just pack them away and we’ll deal with them at the start of the next season.  This way if you decide to let them go, you'll be doing so at the time of year when they have maximum use for someone else. 

For other items you don’t wear often (like evening wear etc) you can do a quick check to make sure they fit and are ready to be worn if needed, but they can go into dust bags and be hung at the end of your rail where you don’t see them each day.

You might also want to pack away things you've kept but you know don't fit you right now.  For clothes that don’t fit that you still like, they should definitely be put away.  Store them with your out of season clothes for now and try them on again when you revisit those bags in the Autumn.

Step 2:  Try On Your Clothes

First, gather up all the clothes you have left in the wardrobe and drawers.  Get them out and lay them on the bed by type (so a pile of trousers, a pile of skirts etc) Do you have other clothes that are wearable this coming season somewhere else in the house?  (try the laundry pile, a drawer somewhere, a suitcase stored away – check all over the house!)  If you’ve been following this process for a while, you’ll have stored away your spring/ summer clothing at the start of the autumn, so get all that out too and add it to your piles.  

Seeing your clothes in this way is a very telling exercise - does it look like a lot?  Maybe not enough?  And what do your piles tell you?  Do you have a huge pile of jeans but hardly any dresses?  Are there loads of tops but not many skirts or trousers?  This is a common issue I see a lot and clients always have an a-ha moment when I point it out as it helps explain why making outfits is tricky if the wardrobe isn't balanced.

Before you put things back in, try each item on and decide what to keep and what to get rid of.