I know all about your eye-rolls, face palms and been-there-tried-that feeling, when you even think about organising that wardrobe of yours. Sure, a bit of common sense might be all the average person needs to get themselves organised. But you’re not the average person, are you? You’re a hopefully disorganised, every-surface-is-an-extension-of-my-closet kind of person. You’ve tried to fight it for years, but the tendency for your belongings to fall into a heap is an indomitable force. But, believe it when I say, even you can have an organised wardrobe. Here’s what you need to do.

Maintain a small wardrobe

The success of rules 2-10 rely completely on your having a small, manageable capsule wardrobe. Keep only those things you really wear. The less you have, the easier time you’ll have at organising it.

Have a compartmentalised wardrobe

An open space is a double edged sword for the hopelessly disorganised. More space seems great, but no matter how we play it, we always end up with a pile. What you desperately need, like yesterday, is wardrobe with lots compartments. Ikea and Bunnings both have wardrobe storage systems that can be tailor designed. It’s definitely better to invest in one of these than more clothes you can’t organise, don’t you think?

Store things where you can see them

If you have to rummage through your belonging to find something, that’s just a garment explosion waiting to happen. So keep everything clearly in view. Hang things on hangers, rather than store them in drawers, and use clear plastic storage boxes for your shoes.

Store things within reach

If it takes too much effort to put it back, you just wont. Therefore, store the most often used pieces close to waist level, and within reach. Put your less used items on the top and bottom shelves. In fact, don’t bother with the bottom shelves at all. You and I both know you hate bending down.

Hang as much as you can

Your problem with putting things back neatly where they belong is that you’re always rushing around, and just ‘don’t have time’. So present yourself with the path of least resistance. The act of hanging something even you can handle.

Fold as little as you can

For you, folded stacks are a momentary phase of existence for clothes. It’s much like the Big Bang, everything nicely packed up one moment, and then the next, an endless expansion. Find other alternatives instead – ones which rely as little as possible on you. Hang things that can be hung, and use space dividers that fit only one thing per compartment.

Space things out generously

‘Tightly packed’ is just another word for ‘pile’. Not only are things hard to find and retrieve from a tightly packed wardrobe, but slotting things back is pretty much impossible. So regardless of everything being colour and purpose coordinated, a bursting at the seams wardrobe does not an organised wardrobe make. To be able to space things out, however, you will need to observe rule #1 to the letter.

The one item per surface rule

Let’s face it, with all the rushing around you do in your life, you’re going to have to set things down ‘temporarily’ sometimes. But in this instance you really do have to exercise a little bit of self control. You think you’ll sling a jumper over a chair one day, no harm done, but before you know it, your garments have completely covered every surface in your home. Make a realistic rule for yourself. Only one item per surface. If all the surfaces are taken, then that’s when you’ll just have to clean it!

The floor is sacred

For you, the floor is a bottomless abyss from which no garment returns. If you’re really in a fantastic hurry, put those clothes anywhere, but never, never, never, the floor. Got that?

Don’t give up

The hopelessly disorganised person isn’t a slob or a flake, we just have a million things happening all the time. Rather than beating yourself up about it and then giving up on ever having an organised wardrobe, it’s much more productive to understand and accept your shortcomings, and try to work around them.