We have two double built in wardrobes in our bedroom but I’ve never liked them mainly because they don’t have backs to them (it’s just bare wall). They are also at right angles to each other meaning that one of them goes round the corner behind the other, which makes that part unusable and very difficult to keep clean.

Both wardrobes are jam packed with clothes, bags, unused gifts, diaries, shoes, boxes of stuff, old suitcases filled with clothes (that I’ll probably just give away one day when I get to them), jigsaws… and so on. The every day visits to these wardrobes are mainly to get my scarves and to put away my husband’s shirts and tshirts. The rest is untouched unless I’m looking for something.

It’s going to take a lot of time and effort to go through these wardrobes and I don’t feel ready for that just yet (and certainly not ready to take pictures). It’s going to reveal a lot of stuff which could end up all over the room if I don’t allow a large chunk of time to sort through it. I do want to make the most of the space eventually but will be parking that thought for now.

Focusing on the other side of the room

On the other side of the bedroom are two other old unmatched wardrobes that used to be in the girls’ rooms before they got their fitted wardrobes (with backs!). They were dumped in our room because that’s what we do – move things somewhere else. About two houses ago, they were in our bedroom and I think one of them has even spent some time in storage.

So, you’ve probably getting the gist that they are old and we’re probably lucky they are still in one piece. The doors, shelves and rails have seen better days. However, we (I) managed to fill them with clothes, shoe and clutter over the years which is why nothing ever gets thrown away because we have space to store things. Having backs on these ones at least makes them less dusty to store things in, so I tend to use these for every day clothes and work stuff but they are now jam packed.

Last week, I decided to tackle one of them and took all of this stuff out. Can you see the bowed wooden rail?

I keep my work suits, skirts etc. in here, so tend to go in there once a weekday to prize something out and then squeeze it back in again when putting things away. It’s a struggle and not pleasant. Also in here are ‘going out’ dresses, my husband’s suits, an old iron and many bags of items that I’ve shoved in the bottom of the wardrobe when I don’t know where else to put them.

Shifting to the positive

As part of my decluttering challenge, I’m attempting to make the most of the wardrobes and space we’ve got in our bedroom, so I decided to reorganise this one wardrobe to see if there’s anything I can throw or give away.

Once I’d removed everything, I repositioned the shelf from the bottom to the top and moved the clothes rail down. I was restricted to where I could actually place the shelf and rail because of the worn holes in the side panels of the wardrobe, but I worked something out.

I then had an idea and looked on Amazon for some under shelf baskets to hang from the top shelf so that I could store things in a more visual way. The shelves turned up from Amazon today so I put some folded up shirts on one shelf and rolled up tights on the other. There’s not much I can do about the bowed clothes rail but it’s holding ok.

I decided to repurpose this wardrobe and it’s now mainly ‘work stuff’. I might change things around once I start on the other wardrobes, but for now, the clothes can be moved freely, I can get things in and out with ease, and I have a place for tights and shirts.

I actually placed a few items in the charity bag too which was another very positive step.

This evening, I made a start on the second wardrobe but it got a bit too exhausting. Sorting out clothes uses up a lot of energy.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra