How to Organise Your Wardrobe So the Perfect Outfit Is Always Within Reach
A lovely reader asked, “How can I organise my closet so the perfect outfit is always at my fingertips?”
Closets are fascinating because how you organise yours depends so much on your personal organising style. But there are a few principles that make it much easier to quickly pull an outfit together—especially if you have a versatile wardrobe where pieces mix and match easily.
If your clothes can be worn in multiple ways, it’s best not to pre-build “outfits” that only work as sets. Instead, create a system that clearly presents your options. One of the easiest ways to do this is by organising your wardrobe by colour.
Clutter makes it hard to find outfits. This is why the first step is decluttering your wardrobe – here are 9 easily actionable ways of decluttering your wardrobe.
Why Organising by Colour Works
When your clothes are grouped by colour, it’s much faster to find what you’re looking for. If I’m reaching for my pink jacket and it’s not in the pink section between red and purple, I know it’s either in the wash or at the dry cleaner’s.
My wardrobe is arranged by my signature colours: pinks, reds, light greens, turquoise blues, and cobalt blues. Each has its own section, and I can find what I need within seconds.
The same system works beautifully for drawers, too. I recommend Marie Kondo–style folding, where items stand vertically instead of stacking. That way, you can see every piece at a glance without rummaging through piles.
Match Your System to Your Space
The way your wardrobe is laid out will naturally influence how you organise it. If you have lots of small cubbies, you might use smaller categories. If you’ve got one long hanging rod, broader colour or garment groupings work better.
Colour-coding also helps visually separate categories—like where tops end and skirts begin. You can start with white, work through the rainbow to your darkest colours, then start again for each garment type. It’s both pretty and practical.
Categories That Make Getting Dressed Easy
I keep my wardrobe organised by garment type: skirts together, tops together, pants together, jackets together. Some people prefer separating workwear from casual clothes, or short-sleeved from long-sleeved. For me, everything stays together because I mix and match across all areas of my life.
What I do change seasonally is the fabric weight. In summer, I remove my woollens. In winter, I pack away my hot-weather clothes. Keeping only what’s wearable for the current season makes choosing outfits faster and more enjoyable.
Personalise Your Visibility Preferences
Everyone’s ideal system is different. One of my clients, who loved micro-organising, sorted her wardrobe by colour contrast combinations. It made perfect sense for her visual brain.
The key is knowing how visible you like your things. I like my accessories out on display, necklaces on hooks, earrings and rings in small clear compartments, scarves rolled and sorted by colour. If I can’t see it, I forget it’s there. Others prefer a more minimal look where things are tucked away. There’s no right answer—only what makes your life easier.
Don’t Forget Shoes and Accessories
Your shoes deserve the same thoughtful approach. I keep mine in rolling drawers, grouped by type—boots in one, ballet flats in another. The same goes for jewellery and scarves. Organised, visible, and grouped by colour. When you can see what you have, you use it.
Go To Outfits
Once you’ve got your wardrobe organised, you can start to see possible combinations. Take an item such as a patterned skirt, then run it up your selection of tops and see which colours work with it and what options are available. Then look at your outer layers of jackets and cardigans. Take photos of outfit combinations so you don’t forget what they are, and store them in an album on your phone or one of the many wardrobe apps available in your phone’s app store.
This album is full of your go-to-outfits – find out more about building them here.
Figure Out Your Outfit Formulas
There are lots of ways of building outfits, knowing what works for you makes getting dressed speedy (along with having clothes in your wardrobe that naturally go together – which is why having clothes in your colour palette simplifies this process no end).
Discover my tips on finding your own formula for speedy stylish dressing here.
What Your Kitchen Can Teach You About Wardrobe Organisation
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – you should treat your wardrobe like a kitchen. If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at yours. No one keeps plates scattered randomly through cupboards. Dinner plates go together, bowls together, and cutlery sorted into forks, knives, and spoons.
Your wardrobe works the same way. Group like with like. Make things easy to find and return. And just like checking expiry dates in your fridge, it’s worth assessing if your clothes are “out of date” too.
I once found a sauce in my fridge that expired in 2016; it happens! Clothes can quietly expire, too. If something no longer fits your body, your lifestyle, or your sense of self, it’s okay to let it go. Donate it, sell it, or pass it along to someone who’ll love it.
Because a well-organised wardrobe isn’t just about tidiness, it’s about clarity. When everything has a place, you can see your possibilities clearly and start each day with ease and confidence.
Start with a personal colour analysis as then what you bring into your wardrobe will work with other items more simply and easily, saving you time, and energy in the morning and reducing your stress levels.
