Wardrobe / Closet: Set in Order 整頓
A place for everything, and everything in its place.
Hang by outfit context. Fold vertically so everything is visible. Group so you can see an entire category at a glance.
The zones to set in order
Daily wear
Clothes worn this week
Grouped by context: work / casual
Most-reached for = most accessible
Occasional wear
Smart / evening / occasion
Worn a few times a year
Still earns its hanger
Seasonal storage
Out-of-season clothing
Vacuum bags or labelled boxes
Swapped at each season change
Accessories
Shoes on rack (all visible)
Bags on hooks or shelf
Belts · Scarves · Jewellery
The 80% rule: a wardrobe should be 80% full. The breathing room means every item is accessible and visible. If you can't get things out cleanly, you're storing too much.
Set in Order tasks for the Wardrobe / Closet
- Hang clothing by context (work, casual, smart-casual, occasion) not by colour
- Fold t-shirts, jumpers, and jeans vertically — stand them in the drawer so everything is visible
- Shoes on a rack or shelf — every pair visible, not piled
- Seasonal items in clearly labelled vacuum bags or boxes on the top shelf
- Accessories in shallow drawers, hanging organisers, or hooks on the inside of the door
- Face all hangers the same direction — reverse them when worn; quarterly, remove anything not reversed
What is the Set in Order phase?
Set in Order (整頓, Seiton) assigns a specific, logical home to every remaining item. Items are placed at the point of use, at the right height, with the most-used items most accessible. The goal is a system so intuitive that anyone in the household can find and return every item without being told where it goes.
Common questions about the Wardrobe / Closet
How do I declutter my wardrobe?
Remove everything first — sort on the bed, not inside the wardrobe. Three piles: keep (worn in the past year, fits, in good condition), donate (good condition but unworn), and bin (damaged, worn out, or missing parts). The key question for every item: did I wear this in the past 12 months? If not, it leaves.
How do I organise a wardrobe with too many clothes?
The problem is volume, not organisation. No system can make too much clothing work in a wardrobe — Sort comes before Set in Order. Reduce to 80% capacity first, then organise what remains. A wardrobe at 80% full has breathing room: every item is visible, accessible, and easy to return.
How should I fold clothes to save space?
Vertical folding (the KonMari method) — fold items into a rectangle, then fold in thirds to stand upright in the drawer. Every item is visible at a glance; no more digging through stacks to find the bottom item. Takes the same space as flat stacking and eliminates the "I can't find it" problem.
Common Wardrobe / Closet mistakes
✗ Mistake
Wardrobe stuffed so tight nothing comes out cleanly
✓ Fix
A wardrobe should be 80% full. The 20% breathing room makes every item accessible.
✗ Mistake
Folding clothes in stacks (can't see what's underneath)
✓ Fix
Vertical folding — KonMari style — means everything is visible at a glance