5 Rainy Day Activities For an Upgraded Style

These past few days in Amsterdam have been quite rainy and stormy, following a massive heat-wave. Which means that I’ve once again been spending more time indoors than outside, enjoying the sun.

Not my favorite summer situation, but oh well, what can you do?

Well actually, a lot, it turns out!

I’ve been more productive at reorganizing things around the house and inside my closet these days. Which in turn led me to think of all the indoors activities you could do on a rainy day, some of which would also benefit your style. So here they are for you, my top 5 rainy day activities for an upgraded style:

Organize your closet

This one is pretty obvious, but I know it’s also something many of us usually try to postpone. The idea of pulling everything out of our closets, sorting, folding and reordering them seems daunting.

But here’s the thing:

The more you postpone it, the more difficult it becomes. So why not take advantage of a crabby day and just get it over with?

You’re not missing much else anyway, and you would’ve probably just Netflixed the whole day otherwise.

Promise yourself to carve out just a couple of hours for your closet. It doesn’t even have to be all in one go, but clearing out even one section will make you feel better.

Take everything out and organize it how you see fit: by colours or by type of items- dresses in one pile, T-shirts in another, pants in another etc.

You can also do it by season or by different occasions. Any which way that will benefit you and help you get ready faster for your daily activities works.

And speaking of season, this is also a good opportunity to separate last season’s clothes and store them somewhere else. Or at least put them at the back of your wardrobe, so the in-season items are all easy to see and reach for.

This reorganization is also a good time to see which items might need professional cleaning or repairing, or which ones you’re simply bored of and would like to donate or sell.

P.S.: Don’t forget to sprinkle some potpourri in with your clothes, for a lovely fragrance and to keep moths at bay.

Mend what’s broken

Speaking of repairing, why not take the time on a rainy day to see which of your clothes need to have a button sewn, or a broken zipper changed? Which ones need to be professionally cleaned to get rid of any stubborn stains?

The sooner you spot them, the quicker you will get your clothing in top shape. So you’ll feel inspired and excited by them again- instead of discovering that your favorite top still has a missing button, 5 minutes before you need to go our the door wearing it.

And if you’re handy or want to learn something new, why not take this opportunity to embellish some of your old clothes that you’ve started to lose interest in?

Anything goes here:

You can splatter some paint on a pair of jeans to mimic the latest grunge-industrial theme the large retailers have adopted. Or embroider a simple, black pencil skirt to give it a trendy update. You can also sew a few sequins or rhinestones on a top- or on the rolled cuff of a pair of jeans.

I chose to do it on boyfriend jeans, to break the slouchy, masculine look with contrasting elements.

Clear out your jewelry drawer

While you’re at the stage of clearing your closet, just think about it: when was the last time you gave your jewelry drawer a good once-over? More likely than not, it’s been a while, right?

Well, no time like the present!

Take advantage of that bleak day spent indoors to sort through your piles of tangled necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Separate each piece of jewelry by category and find a solution that will keep them organized once and for all. The one that I found works best for me is to consistently curate my pieces and keep only the ones I truly love.

Once I pick them out, I lay them together by different themes- almost like a moodboard.

I find this works best for me, because I always want to keep that “board” looking its best. I’ve tried storing my jewelry by category, putting each piece in a separate little ziplock bag, displaying them on doll-like mannequins.

But really, no solution has worked as well for me as this one. So search for the custom solution that fits your needs- and once you find it, share it in the comments!

Plan some outfits

Give yourself the opportunity to play around with the clothes in your closet. This way you can get some new and interesting combinations ready for the week ahead. You probably don’t take the time to try a new combination out as often as you could. And you certainly won’t do it in the mornings, when you’re already late.

So why not give future you a head start for the following days, and prep some outfits on a hanger?

And if you don’t know where to start, look for some online inspiration to get your creative juices flowing. I’ve already listed some great blogs, Instagram and Youtube accounts that you might be able to draw inspiration from.

Once you see an outfit you like- or even just something you like about a look, save it into a folder or on a Pinterest board. I’ve showed you how you can use Pinterest to upgrade your style, so why not get started with it?

Write down missing items

And while you’re having fun putting outfits together, discovering new looks you want to try, you might also realize there are some key pieces missing from your wardrobe.

Since you’ve just gone and hauled your entire wardrobe, it will be a lot easier now for you to notice what valuable item could be added to tie some outfits together, or to bring a special spark to others.

Write them down, or better yet, save a picture of those garments in your phone if you saw them online. This way, you make sure to only buy fabulous, useful pieces next time you go shopping! Instead of going in without a plan and buying the first thing that is just OK, but not ideal.

So my dears, I hope you enjoyed these suggestions!

And I hope I’ve prompted you to see your next bleak weather day as some productive time for style-upgrading activities. You know, instead of complaining about it as a wasted day, or as time to just veg out and be bored.

Taking care of ourselves and our style is a time consuming process, but we can always find time for something if we truly want to. And on that note, I hope you have a great, productive and sunny week ahead of you!

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