We've all watched the show, read the book, seen the memes, and heard the phrase "spark joy", but have you attempted the folding techniques? I hadn't! I've been purging items as a self-proclaimed minimalist for the last three years or so, so when Marie Kindo came on the scene, it was more been-there-done-that than life-changing, but recently I employed her folding techniques not only for my own drawers but also for my three kids' shared closet and I have to say, it's glorious!
After only keeping clothing that you truly love and wear, you still may have cluttered drawers. In our case, it's not because we own too many items (read more about our kid's capsule wardrobes here), but because we have very limited storage space. With three kids in one bedroom, sharing one closet (and no other clothing storage such as a dresser), even our petite wardrobes feel chaotic sometimes.
Last week I tried Marie Kondo's folding style to display every piece of clothing and not only did it save a ton of space, but it's also made choosing outfits a breeze. My kids typically grab the tops and bottoms on the top of the piles in their drawers, so they cycle through the same three outfits (basically the amount of time it takes dirty clothes to be cleaned and returned) unless I intervene. I was so frustrated that my favourite pieces they own wouldn't be worn, and sometimes outgrown before much use. The folding solves that!
After only keeping clothing that you truly love and wear, you still may have cluttered drawers. In our case, it's not because we own too many items (read more about our kid's capsule wardrobes here), but because we have very limited storage space. With three kids in one bedroom, sharing one closet (and no other clothing storage such as a dresser), even our petite wardrobes feel chaotic sometimes.
Last week I tried Marie Kondo's folding style to display every piece of clothing and not only did it save a ton of space, but it's also made choosing outfits a breeze. My kids typically grab the tops and bottoms on the top of the piles in their drawers, so they cycle through the same three outfits (basically the amount of time it takes dirty clothes to be cleaned and returned) unless I intervene. I was so frustrated that my favourite pieces they own wouldn't be worn, and sometimes outgrown before much use. The folding solves that!
(from the top: Oli's drawers, Lily's drawers, Chloe's drawers)
I found the kid's bottoms in particular took up so little of their drawer space with this new folding style that for the girls I was able to incorporate their dresses and skirts too (except the dressier pieces that I didn't want to wrinkle), leaving a ton of extra hanging space for out of season outerwear, halloween costumes, etc.
Our kids all share one drawer for their socks and underwear, one drawer for their pyjamas, and they each have two personal drawers; one for tops, another for bottoms. It's not a lot of space, even for a child, but with this new folding it feels like more than enough. I love seeing some new variety in their clothing choices too! And before you think I'm crazy, I promise, this doesn't take more time than regular folding! Seriously it's a matter of folding maybe once more per item, so seconds are added. And surprisingly, the kids haven't destroyed their drawers! In fact, this method seems easier for them to keep tidy than when I used to put folded laundry in stacks. Go figure.
I need to give this a try, I watched the whole series on Netflix and really enjoyed it. I love how minimal your kids closet is, I keep failing at making my 4 year old daughters closet smaller. My mom and aunts love buying her clothes and shoes, even though I have asked them not too. Oh well, I try to be gracious and appreciative of their generosity.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea! My kids do the same - grab off the top so this is great :)
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