When I first read Marie Kondo’s Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I didn’t understand her folding technique. It said something about folding shirts and it used the word “half” and I ended up folding my shirts in half but they never stood up like origami swans so I knew I was doing it wrong. I think I looked up a video of the technique online but I either didn’t find one that made sense or maybe I never actually looked it up in the first place? Hard to know at this point.
When the show came out, and I finally watched the first episode, I was very excited for the folding tutorial. I watched it quite a few times, and I think I finally have it down. I started folding my laundry using her method, and liked it enough that I went through most of our drawers and carefully crafted all our garments into cotton origami swans. (Okay, they aren’t swans but they might as well be.)
My shirt drawer used to look like this:
Now it looks like this:
It makes me happy.
So at a sledding party yesterday a couple of the moms were talking about this, I am now intrigued and need to look into this more. How long does it take to fold a shirt this way. Just thinking of logistics for five peoples laundry.
I think it takes the same amount of time as folding one “regularly.” Especially as you get better at it. The way I used to fold my shirts in half was really fast and this is only a little bit slower, about the same as when I fold my husband’s white the “regular” way.
Ha, I just watched that first episode as well and got totally motivated to go through all of my drawers! Now for the main closet and all of my hanging clothes…. *sigh*
Children’s clothing folded this way is amazing. The younger you teach them to fold things the better but it is a skill most people can master … even grown men. Changes the laundry process ENORMOUSLY. I actually find it much easier to put away, in drawers, my grand’s folded clothes. Grand likes folding with me as ‘GROWNUP activity’ and talking time. Seeing it this way also makes abundance obvious.
Your drawers look lovely.
Your drawers do look lovely!
I have done the KonMari method on my clothes a few times but can’t get into the folding. I prefer to hang up my shirts, and I have lots of closet space to do so.
Pretty! My drawers look like your “before” photo.
I also could NOT figure out what she meant, so after I read the book, I started rolling my clothes, which actually helps a lot (I can see everything, and it also is less likely to wrinkle) but probably is less space-efficient than the folding. I taught my kids to fold, and one kid does a great job and the other just throws his clothes into the drawer, and you know what? I don’t care because I don’t have to do it or deal with it.
I do a version of her fold, but do stack them vertically that way now, and I love it. Like you, I watched the first episode and studied the fold technique. I am not convinced enough to change the way I fold now, though it might give me more space in my drawer. Yours looks great, by the way.