Folding Your Clothes This Way Can Make Your Closet Look Like A Lands' End Ad
Sometimes we get a little busy with our lives and how our clothes closet looks falls to the bottom of the priority list. As long as you can find what you are looking for, who cares if things get a little messy, right? That logic works for a little while... until, finally, your closet is bursting with unfolded clothes, you can't tell what's dirty and what's clean, and you can't find anything you need. It's time to clean out the closet, but this time, you want to do it right. How can you make things look nice, neat, and organized? How might you fold your clothes so your closet looks like a Lands' End ad? We're glad you asked! Here are ways to fold your clothes so everything has its place and your closet looks like a Lands' End store.
Organizing by Type
The first step to cleaning things up and giving your closet that professional look is organizing your clothes by type. After all, it looks a little strange if your cashmere cardigans and running shorts are in the same place! Keep like with like as much as possible. Do you have a lot of women's tops? Put them on the same shelf. Not everyone has a gigantic closet with lots of room, so consider using the different corners for different clothes and stacking where you can. Do you only have a couple of pairs of trousers? Put them together with your jeans, yoga pants and shorts.
This may require stepping back and planning out what goes where if you are new to this kind of system. Take your time. Figure out how much of what you have and where it makes the most sense to store it. Once you do, you can either start folding if you are satisfied with the level of order in your closet, or you can take an extra step and try...
Organizing by Color
After you've put all the kinds of clothes together, the extra step in making a Lands' End closet is to order them by color. If, again, you don't have the wardrobe to supply multiple colors of one piece or type of clothing, put like with like and organize by color that way.
To illustrate, let's go back to the example of trousers placed with all of your bottom pieces. In the example, you only have a couple of pairs of these pants — not six shades of nice trousers. How do you work with this? You've already put them with your other bottom pieces, so now, place all of your grouped pieces in order of color, with the lightest on one side, moving darker as you go. If you have patterned things, you can either place them within your color gradation where they seem to fit best (such as placing white floral shorts with the lighter-colored shorts) or keep the patterned pieces together and place them between the darks and the lights or after the darks at the end.
Important Note on Folding
There are multiple folding techniques to make your clothes look professionally folded. All of them end up with your piece of clothing in a nice square shape with the top of the piece visible and identifiable. As long as your folding technique results in this shape and your organization system holds true, your closet will look like a Lands' End ad.
Finally, How to Fold Your Clothes
To fold clothes nicely, you need a workspace. Some people use a cleaned-off countertop in the kitchen, others have a table in their laundry room, and still, others just make their bed and use that. Find what works best for you, then let's get folding!
For tops, you'll want to put your piece face down on your surface and smooth it out. Nicely folded clothes should not have wrinkles. You put it face down so the front ends up on top when you're done and doesn't get folded into the inside.
To get the square shape you want, you need to start with a rectangle. The most basic way to make a rectangle shape is by folding the sleeves (if the piece has any) and sides of your piece into the center while leaving the middle part flat. The general rule of thumb is about a third or less of each side folds into the middle. With the sides folded in, you should have a long rectangle shape about the width or less of your piece's neckline.
Once you have your rectangle shape, fold it in half to make your square. If your piece is really long, you may need to fold a third in first, then fold the next third in to make your square. Done!
For bottoms, you still need the same shapes. Make a rectangle by folding your pants or shorts in half. If part of the seat sticks out, fold it in until you have a decently long rectangle shape. Then, fold in half until you have your ending square. Some pants, depending on the length, may need to be folded into thirds.
For underthings like socks and panties, rolling is usually the best way to go. If you have the space you can also lay them flat and stack them. Some underwear can fold into a square, so that might be a good option. For bras, usually laying them flat with the shoulder straps and underbust straps tucked in will look pretty professional, though you can also hang them if you have the space or a mini hanging area.
Now that your clothes are all folded and placed where they belong, enjoy your very own Lands' End closet!