I will never get tired of telling people about the book fold method. Switching to this strategy for folding clothes and filling dresser drawers was a game changing home organizing hack for me, and I get so excited about it that I'm constantly telling people to try it out.
When people ask for storage tips or organization tips, this is one of the first ones I give them. It has many benefits towards improving your space.
First and foremost, doing the book fold for your clothes allows you to fit so much more stuff in each drawer. Seriously! By making each item into a tidy rectangle or square, you can easily slot more items in there. If you're looking to free up space, or running out of room for things, this is a great strategy to fit more stuff in a drawer.
This method is sometimes called the vertical fold because you stand up each item vertically rather than layering them one on top of the other. By doing this, you're able to see everything at a glance, just like looking at a bookshelf. You wouldn't put books behind each other, would you? No! That would hide them. So why do it with your clothes?
As you can see in the picture, just by opening the drawer I'm easily able to look at everything I have, so I always know what's available. By organizing this way you can even sort by subcategory - I have this drawer sectioned out with tshirts in the left and middle column, long sleeves and crop tops in the righthand column, and tank tops rolled up to fit in the space on the right. Some people prefer to sort by color, which would make the drawer very aesthetically nice to look at as well!
By keeping your things folded this way, you're also ready to pack them up easily in a suitcase, gym bag, or anywhere you might need to bring a change of clothes. Or if you're moving to a new home, it will be easy to pack everything up to relocate.
Another benefit of the book fold or vertical fold is that it reduces wrinkles in your garments. Shoving things haphazardly into a drawer would leave everything crumpled, but this strategy keeps them neat and almost pressed.
Marie Kondo talks a lot about showing love for your belongings - when you take the time to lay things flat and fold them properly, you're putting love into your belongings and treating them with care, which helps them last longer. It may take a little longer to put away your laundry, but when you put attention and care into how you keep your things, they'll last you longer and serve you better. Another reason I love the KonMari method!
Take a look at this tutorial below on how to do this folding technique. It's not just for shirts! Most any textiles can be folded this way, you just have to get creative on how to make it into a rectangle and then fold to fit the height of your drawers. I've done this with shirts, pants, underwear, and even sheets and towels!
Happy organizing :)
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