Okay, it’s quarantine and you want to get organized. But you don’t want to order one billion new things. And the idea of editing + overhauling the entire kitchen makes you want to crawl under the covers right now. We absolutely get it.
But, there’s this nifty little trick to adding a little organized beauty into your space… file folding!
We’re pretty sure you’ve heard of it. You might already do it yourself. Or want to. You might simply be OVER hearing about it.
But bear with us this one last time… to be honest, you might hear about it again from us, but for good reason!
So many of the organizing projects we work on take up a lot of time and energy and often we find ourselves needing to bring in organizing products to help create an effective system.
But file folding is a simple and cost-free way to add more function and a beautiful aesthetic into your space. And honestly, you can’t really argue with that, right?
So we’re going to dive into what it is, why we love it and where we love it in the home. And if you’re a file folder by the end of this, send us a shout out! We love knowing that a drawer will go to bed organized tonight.
What Is File Folding
File folding is the process of folding clothes into a small square or rectangular shape that’s able to stand up on its own, like a little package. And yes, we laughed A LOT at that phrase the first time we did a video on file folding.
Why You Should File Fold
So many reasons!
First of all, stacking your clothing items vertically, rather than on top of one another, means that you can see everything. And visibility is a huge advantage in maintaining an organized space.
It also takes up less space because it’s magic! Or not — essentially, file folding allows you to fold your clothing to the exact height of your drawers, in addition to filling it front to back. Generally, a traditional fold will only allow you to use the height of your drawer, but often leaves extra space in the back.
It also minimizes the clutter in a drawer, because you can take out individual items without destroying the system you’ve created, which is often in direct contrast to the traditional stacked method. It’s generally a pretty easy system to maintain, while still looking clean and simple.
And bonus, it’ll help you see what you’re using.
When we can’t see everything, we’re often prone to simply grabbing the items that are accessible and ignoring the rest. This clothing filing system means that everything in your drawers is visible, which means after a while, you’ll notice what you’re using and what hasn’t been touched in months.
And when you need to edit your wardrobe, you’ll be armed with the knowledge of what’s not really in play with your clothing.
Where You Can File Fold
The dresser drawer and closet are the obvious go-tos… we’re in and out of them everyday, so adding a little more structure and visibility is NOT a bad thing for these spaces.
But there’s also a ton of places around the house where we implement file folding — we’re oddballs who love to fold, we can’t help it.
And honestly, a little bit of tidiness when we open a drawer or cabinet can go a long way into helping us form and maintain habits… hint hint!
1. The Linen Closet
We’ve all had the experience of opening a linen closet and having a mountain of bedding fall out… it’s not the best. But it’s easy to get stuck in the traditional way of doing things, and in the linen closet, that usually means stacking towels and bedding.
Not anymore! This may be dependent on the amount of space you have, but we’ve found that file folding our sheets and towels and vertically stacking them in bins and baskets has made a world of difference for our linen closets.
2. The Kitchen Drawer
Even kitchen towels and rags can look good with this system. And again, this will help you determine what you’re actually using — kitchen towels seem to be a place that people have collections, but often, we’re only using the same few over and over again.
So when you have a tidily folded drawer, you can pay attention to whether it’s just the first three that you keep grabbing for… do you then really need twelve?
3. The Suitcase
If you know us, you know we’re big proponents of packing cubes when it comes to travel. We want to fit A LOT in our suitcase, because KIDS, obviously, but we also want it to fit well. And file folding into a packing cube maximizes the amount of space you have to work with.
And when you’re traveling or living out of a suitcase, staying organized can be tough. But again, with file folding, having a clear view of everything you’ve packed means a lot less rifling through things to get what you need.
As you can tell, we’re strongly in favor of the file fold method… and we encourage you to try it out in your space if you haven’t already!
Tell us your success stories, send us photos of your file folded glories and enjoy a little extra space and beauty in your home during this time.
XOXO
Joni + Kitt
Cover image by Amy Bartlam for Practically Perfect
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