How To Tidy Your Sock Drawer In 10 Minutes

So, it turns out that I’ve been folding my socks incorrectly for, oh…29 years! And since I thought perhaps you might also be making the same mistake, I just had to share the mind-blowing news. It all started while diving a bit further into my progressive read through Marie Kondo’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. You’ll be hearing much, much more about this book on the blog as it truly has changed my life, but the first small-scale project that I tackled was a quick 10-minute sock drawer reorganization.

And as with my last 10-minute project back at the end of May, this post is part of a series with a number of bloggers participating. If after finishing your read here you’re feeling extra pumped, click the links at the end of the post to visit the other bloggers who are part of the series to see how they spent their 10 minutes reorganizing. But first, we tackle the sock drawer…

What was my sock-organizing mistake, you ask? Well, like many of you, I stored my socks by folding the rims of both socks down over the heel portion of the pair, thereby creating a potato-like silhouette. These were then tossed willy-nilly into my sock drawer, destined to roll around in lumpy chaos every single day. If you’ve read Marie Kondo’s book, then you know that this isn’t the most practical (or happy) process for sock storage. Instead, Marie suggests a quick and easy folding routine that takes next to no additional time, and yet leaves your socks sitting pretty in care-free rows in your drawer.

To kick off my quick 10-minute sock drawer reorganization project, I first dumped out my dresser and discarded all of my old socks. It turned out that I had been holding on to an exuberant number of socks for the past decade, and it was high time to start fresh. And, of course, I couldn’t say no to the idea of hitting the sock aisle at Target in order to stock up on new patterned outfits for my toes and heels.

Once I had my new socks home, it was time to fold. The GIF above showcases the 4-step process quite nicely, but essentially you lay the sock out flat, fold the toe portion up towards the leg portion (folding right at the heel) and then you fold into thirds from there until you reach the top edge of the sock.

For extra short ankle socks or medium-length socks, simply fold in even thirds rather than the full 4-fold process. My bootie socks were the only exception—these were stretched around sturdy cardboard ovals to keep their slim shape intact. With this method, you can slip the folded socks into your sock drawer (like slightly flattened sushi rolls) in pretty, colorful, tidy rows. Another 10 minutes well-spent and I’m feeling extra inspired to tackle the rest of my closet now—stay tuned.

CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE WHAT
EVERYONE ELSE CAME UP WITH THIS MONTH!