Do you have trouble finding what you will be wearing for the day? Do you stand in your underwear (or worse, naked and shivering, just out of the shower) staring at a pile of clean clothes lying on the floor or in the laundry basket, and wonder where your favorite sweater or shirt might be? Putting clean laundry away is a chore but the small amount of time you need to devote to this task will reward you with a big payoff when you are running late for work, preparing for an important date with someone special or just getting dressed and hanging around your home.

Folding a Sweater

One of the fundamentals of tidy living is the correct folding of a sweater. It takes mere seconds and the reward is a neat and tidy drawer or shelf and no more tossing of clothing aside while searching for things that match. The process of folding a sweater may also be applied to any long or short-sleeved top.

1. Lay the sweater on a flat surface such as your bed or the kitchen table (make sure the table is clean!) with the front of the sweater facedown and the arms spread (see Figure 1).
2. Fold the arms in (see Figure 2).
3. Fold the arms back against themselves (see Figure 3).
4. Fold the sides in (see Figure 4).
5. Fold the bottom of the sweater into the middle (see Figure 5).
6. Fold the top of the sweater over the bottom half, turn over and view your handiwork (Figure 6).
7. Put in a drawer or on a shelf.

Folding a Pair of Pants

Another item of clothing that is easy to fold and put away is a pair of pants. While some pants such as those belonging to a suit or made of material that wrinkles easily such as linen or wool, look better if hung from a hanger designed for them, jeans, track pants, yoga pants and others that are made from soft or stretchy fabric, can be folded and put on a shelf or in a drawer, which frees up room in a closet for clothing that should be hung.

1. Lay the pants on a flat surface such as a bed or the kitchen table (see Figure 7) front side facing down.
2. Fold the pants along the crotch seam so that the outside seams meet (see Figure 8).
3. Fold in half (see Figure 9).
4. Fold in half again (see Figure 10).

It doesn't take much time at all to tidy a messy drawer. There are 12 sweaters shoved into the drawer in Figure 11. It took five minutes to fold them and create the clean and organized look you see in Figure 12.

Devote specific drawers to specific items of clothing i.e. sweaters in the sweater drawer, pants in the pant drawer. If you have items that match or are always worn together, consider putting them in the same drawer so that they are easy to find.

Keep a laundry basket or hamper in your closet or bedroom and always put clothing that needs washing in it immediately. When the hamper becomes full, separate the whites from the colors, determine if you have a full load, then wash and dry it right away. Don't wait until you are down to your last clean shirt or pants, or worse, find yourself digging through the dirty clothes, trying to find something to wear. If you need to go to a laundromat, go with a friend or bring a book or craft to help pass the time. If you are lucky enough to have your laundry facilities at home, do another chore such as cleaning the bathroom or tidying your bedroom. Or better yet, put a load of wash on at night just before going to bed and put it in the dryer when you get up in the morning. There is something very satisfying about listening to your household appliances doing the work for you as you drift off into the Land of Nod.