Every bedroom has this pile. Our bedroom pile is on a bench. Lots of times you find it on a chair. Some people call it the chair-drobe.
A chair-drobe is one of those piles that just never seems to go away.
Are you ready for some ideas to help your chair-drobe situation? Read on, or scroll down for the video.
Clean + dirty = clirty
First category of things in the pile, CLIRTY clothes. Clirty clothes aren’t really clean, but they aren’t dirty either. They’re clirty.
Here are my favorite ways to handle the clirties:
Hang some hooks near that chair or maybe in a certain area of the closet. Visit the hooks at least once a week to put the hanging things away or wear them again.
Designate a spot in the closet or drawer for the dirty stuff. This is way easier if your closet and drawers aren’t STUFFED! I put my clirty hanging clothes back in my closet hanging, but delineated by empty hangers.
Tried them on, but didn’t wear them
Second category, clean clothes you’ve tried on but not worn.
I like to trick myself a little here and put these items on top of a hamper full of clean clothes. That way I’m already mentally geared up to fold and put things away, 3 more things on top isn’t a big deal at that point. Just grab everything on the chair (or in the pile) that’s clean when you bring your clean laundry to be folded.
Or, put the clothes from your chair away every night when you are getting undressed. Hang the clean ones back up.
Missing buttons and ripped hems
Third category, clothes that need mending.
Question, where are they going to be mended? I take almost every single rip, missing button, or torn seam, to my dry cleaner. Yes. I could absolutely do it myself. I could also make my own bread. But I don’t. And I won’t for a long time, so I pay the $2-5 and have it done much faster.
If you will do the fixing yourself, will it be while watching TV? Will it be in the bedroom? That’s where the clothes should go. Ideally this is only 1-2 items. So it won’t be a big pile on your couch. But if the sewing kit and the pants are right there next time you sit down to some “Big, Little, Lies”. It will probably happen faster.
I’m just not into it
Fourth issue, you hate hanging up clothes so they stay on the chair.
Again hooks can be a big help here. Put up some really heavy duty hooks (like in a ski lodge) in your master bath or in and near the master closet, even on the bedroom walls.
Well begun is half done
The basic answer to a chairdrobe is to stay on top of it before it gets too big. I tackle our pile of miscellaneous clothes every time I’m doing a load of laundry.
After all, chairs in the bedroom are meant for much sexier things than a pile of clothes… Like reading!
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Public Service Announcement:
This video is for people whose organizing skills are intermediate to advanced. If you hate folding clothes and putting things away in general, don’t watch this video! Click on Closet organizing ideas instead.
If you look forward to tidying up; and if you like to organize clothes, keep reading. This article is for you! (more…)
Your husband is not weird, at least not when it comes to t-shirts. I have seen the drawers and the closets of the people of Pasadena and I can tell you one thing fo sho— Men have even more t-shirts than women have yoga pants! Most have enough to wear a different t-shirt every day for 3-4 months.
Especially not their favorite stuff, and for men too many t-shirts easily fall into the favorite stuff category. Sports t-shirts, concert t-shirts, school t-shirts, t-shirts they got for free from work– the list is ridiculous.
Still for now, the only thing you can do with his t-shirt collection is complain about it. (And maybe move it to another drawer, but even that could get you into trouble which will set back the bigger plan.)
The bigger plan
In order to get your family to organize and thin out their stuff, you must first organize and thin out your own stuff. This is, I think, what Ghandi meant when he said, “You have to be the change you want to see in the world.” Well, maybe not. Anyway…
Lead by example.
So, let’s talk about your t-shirt collection. How do you thin that out?
First, before you even touch your shirts, decide on a limit. How many t-shirts are enough for you?
For some people it helps to think about how many occasions there are to which you actually wear a t-shirt.
workouts
the weekend
or, maybe everyday
Then you can decide how many t-shirts feel like a good number to keep.
For other people it’s more a matter of space. If you only have half a drawer for t-shirts, you can only keep about 10.
protip–Fold your t-shirts vertically in the drawer to see every shirt at once. (This tip will only work if you like folding clothes. Yes, some people do like folding clothes.)
Fourth, look at your non-graphic tees. Do you have multiples of a very similar color because one is a little worn out and one is brand new or (insert other reason here).
Listen, you deserve to wear nice clothes. Keep the good one and let the ratty ones go. Even if they aren’t that ratty.
Keep only one of each color you actually love to wear (except white and black. It’s ok to keep 2 or 3 of those if you want to.)
The last category is graphic t-shirts. How much room do you have left? If you love graphic t-shirts, consider using them as undershirts and getting rid of your official undershirts.
Otherwise, the same rules apply. Keep what you have room for and what you can’t wait to wear.
protip– Limit t-shirt piles on a shelf to 5 shirts and under. Any higher and you are asking for an avalanche.
There now, your t-shirts are done and hopefully someone in your family will want to follow your lead. Being organized (and not being mean about it) has enough advantages to inspire your spouse to follow suit, or at least to try.
Desperation tactics
If your partner’s T-shirt collection is so bad you just can’t stand it — not one. minute. longer! Try these further steps:
Completely separate your shirts from theirs
Strictly organize (without thinning) your partner’s stuff, but don’t expect them to upkeep a system they did not implement.
If they are amenable to it, ask them for parameters (by size is easiest) to donate their clothes. Always let them double check your donation pile. This can get really frustrating when they start pulling things out. So, be ready for some discord at the donation step.
It’s always easier to work with a professional who doesn’t have any emotional stake in their process. And organizing only works when you are ready for it to work.
323.230.0297
Please note: I will talk directly to them before we start working on their belongings.
We don’t do surprise organizing sessions, they are a bad idea. (Think: surprise therapy. See? Bad idea.)
Please tell me in the comments how many t-shirts you have and/or how many you THINK your husband has. Venting is allowed.
Thanks, Nonnahs
*generally grown people’s stuff belongs to someone over age 7. Older children will feel unsettled to find out their things are suddenly gone. The only exceptions are clothes and shoes they have outgrown. Otherwise, YOU HAVE TO ASK.
