Marie Kondo Folding Shorts

What would Things That Fold be without a little homage to the guru of all things folding, Marie Kondo?  Even though I haven’t gone full KonMari (yet), her empathetic and functional style has changed my life.  After reading her book and bingeing her Netflix special, I finally learned how to part with the quasi-sentimental items that apartment dwellers must ruthlessly confront on a regular basis.  Note I didn’t say sentimental items, I’m still working on that one!

Anyways, with the newest addition to our family I realized that one tiny “bedroom”, if you could even call it a bedroom, with one closet, had to fit all of the clothes for both of my kids, not to mention all of the other stuff that kids need.  As one is a baby and one is a preschooler, that is a WHOLE LOT OF TINY CLOTHES. Kids grow so quickly that I try to stock up on on sale items in every size and wait for the kids to grow into them.  

So this means that every nook and cranny of that closet has to be used to perfection.  There is no space to waste. The kids need blankets, crib sheets, winter pajamas, summer pajamas, socks, underwear, long sleeve shirts, short sleeve shirts, bathing suits, hats, gloves, leggings, pants, shorts, tights, sweaters, jackets, dresses and, my personal favorite, a tiny tuxedo.  For real we go to a lot of weddings.  

In order to cram all of this stuff into such a tiny space it needs to be folded just so.  Enter the genius wisdom of Marie Kondo. Watching this lady fold clothes is like watching Serena Williams serve ace after ace after ace.  Perfection, every single time.

Now I’m not exactly striving for the same echelon as Marie Kondo.  I fold laundry with the help of my four-year-old, who gets an A for effort but even with the help of one of those nifty folding boards (stay tuned for our upcoming review!), well let’s just say that he is more, ahem, creative in his interpretation of her technique.  

I try to give him the easy things to fold, like shorts.  They are relatively small, fairly symmetrical, and generally less complicated than, say, a button down shirt.  Marie Kondo has a really awesome way to fold shorts, because of course she does.  

Like all of her folding, the goal is to make everything visible at all times.  She achieves this by making clothing stand up so it can all be viewed from above.  Each item is folded into a rectangle of the same size, and filed next to, not on top of, the other items.  

In order to get that perfect rectangle when folding shorts she makes sure to tuck in the tiny part of the pants that protrudes from the seat.  When your shorts are folded in half vertically you will notice this little part that extends to make room for your bottom. Simply fold it in towards the center before continuing to fold the shorts in half again, this time horizontally.  A little tricky for a four-year-old but he’s catching on quickly.  

I may never reach the level where I “convey love to my clothes from the palms of my hands”, but I can definitely appreciate a well-organized closet!

KonMari Method of Folding Light Shorts

Marie Kondo’s method of folding light shorts has three steps:

1. Fold the shorts vertically in half
2. Tuck in the extra fabric that protrudes from the back
3. Fold the shorts again, horizontally

KonMari Method of Folding Thicker Shorts

Marie Kondo’s method of folding heavier shorts has only two steps:

1. Fold the shorts vertically in thirds
2. Fold the shorts again, horizontally

We Would Love to Hear From You

Hopefully you found this tutorial helpful. Let us know what you think about Marie Kondo’s book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, her Netflix series, and your thoughts on her folding methods in the comment box below. And if you like this kind of stuff, follow us on Twitter @thingsthatfold.