5 Easy Steps from this to this - Help to Sort Your Stuff€¦ · · 2017-05-25happy way. While you are doing this you might want to ... for me that’s definitely a plus! ... If

5EasyStepsfromthistothis

OrFromMessytoNeatin5SimpleSteps

5 Simple Steps From Messy to Neat

1

5SimpleSteps

From

MessytoNeat

Terri Cole


2

Contents

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 3

STEP 1 - TOPS ............................................................................................ 7

STEP 2 - BOTTOMS .................................................................................. 11

STEP 3 – CLOTHES THAT HANG ............................................................... 13

STEP 4 – UNDERWEAR & SOCKS ............................................................. 19

STEP 5 – SHOES & HANDBAGS ................................................................ 24

THE END .................................................................................................. 30

REFERENCES ........................................................................................... 31

ABOUT THE AUTHOR .............................................................................. 31


3

INTRODUCTION

5 easy steps was created as the result my finally having

the time to go through my home and sort out 40 years of

accumulated belongings and the first step in that process

turned out to be my wardrobe.

I must admit that the thought of starting on sorting out the

mess, even it if was all packed away neatly was just a little

challenging, so before I started I did some research on

how other people had managed to sort their stuff out.

After doing lots of reading, searching on the internet where

I found lots of ideas and techniques I finally came across a

method that worked for me and this is what I am sharing

with you in this book .

It’s a very simple idea – you change the focus and decide

what you would like to keep - don’t focus on what you will

get rid of. Only keep the clothes that make you happy,

the things you feel good in, the things that ‘call’ to you in a

happy way. While you are doing this you might want to

consider if the clothes that no longer fit you make you

happy.


4

The things that make you feel guilty, or unhappy, or you

only keep because you would feel bad if you did give them

away need to be passed on to new owners. Those things

could quite possibly make other people feel happy.

If you work through your clothes in the right order, which I

will share with you here, you end up with drawers and

wardrobes that make you feel happy every time you open

a drawer or walk into your wardrobe.

The other thing that I learnt while doing the research for

my own ‘Sort My Stuff “ project was that you can actually

‘create’ room just by storing your clothes differently.

With this system the clothes and soft items are folded into

rectangles, you just keep folding smaller and smaller until

the item will stand up by itself. The folded item is then

stored standing up in a drawer, in a basket or on a

shelf. When you do this you actually save space so that

you can fit more items into the same space and you can

see at a glance what is in the drawer or on the shelf. An

additional plus is that because clothes aren’t stacked on

top of each other they don’t get as crushed.


5

In a general sense you fold the long sides of each piece of

clothing towards the middle, then fold the sleeves (if there

are any) into the same rectangular area.

Then you pick up the bottom of the rectangle and fold it

towards the top, then fold in halves or thirds – at this point

I make sure that the neckline ends up on the inside so the

neck doesn’t get stretched.

Fold thin soft material more tightly than you would fold

thick fluffy materials. And if one end of your rectangle is

thicker than the other keep the thinner end in your hand

while you are folding.

Once you have an image in your mind of what the inside

of your drawer / basket / shelf will look like you can start

folding, fold each piece of clothing into a rectangle, keep

folding until it will stand up by itself.

Adjust the number of folds so that the piece of clothing fits

into the drawer nicely when standing on its edge. You

may find that it won’t stand up –and if that happens you

need to refold until you work out how that particular

garment likes to be folded, or for some of my clothes I let

them support each other in their drawers.


6

It seems silly to think that a t-shirt would have a way that it

would like to be folded (at least I thought it did) but after

experimenting it actually works! What was even stranger

is that when you fold the clothes this way they seem to

relax into the fold ….. seem a bit strange ? It did to me too

– until I actually saw a jumper do it!!

I don’t know how much time you have to devote to tidying

up your home so these sessions are designed to work with

one group/item each time, so the plan is to finish each

clothing item and then move on to the next one.


7

STEP 1 - TOPS

Collect all your tops (that is all your t-shirts, sweaters,

jumpers, singlets, camisoles, dress shirts, blouses etc),

the ones that you don’t hang together - put them on your

bed, on the floor anywhere that is clean, convenient and

easy for you to get at. Remember to include the ones in

the washing, the mending, do you have any at the dry

cleaners? Do you store your summer and winter clothes

separately? When you gather all your ‘tops/shirts’

together you may be surprised at the size of your

collection!

Have some garbage bags or boxes ready to collect the

things that don’t make you happy in.

Now it’s time to choose what makes you happy, to get you

started it might help if you think of other things that make

you happy at the same time, like your favourite colour, or a

piece of music, or a special place or person and use that

to help you decide.

Pick up each item of clothing and ask yourself if it makes

you happy, does it make you feel good? If you are using


8

colours then I would be looking for tops that give me a

‘sunshine’ feeling.

If that top / shirt doesn’t make you feel good - put it into

the bag / box ready to be handed on to someone else who

could use it. That way it can make someone else happy.

If the item does make you feel good put it in the ‘keep’

pile, to be folded up using the new space saving method

described below. See section 3 below for some hints and

tips in how to decide what should be hung. If you come

across an item and you really aren’t sure if it makes you

happy then put it in the keep pile for now and you can

come back to it later.

Once you have an idea in your head about how you want

your drawer / basket / shelf to look fold the T-shirt as

described below. Basically if this is a ‘soft’ item fold it into

a rectangle and keep folding until it stands up by itself.


9

HowtofoldaT-shirt

1. Lay the shirt down face down and flat.

2. Fold in the right side with the sleeve flat.

3. Fold back the sleeve half way.

4. Fold over the left side and repeat the sleeve fold so you’re left with a rectangle.

5. Fold in the neckline an inch or so away from the hem.

6. Fold halfway.

7. Fold in half again so it stands upright.


10

HowtofoldaSweaterorJumper

1. Lay the sweater face down and flat in front of you with the sleeves spread out.

2. Fold in the right side with the sleeve straight out.

3. Fold the sleeve over and down so it creates a triangle.

4. Repeat on the left side so you are left with a rectangle.

5. Start from the top and fold inward until it stands upright.


11

STEP 2 - BOTTOMS

Next we look at ‘bottoms’ that is the clothes that cover the

bottom half of our bodies, collect them all together in one

convenient, easy to get to location and start sorting them

into two or maybe three piles, the keep pile, the give to

others pile and the hmm need to think some more on this

one.

Collect some bags or boxes ready to take the items that

don’t make you happy.

Once again pick up each item of clothing and ask yourself

if it makes you happy, does it make you feel good?

If it doesn’t fold it up nicely and put it into the bag ready to

be handed on to someone else who could use it.


pile,

This is the way to fold jeans or casual pants.


12

HowtofoldJeans/CasualPants

1. Lay the jeans face up flat in front of you.

2. Fold left leg over the right.

3. Fold in the crotch.

4. Fold over the bottom toward the waist leaving an

2.5 cm / inch of space.

5. Fold inward until jeans stand upright.

13

STEP 3 – CLOTHES THAT HANG

When I talk to people about what clothes they hang it

sometimes seems to be determined by the type of space

they have in their wardrobes, whether they have hanging

space, shelves or drawers.

To get the best out of your clothes – that is so they look

better on you and / or last longer - its important that you

store them in a way that preserves and protects them.

Storing your clothes correctly may also mean that you

have less ironing to do – for me that’s definitely a plus!

Here’s a quick reference table to use as a guide


14

What to Hang or Fold and Why Item Fold Hang Why Knitwear and Woollens

J L Hanging will stretch out the neck and shoulders

Cotton / Linen L J Folding will mean that you will need to iron this item.

Jeans, corduroys, and chinos

J J Pants and shorts made from rugged material can be stored either way

Trousers L J They tend to wrinkle / crush easily

Skirts J J How you store you skirts will depend on the fabric, if it crushes easily then hang it if it doesn’t then perhaps you could fold.

Shirts L J Hanging means no wrinkles Jackets, Coats, Blazers

L J Hanging means no wrinkles

T-shirts J L Hanging a t-shirt will stretch out the neck and shoulders,

Ties J J Ties tend to wrinkle easily so hang or fold carefully.

Belts J J Hang them over the hook of a hanger, or roll them up.


15

Do you have any clothes / outerwear that you haven’t

sorted through yet?

If you do collect all your jackets, coats, suits into one

convenient place.

Find bags and boxes to put the things you don’t want into.

Then take each item of clothing and ask yourself does it

make you happy if it does put it aside to be hung back in

the wardrobe after you have checked to make sure that it

is ready to wear the next time you want it – that it is clean,

ironed and is in good condition (no mending required!).

If it doesn’t make you feel good then it goes into the pass

on pile.

Now that you are left with only the clothes that make you

happy you may decide to rearrange your storage space

based on the information in the “What to Hang and What

to Fold” table.

The tidying guru Mari Kondo recommends that when you

hang your clothes you hang the longest things on the left

and the shortest on the right – that way you can easily see

what you have in your wardrobe. Depending how you and


16

your wardrobe work it could be better for you if you work

right to left – experiment and see what works best for you.

If you have issues with your trousers / slacks / falling off

the coat hanger you could try the “Saville Row” way to

hang them.

1. Get a standard clothes hanger. The one that looks

like a triangle, it has two diagonal bars, and a

horizontal bar at the bottom. Preferably not a wire

one as they can sag in the middle and make your

trousers all wrinkled across the leg.

2. Hold the pants upside down by cuffs. Your thumbs

should be touching the inseams. Your fingers

should be touching the outer leg seams. The

inseams should be facing each other.

3. Place the hanger between the pant legs. It might be

easier to place the hanger on a rod first. The

horizontal bar should be between the two pant legs.

You should still be holding the pants by the cuffs.

4. Drape one leg across the horizontal bar. Pull the

leg through the hanger, and fold it across the bar.


17

5. Tug the leg down so that the cuff touches the crotch

part of the pants. Let go of the cuff.

6. Drape the other leg over the first one. Pull this pant

leg through the hanger and drape it across the

horizontal bar. Tug the leg down until the pants

hangs evenly.

7. Place the hanger in your closet. The pants now

won't slip off the hanger, no matter how much you

shake it.

Here’s an illustration to help you see how the Saville Row

hang is done.


18

See the diagram below for an illustrated example.

19

STEP 4 – UNDERWEAR & SOCKS

We are nearly there – I hope your wardrobe is looking very

organised!

So Underwear and socks collect them all – you could

divide them into individual categories so do all your socks

at once, all your knickers at once and so on.

Gather them all together and put them in one convenient

place where they are easy to reach but also where you

can spread them out so as you sort you can make distinct

piles.

Remember to collect some bags ready to put the items

that don’t make you happy into.

So you know the drill by now - pick up each item of

clothing and ask yourself if it makes you happy, does it

make you feel good?

If it doesn’t make you feel good - fold it up nicely and put

it into the bag ready to be handed on to someone else

who could use it.


20


pile.

Most of your underwear and socks can be folded so there

are some suggestions below on what seems to be the

best way to fold each item.


21

HowtoFoldyourSocks

1. Lay socks flat as a pair, one sock on top of the other.

2. Fold the toe inward about an inch from the top.

3. Fold in to the centre

4. Fold in half so it stands upright.

Note: - experiment to find out the best way to fold your

socks so that they fit into the space you are putting them

into. I find for my ankle socks that they fit nicely in the

drawer if I just lay the socks flat as a pair and then fold

them in half.


22

Howtofoldyourunderpants,pantiesandknickers!

1. Lay underwear flat in front of you

2. Fold in half lengthwise, crotch to waistband.

3. Fold in the sides. 4. Fold over crotch again so they stand upright.


23

HowtofoldyourBras–TShirt/MoldedandPadded

1. Lay bra flat in front of you

2. Hook the back together to avoid damaging fine

fabrics.

3. Fold in the sides into the cup.

4. Fold the straps down into the cup 5. Stand up in your drawer, stacking the bra’s

alongside / inside each other.

HowtofoldyourBras-Lacyandsoftcupbras

1. Lay bra flat in front of you

2. Hook the back together to avoid damaging fine

fabrics.

3. Fold in the sides into the cup.

4. Fold the straps down into the cup

5. Fold in half, with straps tucked inside.


24

STEP 5 – SHOES & HANDBAGS

The final step! How are you feeling? Is your wardrobe

looking great? Does it make you happy to walk into it?

When you open a drawer you can find exactly what you

are looking for?

In this step we are going to be working with all the clothing

that we haven’t yet sorted through.

Think about shoes (boots, sandals, thongs etc),

swimwear, snow gear, hats, scarves. And anything else

you might have that you haven’t already sorted through.

Collect them all together – although just to keep things

simple, I would probably only collect one category at a

time!

Then you go through the process again – pick up each

item and ask yourself if it makes you happy? Do you love

it?

f it makes you happy put it in your keep pile, if it doesn’t

put it in your give away pile.


25

Shoes

As you go through your shoes look for those that look a bit

tired, or could maybe do with a trip to the bootmaker /

cobbler for a new sole or heel.

5 things you can do to look after your shoes

1. Polish your leather shoes regularly to preserve

moisture, maintain shine, and protect them.

2. If the heels of your shoes are worn down or cracked

take them to a cobbler to see if they can be fixed.

3. Waterproof suede and Nubuck shoes and use a

soft bristled brush to lighlty lift away dirt.

4. Fabric or canvas shoes can often be cleaned by

hand or machine washing. Stuff them with

crumpled newspaper after washing to help them

maintain their shape while drying.

5. Rotate your shoes by wearing a different pair every

day. This will help your shoes last longer and wear

less.


26

Ways to store shoes I had a look on line and there seem to be lots and lots of

different ways to store shoes. In my case I use clear

plastic shoe boxes and keep them on a shelf in my

wardrobe or on the floor and stack them on top of each

other.

You could google for some ideas that would suit your

home or check out some of the storage shops in your area

– there are boxes, back of the door hangers, soft

containers that go under the bed.

Handbags. After deciding which handbags you want to keep by asking

yourself if it makes you happy, you need to look after the

ones you love and store them well to extend their life.

9 tips for looking after your handbags 1. Store your bags in their dust bag cover or use a

natural fibre soft pillowslip. Use bubble wrap to stuff

your bags (it doesn’t attract moths in the same way


27

as tissue paper does) that way the bag will keep its

shape better. If you don’t have a lot of room to store

your bags you could try storing them by nesting them

inside each other, keep like bags together and try

them out to see if they fit together so that they

support each other.

2. Handle your bag, especially lighter bags with clean

hands.

3. Avoid handling the designer bag after applying

beauty products, face foundations or hand creams.

4. If the weather is really bad and raining consider

using a less special handbag.

5. Be careful when you visit a hairdressers with your

bag, as hair products can easily splash onto

handbags left on the floor at your feet. Clippings of

chemically treated hair can land on the bag and

leave marks.

6. When carrying a light coloured bag consider using

pencils rather than Biros - biro can be difficult to

remove. Don't use your bag as a rest to place paper

and write notes. Pointed pens can leave impression

marks through paper rested on firm leathers.


28

7. If your bag has a chain handle, store the chain inside

the bag to avoid scratching the outside leather when

the bag is resting.

8. If you are doing a big weekly grocery shop avoid

taking your special bag to the supermarket! Trolleys

can scratch your bag and mark it permanently, as

can spillages from foodstuffs such as yoghurts,

cream, dips, squashy fruit, milk and even leaking

cleaning products.

9. For long term storage, undo strap buckles so that the

buckles don’t leave marks on the straps. Then if you

wish to wear the strap across the body messenger

style and need maximum strap length or need to

shorten it to wear underarm style at a later date there

won’t be any marks from leaving the buckles done

up.

Removing stains.

Different stains need different removal methods. Take

a look at the different stains and the ways to remove

them below


29

� Food stains: Crush white chalk and let it sit on

the stain overnight. Brush off with a clean cloth

in the morning.

� Oil stains: Put cornstarch / cornflour on the stain

immediately, rubbing it in to create heat from

friction, which will help the oil absorb. Brush the

powder off with a clean cloth after you’ve rubbed

it in—don’t let it sit on the stain.

� Ink stains: If the stain is fresh, use a white

eraser to immediately erase the spot, without

applying too much pressure so that the colour

doesn’t come off, if the ink is already set, you’ll

need a professional.

� Dirt Stains: An eraser also works for dirt stains.

� Water stains: Blot water stains, let them dry

naturally, and bring your bag to a professional

for removal.

� Odor removal: Keep a plastic bag filled with

baking soda inside your handbag. Zip the

handbag or place it in a larger bag that seals if it

doesn’t zip. Keep the baking soda in the bag for

one or two days to absorb the odor. Another


30

option? Place a couple of clothes dryer sheets

in the bag for a few days.

THE END

I hope you have enjoyed working your way through your

wardrobe using From Messy to Neat in 5 Easy Steps and

that you are enjoying easily finding the clothes you are

looking for.


31

REFERENCES

Style Basics 101: What to Hang, What to Fold

https://www.clarksusa.com/us/customer-service/shoe-care

http://www.wikihow.com/Take-Care-of-Your-Shoes

http://www.whowhatwear.com.au/handbag-care-tips-2014/

http://www.ebay.com.au/gds/10-Tips-for-Handbag-Care-/10000000012127678/g.html

“The Life Changing Magic of Tidying” by Marie Kondo

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Terri was born and raised in northern New South Wales, Australia. She is married with two grown up children and lives in Sydney, Australia. This book was written after she discovered the secrets of tidying clothes in Marie Kondo’s “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying” and wanted to share that discovery with other people.

Documents

5 Easy Steps from this to this - Help to Sort Your Stuff€¦ · · 2017-05-25happy way. While you are doing this you might want to ... for me that’s definitely a plus! ... If