Trials of Organization - t-shirt folding in drawers

I am a simple mom with a simple blog. No muss no fuss, but I get to the heart of the matter for us moms. So you know I try the things we all see on the web and on Pinterest; the ones that I think are most useful to myself or to other moms like me, I give it a go.  This week's trial is the whole t-shirt folding into upright position in drawers to save space and clearly see your shirts. (WHEW! That's a long explanation!) I watched some tutorials and here are my findings with pictures that you can check out what I did and follow along.
First, I do not have, nor will I purchase, the t-shirt or shirt folding tool.  I have a large home, but seeing as it is an old farmhouse, there is just no storage.  Maybe if I had a larger laundry room, I might purchase, but truthfully, if you aren't an absolute perfectionist, then it is not needed.  I pulled out all of my husband's t-shirts and removed his shorts from the bottom drawer of his armoire.  You could not tell what shirt was what, and I agree this method is amazing for seeing what you want to see any time and it also can be made even easier by color coding.

1. I start by laying the shirt face down.



2. Next, I take the side on my left and fold over to the middle, making sure the sleeve is neatly folded down.



3. Then, you do the same thing with the other side folding to meet in the middle.



4. Almost done...we then fold the bottom halfway up to the middle and then fold the top back to you so you can see the shirt's front for the end result.



This is the finished result below...his new drawer!

Previously, his shirts took up a two foot high gap on a long shelf in the armoire and only had two columns across; they were jammed in there.  You could not see any of what you wanted, and the problem is that shirts don't get rotated.  Here, you are always perfectly organized and more likely to wear different shirts if you can access them all easily. He has some really cool band t-shirts to sports apparel. He really could not wear the same one for months if he could access them more easily. Now we can see if he does!

Time of project:
35 minutes or so and this was  a LOT of shirts.  I could then put my hubby's shorts on the shelf vacated and you CAN see all of them as well now as they are flat and viewed now from top to bottom. Before, they were all buried in the one big, long drawer that now is home to his t-shirts.  I also opened up a whole drawer on the side because I had the space to add his white shirts to the drawer (they are on the far right and not seen in the last picture).

Things to consider:

The only thing that I don't do that some tutorials show you, is that they fold the shirt in half yet again.  My husband wears XXL shirts...not happening in this scenario to work well enough for me. What an amazing space saving idea this is, plus you can ACTUALLY SEE YOUR SHIRTS!!

I find that the dry fit shirts and the super thin, cotton ones that are flimsy or a little unstable do not do as well. Other than that, if you pull one out, they ALL STAY STANDING!!!

No need for fancy tools when you can do it nicely yourself.  It may not be spot on accurate and perfect, but it is certainly working for me.
I could not believe the shirts he has that we have not seen in AGES because they were always hidden in the pile. Once at the bottom, they likely stay there. Game day, no problem... find all of your collegiate or professional sports wear easily.

I love this idea and I give it TWO THUMBS UP!