One of the things I like about The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up is Marie Kondo’s perspective on her possessions. When she gets home, she empties her purse and thanks it for working hard for her. And while it may seem odd or quirky to us Americans, I think we could learn from her attitude. I like the idea of showing gratitude for what we have and wonder if we would be less inclined to buy unneeded things if we felt appreciative not just of our things, but the roles they fulfill.

Marie also has an interesting take on socks. She believes our socks work hard and rolling them into potato-esque balls does not show them proper respect and care.

After tackling my wardrobe and donating several bags of clothes, I was faced with putting away the things I was keeping. I decided to start with my socks. While I don’t believe I’ve psychologically damaged my socks, I want to take care of them so they last a long time. Folding them probably is better for the elastic, a point she makes in the book. Though since becoming a mom I confess to not bothering with the potato roll either. I’d been stuffing them into my sock drawer, and did the same with my husband’s and daughter’s socks. My husband was the one who gave me the idea; his dresser has two small drawers for socks, which he separated into dress and athletic. Since I prefer to buy packages of identical athletic socks, grabbing a matching pair was easy and quick. Current second grade fashion trends are all about mismatched socks, so Emma didn’t care about the messy tangle in her drawer either.

But I have to say, I’m happy with the results of being nice to my socks. I don’t have to cram the drawer closed because everything fits nicely. And it looks much more presentable, even if I’m the only one who cares.

My sock drawer.

After my sock drawer was in order, I followed Marie’s advice and attempted to fold my shirts and pants to stand upright. I had no problem folding my pants and can now do it quickly. But I found her explanations of how to fold shirts a little tough to follow, so I searched for a video. Seeing her technique in action was really helpful.

I’ve been following Marie’s strategy for folding clothes for about a month and it’s been working really well. It’s great to open the drawers and see all my of shirts.

Long sleeve shirts, folded Kon Mari Style.

I folded my pants the same way. Pants are easier to fold. You lay them out, and fold into thirds, then fold again. The photo below shows all my pants, minus the ones I’m wearing right now. My sweatpants are in another drawer with my exercise clothes.

All my pants fit in one drawer.

So maybe it’s not magic, but my dresser has never been so organized. I’ve been wearing things I hadn’t worn often because they were squished in the bottom of the drawer, and I prefer having my pants in a drawer because it was harder to see them when they were hanging in the closet. For once I’m not tempted to shop because I have no room in my drawers and don’t want to upset the balance. Maybe that’s the most significant thing!