A friend of mine is “grappling” with his sock drawer and asked for some advice on how to tame the beast. I’ve seen many a sock drawer as a de-clutterer and some were not pretty. There’s the “just toss all socks whether they match or not into the drawer “ method or rolling pairs or tying pairs together. I have the luxury of a large drawer to store my hosiery so my system is very simple. Before the organizing can take place it is imperative to go through all of your socks/hosiery to weed out the intact ones from those that have holes or tears or loose elastic. Once you have done this you are ready to organize!
My main application of all de-cluttering is dividing items into zones or “like = like.” My chosen method is rolling. Yes, to some this could be tedious when folding clean laundry but I find it therapeutic. On the left side of the drawer I have grouped all my “short socks, i.e. ankle, athletic – this category is quite small so it takes up little room. The other 2/3 of the drawer is used for my knee socks – yes a throwback to my Catholic school days but you know in the winter, under pants, they work well at keeping me warm. At times it’s hard to buy them because the trend has been ankle socks so I load up every time I go to Europe. Did you know that Paris seems to only have black socks and Florence only has navy – never shall the two colors meet in the same city… but I digress...
Since I only have navy and black palettes to work with, the entire navy collection is grouped together in the back and the black are in the forefront. I organize them in rows – it’s a little off-kilter since I don’t use dividers. Cotton socks stay with cotton and wool/cashmere stay together. I also have a very small area designated for tights – black opaque of course! They are rolled neatly into balls but since I am short on space for them I double up to 2 tiers. My rule when dealing with hosiery is if you wear the item and the elastic is shot or there are holes is to toss immediately – you don’t want them back in the mix. I just wish more companies branded themselves so I can keep track of which socks/tights worked or not. To give all of the accessories equal time, I rotate – it prolongs the life of the item
If you’re looking constantly for a sock mate but can’t locate it – I think sock dividers will become your new best friend and eliminate future orphans. One client uses the narrow box type dividers. I’ve worked with the diamond drawer organizers too. You can find both types at Bed Bath and Beyond
Ok, now that you have that drawer under control, walk on!
2009 Rosemary Flannery All Rights Reserved
