Skip to main content

What To Do With That Pile of Clothes

Every bedroom has this pile. Our bedroom pile is on a bench. Lots of times you find it on a chair. Some people call it the chair-drobe.

A chair-drobe is one of those piles that just never seems to go away.

Are you ready for some ideas to help your chair-drobe situation? Read on, or scroll down for the video.

Clean + Dirty = Clirty

First category of things in the pile, “clirty” clothes. Clirty clothes aren’t really clean, but they aren’t dirty either. They’re clirty.

Here are my favorite ways to handle the clirties:

  • Hang some hooks near that chair or maybe in a certain area of the closet. Visit the hooks at least once a week to put the hanging things away or wear them again.
  • Designate a spot in the closet or drawer for the dirty stuff. This is way easier if your closet and drawers aren’t STUFFED! I put my clirty hanging clothes back in my closet hanging, but delineated by empty hangers.

Tried them on but didn’t wear them

Second category, clean clothes you’ve tried on but not worn.

  • I like to trick myself a little here and put these items on top of a hamper full of clean clothes. That way I’m already mentally geared up to fold and put things away, 3 more things on top isn’t a big deal at that point. Just grab everything on the chair (or in the pile) that’s clean when you bring your clean laundry to be folded.
  • Or, put the clothes from your chair away every night when you are getting undressed. Hang the clean ones back up.

Missing buttons and ripped hems

Third category, clothes that need mending.

  • Question, where are they going to be mended? I take almost every single rip, missing button, or torn seam, to my dry cleaner. Yes. I could absolutely do it myself. I could also make my own bread. But I don’t. And I won’t for a long time, so I pay the $5-7 and have it done much faster.
  • If you will do the fixing yourself, will it be while watching TV? Will it be in the bedroom? That’s where the clothes should go. Ideally this is only 1-2 items. So it won’t be a big pile on your couch. But if the sewing kit and the pants are right there next time you sit down to binge watch Succession. It will probably happen faster. 

I’m just not into it

Fourth issue, you hate hanging up clothes so they stay on the chair.

  • Again hooks can be a big help here. Put up some really heavy duty hooks (like in a ski lodge) in your master bath or in and near the master closet, even on the bedroom walls. 

Well begun is half done

The basic answer to a chairdrobe is to stay on top of it before it gets too big. I tackle our pile of miscellaneous clothes every time I’m putting away a load of laundry.

After all, chairs in the bedroom are meant for much sexier things than a pile of clothes… Like reading!

Thank you for reading (and watching below). Please sign up for our newsletter and get tips right in your mailbox.

NONNAHS

More snappy reading on this subject:

Can a Professional Organizer Fix Your DOOM Piles?

Advice for living with a disorganized person