What to do when your partner can't keep their clothes tidy

When life is busy and you work bloody hard in your job, and you’re an awesome parent, and all-round top human, sometimes the lowest thing on your list of priorities is putting your clothes away tidily. And that’s ok! We all have our strengths - and really the most important thing is the top human bit, right? Yes. The answer is yes.

My belief is that we shouldn’t attempt to change who people are, in the pursuit of tidiness. If you’re a chucker, you are not magically going to transform into a folder overnight. So rather than try and force a new behaviour, let’s work with what we have and provide a solution that suits the individual.

In this example, baskets are added to the shelves to form “targets”. Of course I started by folding the clothes into the baskets, but my expectation is that my client would revert to chucking immediately. That’s cool! Now he has a target for the chucking...

🎯 T-shirts in there! Score!

🎯 Shorts in there! 3 points!

🎯 Jeans in there! Bullseye!

And when the time comes for a tidy up, it’s a simple matter of putting everything back in the original baskets (folded or scrunched because this is real life 😉) and it looks instantly better than when the clothes were stuffed loosey goosey on the shelf.

If you look at organisation photos online and think “My family could never achieve that!” then look for real-life examples. Perfection looks great for the ‘gram, but the solutions have to work in the real world too. That’s what I’m here for - solutions that work for normal, every day people like you and me.

As a decluttering coach, I create family-friendly solutions that work for everyone in your home - no matter what their natural tendencies are. Book your free 15 minute consultation now, or learn more about Clutter Busting Bootcamp - my popular fast-action programme for people wanting results in a short window of time.

When it feels too busy to put things away tidily, it’s important to create solutions that work with a client’s natural tendencies.

Baskets form targets for the client to aim for. Baskets make tidying up easier when things eventually become messy.