If you had talked to most of us pre-2020 I bet that jeans were a daily staple in pretty much every wardrobe. However, these days putting on a pair of jeans might feel more like you are dressing up to head to a ball than going to the grocery store. Let’s be honest jeans have been temporarily replaced by leggings and joggers as the go-to pant of choice for many of us. But we can’t give up on our jeans! Someday, and hopefully soon, we will be back out there in the world and rocking that denim. So today we are diving into all things jean organization to get your denim duds organized and at the ready.
Denim can be a hard category to organize for many reasons. First but not least, jeans are bulky and can take up a lot of space. Secondly, there are often a lot of emotional attachments to denim – from the jeans you wore to the first concert with your husband to the pair that you know will fit as soon as you lose that quarantine 15. And finally denim styles seem to change like the wind. There are a lot of millennials out there right now holding on to those skinny jeans no matter what Gen Z says but secretly experimenting with other styles and even pulling some of those wide legs pairs out from their past. Before you determine the best way to store your jeans it is important to declutter your denim. As with everything we organize, start by taking everything out (yep, ALL the pairs), sort through them to pull out any that are ripped, don’t fit or are just not your style anymore and then categorize the pairs that need to be organized back into your closet or dresser.
Determining the best way to store your jeans is likely going to depend more on your closet and what space you have to devote to denim vs. the jeans themselves. Unlike some pieces of clothing, like sweaters that are more fragile and need to be stored with extreme care, jeans are pretty durable and adaptable. There are four main ways you can store your jeans: hanging, folded on shelf, folded in a drawer or with an S-hook.
How to Organize Denim
Hanging Jeans – One of the options to store your beloved pairs of jeans is hanging over a hanger. There are a few things to keep in mind when hanging denim.
Selecting the hanger type is going to be crucial for hanging your jeans (see my post all about hangers and how to pick the right hanger for your closet here). For denim you are going to need to select a hanger that is sturdy and won’t warp over time carrying the weight of the jeans. I like these wooden hangers or this metal option as a sturdy option that will stand the test of time.
When you are hanging your denim always hang the uneven part of the fold (ahem, the butt) towards the wall. This will keep your closet looking neat and tidy.
Let items that need to be hung take priority over denim in your closet. As I mentioned above jeans are adaptable so don’t hang your jeans if you are short on hanging space in your closest.
Folded on a Shelf – Folding jeans on a shelf if a go to for our team as long as you have the space. Shelves allow you to create neat stacks of jeans that are easy to grab and go and take up less space than hanging. A couple tips:
Don’t stack too high! We have all experienced the crumbling tower of Levis at one time or another in our lives. Because the waste bands make one part of the jeans thicker than another the stacks start to tip forward if you get higher than about 5 or 6 pairs. Try to create multiple stacks (like the photo) to keep them standing tall.
Shelf dividers (like these here or here) are a great option for storing jeans on a shelf. They help you keep the stack standing tall and not falling over into one another.
Folded in a Drawer – Storing jeans in a drawer is a great option as long as you fold the jeans in a file fold and don’t stack them on top of one another. File folding the jeans (like this here) allows you to see all of the pairs at once so you can easily grab which one you need. If you stack jeans in a drawer one on top of another the bottom pair will never see the light of day and you will end up digging through to find the right one creating a huge mess. In addition to file folding, drawer dividers are a great way to keep a denim drawer divine.
S-Hook – If you really want to make it feel like you are shopping everyday in your closet, S-Hooks are an option for hanging your jeans but be wary as they can look messy. You want your closet to look very Nordstrom Denim Bar and not Forever 21 at the end of the night. These S-Hooks here are a great option as they are sturdy but also look nice in your closet. To hang your denim on a hook, fold the pair of jeans in half front to front (you should have the two back pockets on the outside of the fold). Once folded the two side belt loops will be touching at front – slip both of them over the hook. This will keep the jeans from coming apart once hung in your closet.
TELL ME: how do you store your denim? Are you team hanging or team fold? Or do we have any s-hooks out there?
Favorite Products for Organizing Jeans
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