The Folding Lady: Tools and Tricks for Making the Most of Your Space Room by Room

by Sophie Liard

Making her debut in 2020 and already followed by more than 3.8 million fans on TikTok, the internet sensation The Folding Lady shows everyone how to use her smart and simple home hacks and tips to fold any household item and organize difficult areas to create extra space and improve functionality in the home.

In this illustrated guide, Sophie Liard brings her expertise together and teaches you how to fold all of your household items, from boxers, leggings, and socks to sheets, towels and even napkins and wrapping paper. The Folding Lady shows you that anything is foldable and shares the inner joy that folding brings and offers extra tips on organizing drawers, desks, snack drawers, cosmetics, and more to make life a little easier and more manageable.

Sophie encourages you to take charge of small, simple, and achievable tasks. Sometimes you have to let go of trying to tackle the big stuff and make the most of the little things that can be controlled....

Genres: Nonfiction

239 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw The Folding Lady on a talk show years ago and knew I needed the book to learn how to fold a fitted sheet. I've been taught, but it just doesn't stick with me, I need to be able to refer back constantly. So, I bought it and discovered it had words, there was a story, not just a glossary of items to fold. I looked up fitted sheet, folded it once and forgot about it and the book. As the end of the year approaches I decided to fit this book in to increase my final count. So glad I did. It's a good book to read as new year's resolutions loom ahead of us. How to get organized, get rid of what we don't need. After Value and Reset. I'm motivated! I just wish I'd started the book a month earlier to learn how to wrap a present diagonally, I tossed a few sheets away that were too short.

[Peggy McCoy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm even sad my library spent money on this empty little book. I guess this was a lot more engaging on instagram! I kept turning pages looking for substance, it wasn't there.

[Jacqueline M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this book was very self-helpish which I famously hate. But I see how she needed to lay the foundation for the second half. I really enjoyed the idea of "resetting" a space, and her references to retail operations was something that really resonated. I'm excited to sit down and think about what problems I need to solve in my current space (which is, admittedly an ongoing construction zone train wreck situation). I'm often getting frustrated at slow pace of improvement and find myself longing for my pretty Louisville house with it's perfect shelving and carefully curated systems that worked perfectly for our lives. But this book helped me realize that I need to accept the space I'm in now and make it functional instead of pining away for something that isn't my current reality.

The folding and drawer organization section was top notch. Great book even if it did start a little slow for me.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

The big take away from this book is her insistence that you must make your space your own. No matter how pretty it is if it doesn’t work for you or if you just hate it you won’t keep it organized. I have incorporated many of her ideas, some work, some seem senseless for me. I learned a certain way to fold in the navy and that has continued to work for me but I did try Sophie’s way. The book is well written and I am happy for the success this young woman is enjoying. She deserves it. There is after value in book regardless of your personal definition.

[Bobbiann Markle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea because I love all those cool folding hacks, but I found this book kind of meh. Maybe it’s because I’ve already read a number of other organizing books, but there are only so many useful ways to fold things, and a significant part of the book is about her life and reasons for folding and organizing rather than actually what to do.

[Sunni | vanreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love minimalism, perhaps not so much organizing since I think there’s no point organizing a lot of stuff meticulously. It’s just too much work. Would recommend for people that like to organize meticulously (there are a lot of helpful tips on folding). Personally I like Marie Kondo’s more minimalist approach to cleaning.

Also who does laundry loads every day?? That’s so wasteful of water.

Thank you HarperCollins Canada for sending me this to review.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of useful information. I’m inspired to be more organized.

[Susan Kendrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was more of a skim than a read. I picked it up because I love books on organizing and then saw that this lady is famous on social media simply for folding clothes! Amazing! I don’t think I’d recommend this book - it’s much more satisfying just to browse her social media - but good on Sophie for capitalizing on the opportunities available via the internet!

[Teal Veyre · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to DNF. It's just so boring! My morning sickness is far too bad for me to push through boring books

[Chomiczkowe.recenzje · Rating 4 out of 5]

Przed książką "The Folding Lady. Poskładaj się" Sophie Liard nie znałem jej konta na Instagramie, więc tytuł ten był dla mnie nowością pod każdym względem. Postanowiłem jednak po niego sięgnąć, ponieważ stwierdziłem, że może pomoże mi uporządkować niektóre miejsca w domu i dowiem się z niego czegoś nowego. Po części uważam, że osiągnąłem swój cel, ponieważ są rzeczy z tej książki, które na pewno wypróbuję w mieszkaniu.

Na początku muszę przyznać, że zaskoczyłem się tym, jak powoli na początku szła mi lektura tej książki. Byłem przekonany, że książka o takiej tematyce i do tego niezbyt gruba nie zajmie mi dużo czasu, jednak wstęp był dosyć długi i na jego lekturę zeszło mi trochę czasu. Nie była to jednak strata czasu, ponieważ motywował mnie on do sprzątania i zrobienia czegoś w mieszkaniu.

Kolejne części książki to już praktyczne porady, jak składać najprzeróżniejsze rzeczy. Czytanie tego na raz jest trochę nie do końca dobre, bo i tak nie zapamiętamy tego wszystkiego. Uważam, że najlepiej mieć tę książkę po prostu pod ręką, by zawsze móc po nią sięgnąć, by zobaczyć co możemy zmienić w naszym układaniu.

Uważam, że książka "The Folding Lady. Poskładaj się" jest dobra i przydatna. Warto mieć ją u siebie w domu i korzystać z niej przy domowych porządkach.

Więcej moich recenzji znajdziecie na Instagramie @chomiczkowe.recenzje, gdzie serdecznie zapraszam

[Brigid · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library on a whim because I liked the concept: if merchandising techniques make a store feel organized, welcoming, and/or special could that also work for your home? As someone who really enjoyed reading Marie Kondo and the way her techniques focus on our relationships to the material items, I thought it could be interesting to see how how changing the perspective to home first would change the dynamic. Well, it doesn't because this doesn't actually have any real information other than "fold things this way" and try to like your home. Perhaps this schtick makes more sense to those starting out in first apartments who barely know how to fold their pants. But I'm a grown ass woman, and at this point I can fold my tee shirts and socks just fine. I get that she needed a philosophy of some sort to sell this book, but there is just nothing original here. (Maybe it makes more sense on TikTok. And that was not a sentence I thought I'd be typing today.) As for the basics of organizing, everyone from Martha Stewart to Real Simple has covered that. Marie Kondo really stands apart by adding in the psychological aspects that help people work through the issues with organizing/purging. This book isn't bad, it's just unnecessary and, while this is superficial on my part, it bothers me that it looks like it was designed in Word.

[Vanessa Sylvie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Si tu ne sais toujours pas plier un drap contour, c'est pour toi.

Mais non, sérieux, je suis Sophie @thefoldinglady depuis la pandémie et cela m'a beaucoup aidé à faire plus avec moins côté espace et rangement avec tout le chamboulement d'avoir deux espaces de télétravail (dont un qui devrait disparaître sous peu).

J'aime beaucoup la notion du RESET (essentiel pour le garde-manger) et de repenser ses espaces au fil de ses besoins. Plier ses bas et ses bobettes ça semble niaiseux, mais je trouve ça tellement efficace, c'est ce que Sophie appelle le After Value.

Si t'aimerais être un peu plus organisé dans tes affaires, je te recommande fortement ce livre et de suivre Sophie sur Instagram.

[Mapleleaf · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Folding Lady by Sophie Liard was an error. I asked for The Folding Book but the library bought the other - same idea, different presentation. Folding Lady has hand-drawn diagrams that was confusing at times unless you have the patience to learn her codes. Most of the tips about organization echo Marie Kondo's or are common sense so not much is new. The Folding Book may be easier as the step-by-step are in pictures rather than diagrams.
Through the book, I learned that Liard is famous on Tik Tok for her folding techniques which may be a better way to learn than the diagrams. Good on her for capitalizing on a skill that I assumed was something everyone learned while growing up. I guess not all kids helped out, did they?

[Cassie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love organizing. I love fun folds. I know spaces have to work for the season you are in - so maybe that whole section just wasn’t as good as other books I have read (The Lazy Genius, Cozy Minimalist Home). I have never seen the authors TikTok but I’m super happy for her impressive Covid lockdown successes. This book was a bit of a let down - editing seemed questionable - some stuff would make the “best of” without being mentioned and other portions seemed to be copy and pasted duplicate information.
Also, going into a ton of detail on stuff that is pretty simple but having absolutely no help whatsoever about folding a fitted sheet was a disappointing.

[Pippin · Rating 1 out of 5]

We should have warning labels on books written by influencers to spare the innocent buyers from all the badly written narcissism. No, we haven’t all heard of you and going viral does NOT create writing skills. This is much more of an autobiography than a housekeeping book, folding or cleaning is really not the focus here and those parts aren’t very helpful. This book brings nothing to the world but more waste. It exactly copies the folds in Spark Joy by Marie Kondo (without crediting her) but with clunky awful diagrams. I am so glad I borrowed it from the library before purchasing! A fine example of why influencers are so cringe.

[Celeste Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I had social media I enjoyed following Sophie, and honestly, I loved this book even more.

Her concepts of after value and RESET are amazingly helpful. Even though I don’t use most of her folds, her ideas (and SKUBBs as organizers, ifkyk) are so helpful and applicable to anyone. I loved her journey and how she finds joy in living in her space, value in ongoing tasks like laundry, and appreciating what she has, rather than getting caught up in consumerism. She is practical. You won’t find this book preachy or unattainable. There’s something for everyone.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some great suggestions on how to reset your space to suit your needs, as well as informative diagrams of how to fold certain things to fit in your newly reset spaces. There are some fun folds as well (i.e., cool napkin folds and gift wrapping). While I enjoyed this one, I am glad that I got it at the library as opposed to buying it since the author seems to have a huge online presence with a lot of how-to videos. It was interesting reading a bit about the author's backstory and how she came to be know as "The Folding Lady" though.

[Amanda Neace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the folding lady on Instagram. I was excited to read her book. The only problem is- I’m a library user and this is definitely a book that needs to be purchased so you can continue to reference. I suppose I can save her tiktok and Instagram videos of certain folds as well. She’s so innovative in her folding- I love it. The rest of the information about organizing etc. was clever for beginners but mostly stuff I felt I was aware of already. A great reference.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a skim read through at a public library as found Marie Kondo’s folding tips handy + from time to time unsuccessfully strive to be more minimalist! I found this book piggy-backs on Marie’s ideas. In parts it’s a Mum’s memoir + “self-help” style saga as well. I don’t want a life of endless folding of far too much stuff. I’m trying to shop less (like my childhood days) & donate things I’m not using to charity.

[Leona · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy organization. I don’t TikTok or Instagram. Without knowing the author's persona, I felt this was a good source but nothing new. I liked her relatable writing style but wished there were a few more photos, which I’m sure is the idea - to get a reader to follow online platforms. No thanks. I did like the concept of 'After Value'.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 100 pages or so are more philosophical thoughts on our relationship with stuff before the practical folding guide begins. As a long time follower of Sophie on Instagram I enjoyed the book as a longer form version of what she shares there. I would have liked to see more of her folds detailed along with some photos of finished folds vs just diagrams.

[McKenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.75/5

So this may be my fault but I expected this to be more along the lines of Marie Kondo versus a literal guide by guide folding manual. With the new knowledge of the book's purpose, I tried to approach it with an open mind, but the content for that was just not engaging personally. It was not good.

[Tera · Rating 4 out of 5]

TBH I had not heard of The Folding Lady from TikTok, but I am glad I read this book. She gives ideas about spatial organization and considers smaller spaces, like apartments, and provides practical ideas on how to fold laundry so that it is more efficient.

[Edie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was much I liked about this book. The folding tricks and organizational suggestions were excellent. But in addition to this, the author gave a a run down on her life and life lessons. That was something I could have done without.

[Ruhm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't know she was some sort of tictoker or whatever. The book is 1/3 filler, the folds are the same thing you find on the vintage advice columns or marie kondo. Fine I guess if you haven't seen them.

Checked her YT. Not interested.

[Cindy Duckworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book. Will put some of these into practice. Makes folding laundry a bit more fun!

[Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the diagrams showing exactly how to fold various items. This is what I found most useful.

[Judy Aulik · Rating 2 out of 5]

A excellent concept--storage and taking care of possessions--is rather limp in book format. As I have never seen her videos, I assume they're easier to follow. This book could use more illustrations.

[Linnea]

I skimmed most of this book and really focused in on the folding instructions. I found the socks and fitted sheets the most satisfying.

[Anu · Rating 2 out of 5]

If preferred more illustrations the... book was too wordy