A Clothing Piler Oxymoron

Dear Katie & Kelly: My husband is a Classic of some sort. He’s fastidious, cleans the kitchen, likes everything tidy and generally keeps everything tucked away in their proper homes. But for the life of me, I can’t keep him from folding his clothes and putting them on the bench at the end of our bed (which is supposed to be for sitting but the folded clothes render it useless) instead of his dresser. I can’t stand the way it looks. I’ve tried the nagging route to no avail. Help!!

Signed: Powerless in Pittsburgh

Dear Powerless: Nagging works right up until you stop nagging and who wants to spend their life as a nag?? Our hunch is that since he’s a Classic and not a typical piler there’s a likely problem with wherever he deposits his clothes. Nine times out of ten if a Classic isn’t properly putting things away then you know the problem isn’t them but rather it’s too difficult to put something away or retrieve it in its proper home. Our advice? Make sure his drawers are not overstuffed or hard to open/shut. Ditto for closet. Resolve with decluttering, a bigger/newer dresser, or both. If those areas are not an issue maybe get desperate and leave a sign on the bench, “Don’t even THINK about it buster!! This is a NO CLOTHES bench” … he’ll either heed your warning or you’ll find him sitting naked on the bench.

All our best: K & K