Hang 'em!

I fold mine but I keep them on a shelf so I got plenty of real estate for them to live for the 9 months of the year that they are collecting dust.

I move a few pair of jeans into some storage in the laundry room. Short summers here, so the shorts go in the laundry room for the winter and the jeans move back. Only takes up six inches, but just makes it easier for me to find what I want. I don't want anymore dressers in the bedroom so I keep a spare in the laundry room for the "grow into" clothing, ski gear and stuff like that.

Gloria

I also hang up shorts and swap them out for the winter/summer switch.

This month I realized I don't need more than 4 pairs at the most. I work full time so only wear them in the evening and on weekends. Bye-bye shorts that aren't my favorites!

I "file" my seasonal clothes in my two barrels mostly. I am going to try those space bags for blankets.
I have two barrels that I have in two corners and they have long cloths over them and lamps so they look like decor.

I just hang mine on hangers, using clothespins. DH folds his and stores them in his dresser. In the winter, they get packed in storage tubs. And just like Julie, I got rid of several this spring, and am planning another "go-through" in the fall (or maybe sooner). And what is really surprising is that I realized only yesterday that I forget where I put my summer slacks. You can tell I don't go out very often!

I pare down my clothes from time to time. Three pairs of shorts is enough. I own three pairs of jeans-one for dressing up or going out (even just shopping), sloppy for around the house and dumpy for painting and other messy chores. And I cut the legs off my jeans when the knees get holes,turn them into around-the house and yard shorts.

Doesn't anyone use shorts in the winter though? I use them some days when I'm lounging around indoors.

quirkyquercus, you've got your heat up higher than ours if you can run around in shorts in the winter. I don't really have lounging clothing. As a mom of four, between work and the kids I don't lounge much. I love our cool summers and as my legs are starting to get that middle aged veiny look on the back, I don't even wear them much in the summer.

Gloria

NO shorts in our Michigan house in the winter! Our house is cool enough to always need a sweater or sweatshirt over a turtleneck. LOL

Hard to imagine being cold tonight... it's 95+ degrees outside and I'm in a house with no air conditioning.

quirkyquercus, yes, we use shorts year round. And not because our heat is turned up high! Winter isn't very cold in Houston and even when it gets near freezing one week, it will likely get up to 80 a week or two later.

My shorts are folded and on a shelf, but I think I may change to hanging them up after reading this, don't know why I never considered it before, since it's one of the few things I fold! Of course hanging up "nice" shorts seems reasonable, but hanging up my grungy "paint" shorts just seems odd, so I guess I'll have to keep a little shelf space for them.

I put my shorts on a shelf and the kid's in drawers. I hang the bigger stuff like pants and shirts.

We wear shorts here in New Mexico in winter too. Winter coats and gloves are the bigger problem since we only need them a few days out of the year. I wear sandels almost year round.

I wear shorts, at least in the house, all year. I prefer cleaning in shorts. Either way, it's hot enough to wear them every month except December-Feb.

I have them separated into good (as in being seen in public), around the house and gardening/cleaning. The good ones are kept on hangers and the rest on open shelves in the closet.
I do the same with tee shirts, casual summer tops and jeans.
Although jeans have even more subdivisions.

Thanks for all the input everyone!

It seems I've phrased my question incorrectly. What I really wanted to know was what you do with them in the summer! LOL!! My use of the word *store* undoubtedly confused everyone.

The idea of hanging them is a good one although with both DH's and mine, they'd take up a good deal of space. Guess there isn't any magical alternative though. It's either a lot of drawer space or a lot of cupboard space.

Winter storage for shorts, tops . . . is in two large *tubs*. I fold the shorts then as it's no big deal to iron/de-wrinkle those that I take with me on winter vacation.

Thanks for sharing!
Holly

Just saw something interestng in Target. It was a dresser with two boards that went up and had a hanging pole over. That way you have short hanging space over the dresser. It wasn't a deep dresser so it was meant to go inside a closet. I know that HOme Depot and those stores have closet stuff but this was different, as it looked like something that was easy to put up. I hang my stuff, but noticed when we were traveling that we don't use that many shorts anymore. I wear capris now. Not my husband of course. Be warned--by the time I embrace a fashion its doomed.

Marge, you probably saw the California Closet stuff at Target. I'm not sure it's meant to be that short. I think they just display it that way. Of course, you could configure it whatever way you wanted.

Here is a link that might be useful: California Closets at Target

I own only a few pair of shorts (mostly running). They are stored on a shelf that is between the two hanging rods.

I do not wear shorts in the winter! Heck, I hardly wear them in the summer unless I am walking (then I wear my athletic shorts).

I hang shorts using the wooden pants hangers. Then I twist a long plastic twist-tie into a loop and hang it over the hook of the top pair and then use that loop to hold the next pant-hanger hook, which will have a loop which holds the next one, and so on. From top to bottom, about 8 pairs of shorts will hang in the space of one pair of slacks, with very little wrinkling. Make the loops long enough so the next hangar's hook is below the wooden holders [those clampy things that actually grip the pants' hems].

Here's a folding tip I resisted for 16 years (and am still trying to come to terms with -- but it makes sense!)

My husband alternates the direction of his folded items: tee-shirts, shorts, polo shirts, boxers, etc.

Typically I fold these items, one of top of the other, into their respective piles, and leave them on the bed for DH to put away. One night I was watching him put them away, and he alternated the direction of his clothes. He claims that they take up less space that way, and I think he is right.

For example -- short-sleeved polo shirts -- he sets a folded shirt down, the next shirt on top would be rotated 180 degrees (not flipped over), the next would be like the first, and so on. A pile of 10 shirts, still face-up, that used to take up a whole draw in height now takes up less space. Same if he places these shirts on a shelf.

Or shorts, assuming they are folded in half -- instead of having all the shorts so that the waists line up one on top of the other, alternate their directions (rotating 180 degrees) and they take up less space.

This way of storage does not LOOK as good as if all the folded sides were facing one direction -- but, it IS a space-saver.

His motto is "form follows function".....

Maura PS -- this tip works well when packing too, unless you are a "roller"

Maura, your DH's method also keeps the stack from falling over. That's how I do it when I'm folding, esp. the shorts

Maura, I agree that it saves space to alternate the shorts, but I need the "visual calm" too (I just didn't know what to call it before today! LOL).

Holly, I really did pare down my shorts stock. Much easier to deal with them now!

Julie-

meldy's idea is good but you can actually buy a hanger (usually made for skirts) that will hold up to 8 skirts or shorts in the space of one hanger. I don't wear shorts, just capris, which I hang. But I can fit alot of skirts in a small area.