Clothes Organization

The words in the title of this post have been my bane for quite a few years. Clothes organization is the most overwhelming process of keeping my home (a close second is the constant tumbleweeds of Molly hair that accumulate within just hours after sweeping). I have never found a way to do it that isn't hard to start, maintain, and use on a regular basis.

My basic method for the past few years has been to sort by size and season. (Thankfully, with all boys, there's no need to sort for gender!) So I had tubs (or bags, when we overflow the tubs), labeled "3T summer", "9-12 months winter" etc. That worked just fine for one boy, and pretty well for two boys, since they're so close in age and size anyway. Throw in a third little one and the fact that I started using cloth diapers, and it all went out the window. With cloth diapers, baby bottoms tend to need a bit more room, so I had to size up alot. I was having to get out 12 month clothes for my 6 month old, but only the pants or rompers... and then trying to resort his outgrown clothes just became a nightmare!

Boy number 4 made it all the worse, as he got chunkier and chunkier, but not much taller. Now, at 17 months, he still fits into 9-12 month size pants, but 2T shirts. Which box do I get out?! How do I keep it all straight?! Ack!!!

You can see the stress it has caused me, just the burden of thinking about it. Poor Nathan's closet has had 4 totes in it, with the contents strewn about liberally, with no side up regarding what fits and what doesn't. For the bigger boys, everything has just been thrown into several large totes of "Winter Clothes" and "Summer Clothes" and everyone tries on everything as we try to sort things out at the season changes. Not very efficient, to say the least!

Then, I stumbled across "My Blessed Home", made by another Christian mama, of 6 children. It has SO many awesome organization tips! And, no, I don't know her, and she's not paying me, lol! I have just been so blessed by her suggestions that I want to share.

Anyway, I went immediately to her page on "Clothes Storage", and was really drawn to her idea. Sorting by "grow into" boxes, rather than a particular size! It makes so much sense, since sizes can vary so much between brands and children. It took me a few months of mulling it over in my head, trying to get an idea for how it would work. And now I've jumped right in! So far, I have sorted the mess of clothes in Nathan's closet. He now has two bins of stuff that are too small (labeled "Baby, winter" and "Baby, summer") and one bin of things to grow into - not sorted by season because there's room enough in one bin for both seasons.

Next, I will move on to the big boys' room. I'll start with Isaac, having him try on all of his clothes. The ones that fit and are in season, will stay in his drawers. The ones that fit but are for cooler weather will go into "Isaac's Grow Into" bin. The ones that are too small will automatically go into "Ezra's Grow Into" bin. And so on down the line, for each child. As I go, I will be labeling the tags, as well, for each child, to make it easier for when they are sorting and putting away laundry. Isaac's tags will get 1 dot, since he is child #1, Ezra's will get two dots, since he is child #2, etc. As the clothes are passed down, I just add a dot to the tag! When the seasons change, we'll get out each child's box and pack away the summer clothes into the appropriate boxes, and get out the winter clothes! I am so excited about the simplicity of it all!

As we go, I am also purging! What a good feeling that is! We are blessed to have many clothes for each child, and I have the privilege of passing on the ones that are not picked to be worn very often, and it feels good to both be able to bless other mothers, and also to downsize.

I feel confident that with this method, clothes organization will no longer be the burden it once was! Hooray for the small victories!