Fall Cleaning: Kid’s Closet Organizing
I think I altogether missed Spring Cleaning, so yesterday commenced “Fall Cleaning”. (Yet to be determined how much more I accomplish.)
Oh how I wish I would have taken a “Before” picture to show you the dramatic change in the quads’ closet, but it was one of those daily tasks that turned into an all day project. You have those too, right? I was simply putting away about 4 loads of the boys laundry, when I decided to clean out a few stuffed drawers…
Next thing I know, I’m going through EVERY SINGLE ITEM of quad clothing, making piles, pitching things left and right, sorting like a crazy woman, and making Isaac and Henry’s room an absolute disaster in the process.
(Confession: My boys watched more TV this morning than they typically do in a week.)
The outcome was worth it! (Pardon the phone pics, but you’ll get the idea!)
All of the upcoming fall/winter clothing have been sorted, folded, and hung. The upcoming sizes (I love to buy ahead at garage sales and during end of the season clearance) are sorted, labeled, and stored. All of the outgrown still in good condition clothes? Well, that remains a work in process. But they are out of the closet/drawers and out of sight for now!
In the meantime, I cleaned out and reorganized the closet (with some help from my favorite teammate), which gave me enough room to bring the multi-colored drawers and other clothing storage in to the closet, instead of cluttering their room.
I labeled everything in the process (which comes in handy when we have someone watching the boys so they know where to find things).
(Yet Another Confession: I have a slight addition to our label maker. See?)
What a chore, but what an accomplishment!
Kid’s Closet Organizing Complete!
I know this is a task that is overwhelming for most moms, not just mothers of multiples, so I’m interested to hear how you keep up!
Have you switched out seasonal clothing yet? What’s your system for keeping it all organized and sorted? What are your closet organization tips? AND what do you do with your “leftovers”?
QuatroMama
Top Photo Credit: Brittney Bush
This post is linked to Organizing Made Fun Link Up
Been doing it for years this year I pull all the winter stuff out (all stored in the twins room) and sorted it and as the wash went through summer stuff went into buckets and a box going to a friend. And when all that was said and done and kids tried on stuff to ensure fit. I put there stuff into respective clean laundry hampers for a week while they hamper dived, and then FINALLY put it all away. I had no choice the kids needed to find stuff for when I went away.
It’s exhausting just to read about, Christina! =)
Sadly we don’t have “real” winters down here. It is still in the 90’s temp wise and can be that in Dec or Jan even. So Charlie’s spring/summer clothes are pretty much out year round in his closet and dresser. I have started pulling out the long sleeve shirts, pants, and jeans to see what he has outgrown. I culled most of the outgrown summer/spring clothing right before school started, just like my mom did.
Well, our cupboards are almost all shelves, so very little hangs neatly on hangers as it does in your closet. But I have cute textile boxes that fit nicely into these shelves, and I label them (of course!). The top shelf contains a box labelled “next sizes” and the bottom shelf contains a box called “previous sizes”. When the box with outgrown clothes is full, I empty it into a plastic bag (which I label with size and season) and stuff it into the basement storage, where I do my best to forget about them 😉
No, but the fact that they are labelled allows me to very easily lend out clothes to friends with younger children! I know that I ought to give some away soon- it takes up A LOT of space and I am sure less fortunate parents would love some of our hand-me-downs. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet 🙂
I actually just did this with my 3-1/2 y/o son also! He has a set of white plastic drawers (similar to your colored ones) which serve as his dresser, and I have hidden it in his closet! This enables him to dress himself daily! Typically when I sort through clothes and I keep it all (for future children?) in totes in our basement, but now that we have a 3 m/o daughter, I’m out of totes…so currently his high-water pants and belly shirts are in a pile in my hallway…the task of today!!! Now don’t get me started on girls’ clothes….a disaster in the making in my house!
I am addicted to my label-maker, too!!!! I already sorted through all of the kids’ clothes … no real system. You just gotta find the time to do it, and then DO IT. I did notice that we have wayyyy too many clothes for this fall/winter (my friends have been uber-generous with the hand-me-downs), so I need to do another round of weeding out. Good problem to have, though! 🙂
Keep up with me, Ted, and our Fab Four at four-by-two.blogspot.com
Oh..don’t remind me. But, then again, we are still in shorts and tank-tops here. I’m so not looking forward to it. And, I get so lazy with putting away the too small clothes that it makes it almost impossible to find them when I need them next year for the younger sister.
My daughter has 2 closets in her room which comes in really handy. At the end of each season I go through her clothes to determine which ones she might be able to wear again the next time this season rolls around and put those in one closet. The other closet if for her current clothes. I also have an area at the back of one closet where I put her larger sized clothes in order by size so I can get to them when she moves to that size. If I put them away where I don’t see them I forget I even have them!!
I also have rubbermaid totes in the bottom of her closet for clothes that she has outgrown- one for fall/winter and one for spring/summer so it’s easy when consignment time comes to have the right season clothes to tag!
I’m so jealous that you have already done this! This is my massive project for the weekend. While I’m so happy that cooler weather is here in Indiana, I’m definitely not looking forward to washing, folding & hanging a ton of laundry this weekend!
Just wondering if you have any good tips on where you buy clothes? Any favorite consignment shops, resale shops or bargain places that you shop here in Indiana??
I JUST did this with Jackson’s stuff. I’ve been hiding his kindergarten clothes so he wouldn’t wear them and ruin them before school started, so I’ve been sorting out too small “old” clothes and putting in his school clothes. Such a task. Getting ready to get out the tote of 18-24m girls clothes for Sawyer. My hubby has a niece, so we’ve already got a stockpile of clothes clear up to 4T for her!
What size are the boys in now? I’ve still got tons of Jackson’s smaller stuff that didn’t go in our garage sale. I can send stuff back w/ Jason and Polly & have them drop them off to your folks if I’ve got anything in their size that you’re needing.
I think I will tackle the closet this weekend….maybe, hopefully…we’ll see. Can I just say how jealous I am of your label maker. I’m pretty certain that if I had one everything in the house would be labeled. hmmm, maybe that’s why it never shows up under the Christmas tree. 🙂 Awesome job with the closet.
For me one of the keys to keeping the kids clothes organized is to get rid of (donate to Goodwill or Deseret Insdutries) each time I put away seasons or outgrown clothes. Anything that is worn out, stained, holey, or just plain ugly I get rid of. Luckily I have two boys almost exactly two years apart so I just hand down the older ones to the younger one. Anything too small for both of them I put in plastic totes in the garage labeled with masking tape. I really like the label maker idea.
I sorted thru my son’s clothing a few months ago, and I can’t believe all the things he had outgrown! I had probably 20 pairs of pants for him, but no wonder he didn’t have much to wear-he had outgrown most of them! But I think the way you ended up going through every item was actually the EASIER way to do it! No “too small” clothes will be mixed in with the clothes that fit. It may have taken more time, but in the long run, you will save yourself so much frustration!
It’s time for me to switch my summer and winter clothes, and fortunately my girls are old enough to now do their own. =) I don’t have to switch my son’s clothes-he just keeps outgrowing what he has, so I just replace with larger sizes as needed.
I don’t think anyone ever warns a new Mom just how much organizing and rotating clothes can be! And having multiples plus a younger child makes it even more work. When my twins are done with something I have to decide what is worth keeping for their sister and then put those away, plus do something with the extra clothes that my youngest won’t be wearing. Oh, and then I have those hand-me-downs that are AWESOME for play clothes from older cousins. So, that is put into the rotating process. It makes me tired just thinking about it. I am so glad that I just reorganized their closets 2 days ago and am done again until Summer/Spring arrive.
It is so nice to know that I am not alone in the overwhelming feelings!
Yes, always a chore!! I am in the process of doing laundry tonight, washing/freshening up all the 24 month clothes for my youngest (which was worn 2 years ago by my older son, last year by my nephew and again this year by my lil guy!). In some ways, it makes it easy to just pack the boys stuff up, share it with my sis and then later have it all sorted by size/season when it comes back to be used again. For my daughter, as she grows out of things, I have a box in their closet that I toss things in as she deems them too small. Then once full, I label it and store it in the basement or attic. Someday it’ll all be passed to my sis for her next baby or sold in a sale! (cha ching!)
Um, I need a label maker. I just decided.
lol! I seem to need LOTS of new “as seen on TV” gadgets! I don’t even own a television-I just see all the stuff at CVS!
You’ll never go back! =)
definitly just did the same thing today. I, however, only ogt as far as getting all 5 kids winter clothes out of the attic, tried on so we know what fits and put into piles, and that took me 5 hours.:) Now, to go through all the summer stuff IN their rooms..ugh!
I need a chai!
With the 6 yo in a bedroom without a closet and the 1 yo in her crib in the family room, this small house has had clothing overload for a long time.! Right now I am in the process of moving the 1 yo to 18 month size, and putting away summer clothes. And do I save the size 5 clothes for 4 years for the little one? I decided to only save the best clothes, and donate the rest.
This is right up my alley! Doesn’t it feel great being all organized?
You can take gently used clothes and toys to Once Upon A Child and they will give you cash!
thanks for sharing your closet post – doing the big clean out makes me re-think how much we really need! love the opening pic of the posts — all those matching hangers and the rainbow of kids clothing, cute!