Finished Closet
Have you finished updating your closets with your fall and winter clothing? I am almost completely done. The clothing for my youngest daughter and my son are complete.
Where my daughters receive hand-me-downs from their cousin, my tall son, who is about the same size as his cousin that is 2 years older, does not have an abundance of clothing items. Besides under garments, socks, and tights, my daughters’ closets and dressers are fully stocked.
To keep up with my growing son when hand-me-downs are few, I keep a close eye on sales, especially at the end of each season. In fact, I just ordered my son more clothing items during The Children’s Place sale since his fall/winter wardrobe was quite lean.
Though I am currently working on my oldest daughter’s closet, I have completed these steps for all of my children’s apparel: Step 1 – Prepare, Step 2 – Purge, and Step 3: Pack. The next step I am currently working on is Step 4: Place.
STEP FOUR: Place
Beginning this step with a semi-empty closet and dresser, I located the bin with the appropriate label. For my youngest daughter, I needed the 18-month to 2T winter items. Upon locating the tote, I unpacked the items one at a time, placing them either on a hanger for the closet or in a drawer of her dresser.
Closet
For items in her closet, I organize by color and type of clothing. The bottom rod includes her long-sleeved shirts, overalls and outfits, long-sleeved onesies, turtlenecks, shirts with jackets, and sweaters and sweatshirts. The top rod includes her short-sleeved shirts and dresses.
1. Each of these sections is organized by hanger color:
Bottom Rod:
- Pink hangers: Long-sleeved shirts
- Purple hangers: overalls and outfits
- Pink hangers: long-sleeved onesies
- Green hangers: turtlenecks
- Clear hangers: shirts with jackets
- Pink hangers: sweaters and sweatshirts
Top Rod:
- Clear hangers: short-sleeved shirts
- Green hangers: dresses
2. Each of these sections is then organized by clothing color in order of the rainbow:
- Pinks
- Reds
- Oranges
- Yellows
- Greens
- Blues
- Purples
- Browns
- Blacks
- Whites
Now this type of organization may be too organized for you. For me, having all the clothing in order makes putting laundry away a breeze. The hanger is already in its place, and I just need to play a simple matching game: match the clothing item with its correct hanger.
In using time wisely, this system has served me well. Laundry is not a daunting task because every space is already organized and ready for the items to be replaced. Having a designated place for each item is my best tip for using time wisely.
Dresser
My daughter’s dresser has 6 drawers which I have designated for different items:
- Socks, tights, and under garments
- Smallest sized clothing, i.e. her 18-month outfits, pants, and pajamas
- Largest sized clothing, i.e., her 2T outfits, pants, and pajamas
- More space for 2T clothing items
- Empty – As she grows out of items, I place them in this drawer. When it is time to repeat this process in the spring, I will have a head start on purging her wardrobe. Having a place for smaller items that is out of sight helps keep her room clutter-free and organized.
- Next sized clothing – If I purchase additional items in the next size, I will add these clothes to this drawer.
Shoes
After growing out of her size 4 shoes, I placed the size 5 shoes into her changing table drawer. These shoes were in another tote labeled “girls shoes sizes 1-5.”
Donations
If I find items that I do not love or would not place on my daughter, I add it to the donation pile.
At the end of this fourth step, my daughter’s closet, dresser, and shoe drawer have been filled. Knowing what she has helps me know what items she is missing. Being the second girl in our family with my older daughter’s hand-me-downs, her wardrobe is usually complete, like it was at end of this step. Next week, I will conclude the fifth step in my “organizing my children’s clothing” project. Until then . . . happy organizing!
Question: How do you organize the clothing in your closets? Feel free to post a picture with your answer.