How to Store and Organize Kids Clothing
Today we’re talking about how to organize and store clothing that the kids are currently wearing. And, of course, I have some free printables labels for you! And if you don't have kids, never fear! I've got a post all about capsule wardrobes to help you organize your own clothes too.
My friend Hannah has such a great system down for storing her kid’s clothes, so I invited her to share her system with you. I’ll let her take it away from here:
Hey there! So, I'm a mom of two children. My first baby was a girl, and she was the first grandchild and first great-grandchild on both sides of the family. Needless to say, she had clothes on clothes on clothes given to her. We are so blessed! I was up to my ears in baby girl frills and clothes and lace and bows! (and loving every minute!)
When I got pregnant with my second baby, we decided to be surprised with the gender and not find out until the baby was born. This was so exciting but also so incredibly stressful for my poor OCD/NEED-TO-PLAN-EVERYTHING kind of brain!
Initially, I began limiting myself to two tubs of clothes to save from my first daughter. I gave some things away, but I kept the majority. Then as I was growing baby #2 in my belly, I began to worry about what would happen if it was a boy! Where would I put all the clothes? I was filling up those shelves FAST, and I knew that I wasn't going to have enough space to continue the same method with another gender!
It was about this time that I was getting into minimalism, and I began challenging myself to get rid of more things than I really thought I could. The timing could not have been better. I challenged myself to cut down the clothes I was saving to one bin per size up to 12 months! That meant literally giving away half of the clothes that I had saved.
I planned well and balanced the items that I chose to save. Some onesies, some one-piece outfits, some dresses, a couple frilly items for Sundays, some pants, and several sleepers. I also thought ahead about seasons. Thankfully my babies were both going to be summer babies, so seasons should match up well, but I tried to also balance some long sleeve and some short sleeve outfits.
After 9 months, I found it too difficult to fit 12 month+ clothes in just one box. So I have two tubs dedicated to those bigger sizes. I initially started off with the idea that I would do a summer box and a winter box, but so far, things don't usually fit best like that. Winter stuff is so bulky and thick, while summer stuff is usually easier to cram and tuck in. Instead, I usually organize one box with PJs, Shirts, Dresses while the other box has pants and outfits. (Or something along those lines.)
Turns out! Baby #2 was a girl! You may be thinking that I wasted all that effort, but I have not once regretted the decision. With my initial system, I was going to be able to store Sizes NB – 5T items not including any shoes. My current system provides me space to store NB – half of 6T + 3 boxes of shoes. It may not seem like cutting out those four boxes gave me a whole lot, but when you are working with limited space in a two bedroom apartment, those four boxes are huge!
Here are a couple special boxes that you might be interested in knowing more about if you're looking to implement a system like this for yourself!
– Gender Neutral Box
Things like white onesies, black pants or gender neutral onesies purchased from vacation spots, etc. could be stored in with your other clothes, but in my case, I've chosen to have an entire other box dedicated to these items. This will make it super easy for me if I ever have a boy! I won't even touch the girl boxes that I have because I know everything stored in there is only for girls.
– Holiday Outfit Box
It became obvious to me that I was going to need another plan for holiday outfits. My daughter was given several big, poofy dresses and lots of “first Christmas”, “first Thanksgiving”, etc. outfits. I store these in ziplock bags to minimize space, and then I put all the holiday outfits in one larger tub. This has worked out great for me thus far.
– Shoes
Initially, I was just storing shoes in one bin, but as I've tried pulling them out for my second daughter, I realized how annoying it was to be trying to pull out all of one size and match them all up correctly. So I began sorting the shoes by size into ziplock bags and then labeling them and storing them in bins. It takes up a little more space, but I think it is worth it because when she grows into a new size shoe, I can just pull out a bag rather than having to sort through an entire bin. (I also go ahead and throw out any shoes that are worn or smelly or dirty. It isn't worth it for me to keep them because I don't want them to ruin other shoes.)
– Swimwear
I store all swimming clothes in one bin. Swim diapers, bathing suits, bathing shirts, etc. We don't have that many, so it isn't a big deal to sort through and find what I need.
– Accessories
I keep bibs, burp cloths, changing pads and pacifier pods all in one bin.
– Keepsakes
My mom stored a few dresses from when I was little. These are stored in ziplock bags, with a piece of paper listing why she chose to keep those items. “Blue Striped Dress – Birthday Present from Grandma and Grandpa Haub”
I also shared a video tour of my organizing system. Click here to watch that.
How about you? How do you organize out of season kid’s clothing? And don't forget that you can also download the labels I’m using for yourself by adding your information below. I know you're going to love using these too.
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