Warmer weather is approaching so it was time to go through both of my boy’s clothes to see what they needed for the upcoming season. Luckily with the boys 4 years apart in age I have tons of hand-me-downs for the youngest. We rarely need to buy him anything, we just take down the bin for his current size and see what we have. Sometimes he might need an extra sweater or two or a pair of jeans but we have most of what we need. Since my daughter is the only girl she pretty much needs everything!
Here is how we store the hand-me-downs in the closet…
Right now we have all of the winter clothes hanging on the bottom shelf. My oldest son’s clothes to the right and youngest to the left. I have their current size of summer clothes hanging on the top shelf. These are the clothes we will go through first to see what still fits. We also go through the pants and shorts that are in their drawers.
Whatever doesn’t fit my youngest we put in the donation bag. Whatever my oldest son has outgrown we store in bins at the top of the closet.
I store the clothes by size. Right now we have size 5 summer and winter in one. Separate containers for size 6 summer and winter. One small box on the end for size 7, which my oldest son is growing out of now.
I clearly label the bins so that I know exactly what size is where.
Now that my oldest son is in school and has to wear a uniform I have noticed a huge decline in the amount of clothes he has. We really only buy what he needs and he wears them out pretty quick. Pretty soon we will have less hand-me-downs to store.
Keeping up with this routine works for me and helps keep the clothes under control.
Oh, and Rubbermaid, I am sorry to tell you this but I just realized almost all of the bins in my house are made by Sterilite. That blue one in the picture above is Rubbermaid the rest are Sterilite. Which brings me to this question for my readers… based on cost and quality what is your favorite brand of container?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I need to do this!! My cousins have given me SO many clothes for my daughter (and any future sons), but we’ve just shoved the boxes in our garage. My husband and I have just been talking about buying the plastic bins and getting organized!!
Great illustration! Now if only mine didn’t have to go into the attic… (our five fill up the closets!)
i am a rubbermaid girl – i think my rubbermaid lasts longer than the sterilite ( have quite a bit, but it seems more “brittle” and prone to break off at the corners…)
Great suggestions – I just tweeted it!
Obviously, as an employee of Rubbermaid, I’m a Rubbermaid Roughneck fan.
These are great tips for kids closets.
I do something similar although my tubs wind up in the attic because there is no room for them in my daughter’s tiny closet. I’m jealous of the large closet in your pictures.
Great minds…
I swear I did the same thing when my kids were littler. As babies I hung all the new stuff by size and marked the sections of the closet by size.
Mary,
It will definitely add up quick! The best thing to do is go through them as you get them. You may find some of them are worn more than your liking or not really YOUR style. Because of course the babies could care less they just drool all over the clothes. With my first I had some one give me a lot of white clothes and sailor type cutesy stuff and that was not the look I was going for with the boy. :)
I too am a huge fan of Rubbermaid. I believe it is hubby’s frugality that lets Sterilite in the door. (I will blame it on him anyways.) My dream is too have all one type of container and all Rubbermaid. Matching and all pretty like. :)
Allison,
Oh, organizing baby clothes, I miss those days. Ah, yes and then you get those outfits that say 6-12 months that try to throw you of. HA HA HA!
What a really clever idea. I always just dumped everything in bags, then had to sort through it all each and every season. I love your idea.
I find Rubbermaid containers to be sturdier, but Sterilite is a milder hit to the pocketbook.
Love the pics! thanks!! I recently organized all my sons clothes and got 2 large space bags. Would you believe that 3 years of clothes fit in one space bag?! Now the bags are under the baby’s crib!! :)
I store my oldest daughters clothes in bins when she outgrows them. It is so nice to have some clothes for the youngest daughter. My oldest also wears a uniform. So we buy less clothes also.