Can we talk organizing kid's clothes?

amyjoy18

DD's drawers/closet are always a disaster.  How can we clean it up?
Breaking DD's habit of changing her clothes 7 times/day I'm sure is the first step (and we're working on it!).  This weekend we went through and took out anything that she wouldn't wear or that didn't fit any longer.  In the past we've tried putting her clothes in drawers separated by play clothes (specific designation needed when you're surrounded by a lot of dirt and mud) and nicer clothes, but that didn't work because they just became jumbled mixed-up messes in less than a week.  Then we tried hanging clothes together in outfits that she designated but then she pulls clothes down and changes her mind or wants to mix/match the outfits.

My goal for school starting is to have her pick out all of her outfits for the week on Sunday.  That way if we get morning kindergarten, we're not in a presidential debate every morning as she decides what to wear and if we get afternoon kindergarten DH doesn't get outfit picking/approving privileges.

How do you keep your kids from making a mess of their clothes?

AmandaJLewis

i don't

when her drawers no longer close I know it is time to go through what is in them. She has a drawer of shirts, bottoms, dresses, and PJs.  some other stuff ends up on hangers. but that is a pretty good way to keep her from wearing something.

amyjoy18

AmandaJLewis said:

i don't

when her drawers no longer close I know it is time to go through what is in them. She has a drawer of shirts, bottoms, dresses, and PJs.  some other stuff ends up on hangers. but that is a pretty good way to keep her from wearing something.

Unfortunately if Brinley wants it she goes through the effort.  She pulls her step stool into the closet and pulls.  Which leads to many a broken hanger :-P

MrsAmers

One thing that has helped us is to put clothes in using a folding method that a friend recommended. You fold the shirts, pants, etc into thirds instead of in half and store them vertically. This way your kid can see all of the options at once and can usually pull out what they want without making a mess of the whole drawer. I also think the drawers hold more this way. I google searched for an example and found this pinterest board. When I’m putting in clean clothes I will straighten up minor messes, but I really only have to overhaul the drawers at the season changes.

http://www.pinterest.com/explore/clothes-drawer-organization/

Our system: Each kid has a drawer for underwear, swimsuits and socks. A drawer for just for bottoms, a drawer just for tops and a drawer just for pajamas. Heather’s dresses are hung up in her closet and she has a stepstool to get them down. I’m all about making things accessible for my kids so they can do things for themselves. ;-)

egpitt22

what is up with the clothing changes??  Jake does the same thing.  Here is the system I use for his dresser, drawers with the following:

-socks/underwear
-tshirts (I don't categorize the tshirts, aside from separating the tank tops, they have their own pile)
-shorts
-PJS

I hang up any "dressier" shirts (ie-ones that button up or have a collar) I also have one of those hanging organizer things (like pictured below) and in that, I have sweatshirts (those take up 2 of the slots), athletic/mesh shorts, and swimsuits

It's still not the best system, and it definitely gets messed up, but it works ok for the most part.  I also go through his clothes twice/year and box up anything that doesn't fit. (I do it seasonally when I'm changing out the clothes)

Luckystar2

Dd would never be able to pick out a week of outfits ahead of time. I think that's a bit if a lofty goal.

Dd's shirts are in the top drawer with short sleeves on one side and long sleeve on other. 2nd drawer is skirts (she doesn't wear pants so no drawer for those). Bottom is PJs. Right side has smaller drawers. One has just leggings and another has socks and underwear. Dresses are hung up in closet.

I try to ask dd the night before to pick out an outfit. Someday that works but not always. I can't blame her though because I go through this some mornings too! Sometimes something just doesn't fit the way you thought!

Luckystar2

Oh and for shirts I do something similar to what Amy posted. Although my folding is different so I may give that type a try. But I don't just stack the shirts. They are more like what Amy posted so that dd can see some of what each shirt looks like.

MrsAmers

Also, DD has been obsessive about certain skirts and dresses lately, so half the time she is digging through hampers of clean clothes for something she just wore rather than her drawers. :-)

I can't imagine getting her to pick out a week's worth of outfits. I'm pretty sure she would change her mind on all of them after Tuesday!

Another thing I do is to totally remove out of season clothes from their reach. Todd would wear pants in August and shorts in January if he had access to all of his clothes all year long. ;-)

egpitt22

MrsAmers said:

 Another thing I do is to totally remove out of season clothes from their reach. Todd would wear pants in August and shorts in January if he had access to all of his clothes all year long. ;-)

Jake would do the same thing!! I hide all out of season clothes when I do the switchover, with the exception of the sweatshirts/zip up hoodies, which stay out all the time.  but everything else has to go away!

amyjoy18

egpitt22 said:

MrsAmers said:

 Another thing I do is to totally remove out of season clothes from their reach. Todd would wear pants in August and shorts in January if he had access to all of his clothes all year long. ;-)

Jake would do the same thing!! I hide all out of season clothes when I do the switchover, with the exception of the sweatshirts/zip up hoodies, which stay out all the time.  but everything else has to go away!

So true!  The in between seasons always have their own type of chaos. 

amyjoy18

Luckystar2 said:

Dd would never be able to pick out a week of outfits ahead of time. I think that's a bit if a lofty goal. Dd's shirts are in the top drawer with short sleeves on one side and long sleeve on other. 2nd drawer is skirts (she doesn't wear pants so no drawer for those). Bottom is PJs. Right side has smaller drawers. One has just leggings and another has socks and underwear. Dresses are hung up in closet. I try to ask dd the night before to pick out an outfit. Someday that works but not always. I can't blame her though because I go through this some mornings too! Sometimes something just doesn't fit the way you thought!

Getting her to pick out the clothes will be the easy part, but, yeah, getting her to stick to her choices will be tough.  And the first time we stray from her planned outfits there will be no hope of this system ever working. Ever.

I'm actually thinking that the "special class" rotation will help with the outfit thing.  I know DD will have certain outfits that she will determine in her head are "artsy" so those will be for art day, and sporty clothes will be for gym day. 

I'm hoping her tendency to try to dress for the occasion will help us out (unlike the night before my nephew's birthday party when there was a meltdown because she didn't have a monkey shirt to wear and it was monkey themed).

4EvR&4AlWz

MrsAmers said:

One thing that has helped us is to put clothes in using a folding method that a friend recommended. You fold the shirts, pants, etc into thirds instead of in half and store them vertically. This way your kid can see all of the options at once and can usually pull out what they want without making a mess of the whole drawer. I also think the drawers hold more this way. I google searched for an example and found this pinterest board. When I’m putting in clean clothes I will straighten up minor messes, but I really only have to overhaul the drawers at the season changes. http://www.pinterest.com/explore/clothes-drawer-organization/ Our system: Each kid has a drawer for underwear, swimsuits and socks. A drawer for just for bottoms, a drawer just for tops and a drawer just for pajamas. Heather’s dresses are hung up in her closet and she has a stepstool to get them down. I’m all about making things accessible for my kids so they can do things for themselves. ;-)

Ditto....we organize vertically so all of the options are visible.  We just did the Pax closets from IKEA and love them b/c I hang all of DDs clothes just 20 inches off the ground for pants and 40 off hte ground for shirts so she can pick out (and hang up) everything.