Trying to keep kids clothes organized can be considered an oxymoron because this has been one of the biggest challenges for me.  Yes, I have systems in place, but what I have found is that Adleigh’s room is small, so storage for her clothes can be tricky.  Eli’s room is a little more spacious, which allows for my original system to work wonders.  I have created a system for Adleigh’s room, and so far it has been working really well!

Both of the systems have a similar idea of storing the clothes in bins that are labeled with correlating months/years.

Let’s start with my system for the more spacious room.  I have ample closet space to store bins and boxes, along with built-in shelves!  I don’t hang any of his clothes in the closet as I found that I either forget they are in the closet or we are in such a hurry that I just grab something from the dresser.  So I organized the dressers to have the bottom drawer hold all pants and socks.  The next drawer up holds all long-sleeved shirts, including button-ups that I would typically hang in the closet.  The next drawer up holds all t-shirts.  Pajamas are on the second from the top drawer and the very top drawer holds all of his sheets.  So by keeping everything in the drawers, I have a completely free closet!

The side with the built-in shelves is where I store extra diapers and keep a bin for clothes Eli has already outgrown.  By keeping a bin in his closet, it makes things really easy to just toss the shirt/pants/sock/etc. into the bin in his closet when I find out he has outgrown it.  This typically happens as we are running late to something and he pulls out a shirt that doesn’t fit him any more.  I use a piece of paper that is labeled with his current size taped to the inside of the bin.  Then, when we don’t have anymore of that size clothes, I move the bin to the mud room, where it will get donated.

The other side of his closet is filled with clothes that are too big for him right now.  We are very fortunate to have a sister-in-law and really good friends pass along their children’s clothes.  I store these in the closet with the largest size at the bottom of the pile, and the smallest size on the top.  When we need new clothes, I can take the bin out of the closet, put the clothes in the drawers, and put that bin on the top shelf of the closet to use to collect all of the clothes once they don’t fit Eli any more.

This system worked wonders for me.  So I decided to do it with Adleigh.  Well, her closet isn’t easily accessible because I have the glider in front of her closet, along with her big chair that Eli likes to sit and read books while she is going down for her nap.  I tried to rearrange her room, but this is the only configuration that works right now.  Her closet doesn’t have the built-in shelves that Eli’s does.  So I started searching for ideas on Pinterest.  You can check out some ideas from my Pinterest page here.

I decided that I still needed to use bins to contain the clothes, but my main concern was to keep everything easily accessible so I will continue with this system.  I do have room in the closet to store all of the larger clothes that she will grow into, so that is where they are going to stay.  I took a reusable bag, and a 3M hook, and put it near her dresser.  This bag my catch-all for clothes she has outgrown.  When the bag is full, I move the glider and get into the other side of her closet.  It can be a pain at times, but I noticed that since I changed this system, I am only having to move everything once a month instead of multiple times a week.  This system is keeping us organized in a smaller, more cozy space!

What are some systems you do to keep your kids clothes organized?  I’d love to hear!