Is it just me, or do you all have massive piles of clothing that don't belong in your dresser year-round? I've got summer clothes, skinny clothes, fat clothes (with five babies, you can imagine my size has fluctuated a wee bit over the years). My kids have summer clothes, next size up clothes (from an older sibling), and clothes to grow into (handed down from friends with older kids). Obviously, all this clothing needs to be stored!
Here's what I do...
- buy lots of giant rubber tubs with lids (and wheels)
- wash, dry, and fold clothing
- sort according to season, then by size --- for example, there is a bin labelled "Spring/Summer '09" containing all the children's clothes for next summer; there is another bin labelled "Fall/Winter, size 10-12 girl" filled with warm weather clothing in sizes that are a couple years away; and of course there's the bin labelled "Mommy's skinny clothes"
- add a scented dryer sheet before sealing the lid
- store
We have a cold room under our stairs, and since I don't take part in domestic activities like canning, it has become a wonderful storage space. It is a bit damp, but that's not a problem because the bins are sealed and airtight. You could also store these in your garage or your bedroom closet. If you bought some smaller bins, you could even slide them under your bed!
Have fun organizing!
For more WFMW tips, go to Rocks in My Dryer.
I would love to get more organized like that. I have 4 kids with too many clothes. Usually they come downstairs in the morning with summer clothes on and it is 35 degrees out. I need to pack up the summer clothes and maybe have them pick their clothes out the night before so I can approve of them. It seems that laundry is never ending. On Saturday I went to a free clothing drive and picked up quite a few pieces for them. The next one is in the spring and I will definitely send our hand me downs there. It is so nice to save money by sharing clothes. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have the bins under the beds. Great minds think alike!!
ReplyDeleteah....no carrots in there??
ReplyDeleteJust kidding...great use of a space...
I have started buying/using those plastic containers not that long ago...I have always used cardboard boxes and then a dear friend that did the same thing had a sewer backup all over in her basement ...the stuff in boxes was all for the garbage but the stuff in plastic containers was saved...so we are slowly switching...
Love the wheels on your containers...
I use the bins too. I have never added a scented dryer sheet before sealing the lid though. How clever - thanks for sharing a great tip!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea! I have tons of hand-me-down clothes that my 6 year old isn't ready for yet. I am going to do that with them. It will sure help our messy closets!!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Starr
Those vacuum-suck-out-the-air bags (um... I forget what they're called - SpaceBags, maybe?) work great for that as well!! And, really do take up a tiny portion of the space. That's on my list for today - switching over to winter clothes!
ReplyDelete