We have TOO many clothes. Dirty clothes. Clean clothes. Clothes that don't fit. Clothes to donate. Clothes we've purchased for winter. Clothes we're sharing with friends. Clothes that friends shared with us. Boy clothes. Girl clothes. 18 month clothes. 2T clothes for boys. 3T clothes for girls. 4T for boys. 5/6 clothes. Clothes for the future. Keepsake clothes from the past. T-Dad clothes for work. T-Dad clothes for play. Clothes I hope to fit into again some day. Clothes that were Bug's that I want to save for Mealyworm. Clothes that I should save for the new baby (and since we're not going to find out the gender, we can't get rid of anything). Aaargh!
Every bedroom has at least 2 boxes/tubs of clothes "in processing". Too small, too big, wrong season, etc. And the dirty clothes seem to be breeding! Every bedroom has a huge pile of dirty clothes. About a year ago I came up with the genius idea that instead of having dirty clothes piles in every bedroom, I was going to have one monster pile outside of the laundry room. (uh, yeah, that was the plan) That way when we wanted to throw a load in, the dirty clothes were right there waiting patiently...then the huge pile annexed the lower level entry way and became a bit of a nuisance. I dreamed of owning one of those big hotel laundry carts (that spies and diamond thieves always hide in) to corral the monstrosity. But I decided I'd have to settle with using the pack-n-play. So the monster pile went into the pack-n-play and I haven't seen the elephant and giraffe print on the bottom pad ever since. We never get to the bottom of the dirty clothes pile! Aaargh!
I need help. I need to sort and organize all the clothes that are currently wearable. And I need get rid of all the clothes that we don't think we'll ever wear again. But it is sooooo overwhelming.
I think I've got a plan though....I am going to label like a dozen diaper boxes (I knew there was a good reason I've been saving all those empty diaper boxes, its not just OCD) with Boy 0-12 months, Girl 0-12 months, Boy 12-24 months, Girl 12-24 months, etc. And set them all up in my family room and as I fold I will sort accordingly. And of course, the biggest box will be labelled DONATE. And in regards to my "previous life" clothes, the ones that I loved and actually looked good in...all going. All gone. I haven't worn them in 5 years, what's the point. I am who I am now, and I need the space.
After all, we've got to squeeze a whole additional little being into this house and the CLOTHES are taking up way more than their share of space.
Hopefully I can get started on this plan this weekend. Anyone want to help and experience the Clothing Chaos first hand...tempting I know...it will make you feel really good about your own house though. :)
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8 comments:
Have Fun!! I finally got organized with Rowan's old clothes this summer w/ plastic bins, before I would just throw all his outgrown clothes on the floor of his closet.
My problem isn't the dirty clothes, I have no problem washing them all- it's the massive pile of clean laundry that is in our room!! :)
I thought I was the only one with bins of clothes throughout her house! Thanks for letting me know I'm not alone.
I, like Rachel, have massive piles of clean clothes. I can never seem to get them put away. I transfer them to my bed thinking I have to put them away in order to go to sleep at night. That never works - they just get put on the floor in piles or back into a basket.
Kudos to you for getting rid of your pre-baby clothes. I'm still holding on to my size 14 jeans hoping that one day I'll be able to wear them....ok...it's not just the jeans...I've even got my super sexy underwear and bras stored away. I just can't part with them, and Ella will be 4 in 2 weeks. I'm sad. I know.
If you seriously need help, let me know. I'm all about helping other people deal with clutter and chaos...I just wish I could get my own under control!
Nothing like airing our "dirty laundry" for the world...literally! I had another funny comment, but it got swallowed up by a pair of jeans and a sweater.
Did you see my pictures of my clothes before OWB?
I kept all my diaper boxes and try to organize hand-me-downs as they are given to us and outgrown clothes as they are removed from the closet. I label the boxes and number them and have a master list. Any clothes that aren't currently in use go to the attic. I can easily send my husband to the attic for a specific box of a specific gender/size clothes using this method.
Boxes with clothes for OWB get labeled "Fall Sale" or "Spring Sale" and are sent to the attic.
I also have "donate" and "school sale" boxes that are ongoing.
We have 5 tall plastic laundry sorting baskets (purchased at Target of course) in the basement by the machines. Clothes get sorted into the appropriate one as they are taken off. When a basket is full, they get thrown in the washer.
There is a hamper upstairs for the children's clothes. When it fills, they get washed.
If it wasn't for this system, I would be overwhelmed.
Good luck!
rachel & make-up girl - yeah, we also have a mountain of clean clothes...but the dirties win.
Wow, leeanthro. If I an ounce of what the organizational intelligence you have, I'd be much better off! Thanks for the tips.
Hey, let me know when you want to do this. This is what I did with Rogers and we had a good time. I'd be happy to come on over and help. :-)
I'm also really good at the... "Do you need this? Do you want it? Why?" at least according to Rogers.
We had a box set aside for things that she wanted to keep, because she was emotionally just not ready to part with them yet. When the box was still in the basement a year later, she said, "I'm taking that to the Dump and Run" and that was that... But it didn't get mixed up again in the "new stuff."
Dude, I'll totally help you! And I have empty diaper boxes, too.
Pick a day - I'm there. With peanut butter cookies.
I'm lucky in the fact that I didn't have to separate gender as well as age range, but I did the same thing you're talking about. I went out and got some of those big plastic see through bins from Target and then labeled them in the way you're talking about. Something happened when Baby A came along though. Suddenly the 12-24 box was filled with 2T clothes. I finally went through them again and got them straight. And I have a big plastic garbage bag for the "donate" stuff. As Baby A grows out of it, it goes in there. Unless of course it makes me sad and sentimental. Then I hide it away until I'm ready to deal.
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