Whenever the seasons change, it’s a big organizational procedure around here.  Putting away all the clothes that aren’t going to be used any more this season, getting out the clothes everyone needs for (in this case) the winter, for ten people is a big job.  I try to do as little shopping for brand new items as I possibly have to, and I’m usually successful, to the point that needing to purchase something new is unusual.  But that requires a lot of organization to make it work.

Several weeks ago, I spent hours sorting through clothes, and reorganizing all the toddler and infant boy clothes.  Since our  youngest two are 17 months apart, they are almost overlapping on sizes, but not quite.  My past sizing labels weren’t accurate enough to make pulling out a box as simple as is usually is, so I decided to do a major rehaul and box the clothes into more specifically labeled boxes.  So I did, but when I finished, I had seven piles of newly reorganized clothes and no boxes to put them in!  Yes, it hasn’t been neat looking up there since then.  🙂

A couple of days ago, my husband was able to bring home a bunch of good size boxes (it took a long time because the store I used to get them from started crushing them instead of putting them where customers could take them, so I had to find a new source of boxes the size I like), and I spent the first 3.5 hours of today repacking and relabelling everything.  This isn’t a job I especially enjoy, but fortunately, it doesn’t have to be done more than a couple of times a year in a major way.  The pleasure is in having it done and knowing that everyone has their clothing needs met, their closets and dressers are filled with things that fit and that they can use (versus things that are too small, too thick, too out of fashion….)

I do smaller updates throughout the year when I get around to it; there’s always someone growing in or out of something, so it never happens that someone’s clothing situation stays static for long.  In those cases, I tell the kids, after me going through the clothes and removing those I don’t want to pass along to another child, to take their clothes that no longer fit to the attic and put them in a bag, and I put them in the appropriate boxes once I get enough to make it worth my time.

Basically, my system is very simple – I think systems have to be simple, or they don’t work for long.  Boys and girls clothes are boxed separately, each labeled with the size.  Determining the size to label the box is usually what I find hardest.  Do I label it ‘size 4′, even though my child wore it at age 2?  Or do I label it according to the age the child wore it, in which case the sibling coming after them may have a different growth cycle and the labelling won’t be accurate for them?  My decision after trying it both ways, is to label according to the size marked on the clothing, which is constant.  Then I look for the size I need based on child’s build; for example, my 9.5 year old son is growing out of the size 12s and into the size 14s.   

Each box looks like this: GIRLS – sz. 4; MENS – small; INFANT – 12 mo.  I mark it with a heavy black marker so that it stands out when looking at it quickly.  I stack all the boys’ clothes boxes along one wall in the attic, in size order.  There is a knee wall there, which means it is a low wall because of the slant of the roof, so it only fits 2 boxes high.  Along the other end of the same wall, I have all of the girls’ clothes boxed, also in size order.  We go up to the attic twice a year officially when we turn everyone’s closets over, but whenever an individual child needs something, I just send them up and tell them what box to look in.  Having them clearly labelled and lined up makes it really easy for any of us to find what we need. 

 These boxes include all of their basic clothing, but not shoes or outerwear.  Outerwear is kept in the basement closet- that includes ten raincoats, ten light jackets, ten winter jackets, a bunch of pairs of snowpants, snowsuits for infants and toddlers, and dress coats for a number of us.  Yes, it’s a lot of stuff.  🙂  Shoes are boxed separately, though also in the attic; the boots go with the shoes.  One day I’ll try to post my handy system for keeping track of what shoes I have in the house without having to dig through a box of thirty pairs to see if there’s anything in the size I need. 

Now that I gave you a basic idea of how I organize the clothes, I’ll share how this works to save lots of money.

Avivah