Kids Clothing Organization - Budget Friendly

Last week, I mentioned that I was starting to try and get more organized. I have only made a handful of minor changes around the house. Those small changes, however, have made a huge impact in the ease of my day. So much so, that I want to make it a personal goal of mine to organize my entire house this year.



I am, and I hate to admit this, probably the most unorganized person I know. Seriously. I am much more of a creative, go-with-the-flow, eh - this works for now, kinda girl. That being said, if I can do it, so can you! I'm going to start a new thread on the blog specifically aimed towards organizing, so be sure to check back for more ideas and tips over the next few months.

Because organizing can seem so overwhelming to me, I tried to really narrow in on what I felt would make the biggest impact on my days. To do this, I wrote down everything I could think of that needing clearing, organizing, and sorting. After that, I highlighted 3 things that I felt would make the biggest impact - yup, just three. Wrote those on a separate sheet of paper and then tossed the old list. Why did I toss the other list? Because if I kept it, it would loom over me mentally, and I know I would get less done.

Fist on my list to tackle? The huge mass of clothing that had been acquired from my three children. We are done having babes. The three we have keep us quite busy. With one boy and two girls, I know that anything my son outgrows can be donated or handed over to a friend. With my girls however, that's a different story. I am lucky enough to have an awesome sister-in-law who gives us the most adorable clothing for Hannah. My niece is seven years older than her though, which means I needed to find a way to keep the clothing organized and stored. Also in a place where I won't forget about them. As my older daughter out-grows her clothing, it needs to be organized and stored for her little sister in the same manner.

So this is what I came up with....



I had no intention of spending money on anything for this, well, at least not much. So, with all the boxes coming in from the holidays lately, I came up with an idea. Wrap them! Yup, what you're looking at are diaper boxes (from years ago - we cloth dipe now), baby wipe boxes, shipping boxes, and so on. All wrapped up in plain brown shipping paper (you can find this for about $2.50 in the mailing area of big box stores, or at your local office supply store) to keep a uniform look. Then, I cut out matching squares of scrapbook paper, and placed a white shipping label (2x3") in the center to write the clothing size on. I made sure to tape the labels the same distance from the bottom of each box, again to help make it more uniform.

Now, all I have to do when I get clothing that doesn't fit either girl right away, is look for the box it needs to go in, pull it down and toss the clothing item in. That's it, I'm done, and I don't have to give it another thought. When my youngest outgrows a box of clothing, it can be donated or given away, and I can simply place a new white label over the one that is already there and use it for another set of clothing.

Since I had everything but the brown shipping paper, this project only set me back about $3.00. I'll take it!

Happy organizing!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow, I'm announcing the Giveaway, which has a $40 value!

Take care,

Lisa