hat  |  top  |  jeans  |  grey baskets

If you are growing your family, you know what a time and money saver it can be to recycle your children’s clothing for the next one.  Especially in the baby stages, they grow out of things so quickly that most clothing only gets a few wears anyway.  But saving baby and children’s clothing for another child poses the task of storage.  So today I’m sharing a few tips + tricks to storing kids clothing to help your home organization up! 

Before you make a plan for storing kids clothes, take into consideration a few things. First, how quickly are you planning on adding another child to your family? If you don’t have plans to or its going to be a ways down the road, your storage options are going to be much more long term. Another question to consider is if you have the space to store the items as well. 

Storing your kids clothes for the future  may not be for everyone, but it certainly is a cost-effective way to clothe and care for multiple children! If you’re ready to store and save, here are my top five tips for making sure it is as useful as possible!

under the bed storage bins:  here  |  here  |  here + here

: CONDITION MATTERS 

Hand-me-downs get a bad rap, especially if they look like hand-me-downs.  The way I make sure that my younger children are excited and feel like they are getting new clothes like their older siblings is by making sure that anything that is saved is in like-new condition.  This means it cannot have stains, stretches, fading, or tears.  

: BUY QUALITY 

When buying clothing for any of our children, I’ve learned that buying quality is key (but not always).  I feel like there have been years when my kids are in a new size of clothing every three months and so to be able to keep up with that can be pretty pricey, especially if you’re buying high quality items.  But I think that it’s important to choose pieces that are built to last, especially if you’ll be saving them for multiple children. 

It should be noted that I don’t think it’s important to buy expensive pieces for babies.  Because they grow so quickly, there really isn’t opportunity for the clothing to get overly used anyway so it’s easier to save for another.  I’d recommend considering this route after the size 2T:

Buy To Last:

• Jeans and Denim
• Dresses
• Nice Shirts 
• Coats
• Hats
• Shorts and Skirts
• Sunday Clothing

May Not Last:

• Pajamas
• Socks
• Leggings
• T-shirts
• Loungewear

some of my favorite weatherproof bins

: WEATHERPROOF BINS 

Once you’ve gone through the clothing your child has gone out of and made sure that what you’re keeping is in great condition, I’d recommend folding clothing carefully and placing it all in weatherproof bins.  Whether you’ll be keeping the clothing in or outdoors, it likely won’t be touched for at least 1-2 years so it makes sense to make sure that the bin you use will not be affected by elements.  You can even place mothballs or anti-deterioration products inside the bin for added safety.

: LABEL EVERYTHING

You know how I feel about labels! Make sure you can easily see from the outside what size of clothing and what gender (if applicable).  This makes it much easier to pull what you need and not go through unnecessary bins. 

: STORE SHOES SEPARATELY 

Depending on how wild your kids are in their shoes, my boys can tend to destroy their sneakers, you may or may not be saving shoes for the next child.  I’d recommend making sure they’re in good condition and storing them in their own weatherproof bin.  Because it’s not apples to apples that a child will fit in the same size clothing and shoes as the last, this is the best option I’ve found to easily store clothing and shoes.

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. . . SHOP MY FAVORITE ORGANIZATION BINS . . . 

I hope these tips are super helpful when it comes to storing your kids clothes! What are you go to tips?

similar top  |  jeans  ||  harper’s bow + moccs  ||  hangers

Tis the season for spring cleaning and today we’re talking about closet space.  Have you ever tried to find a top or a jacket in a jam-packed closet?  It’s like pulling teeth!  Even the crowded clothing racks at stores stress me out.  I love to be able to easily find what I need, when I need it.  No frustration necessary.

We can’t talk about having a clean, easy-to-navigate closet without first talking about only keeping things that you use and love.  Here are a few questions I think may help you determine what to keep and what not to keep:

• Is this in good condition?  No holes, tears, tatters, or fading.
• Does this item fit me right now?
• Is this something I will definitely wear in the next 3 months?
• Is this something I love?
• Would I repurchase this item?

Keeping only items that are in good condition, fit our bodies, and that we love will automatically create a curated closet that you love walking into rather than one you dread.  And this makes it easier to put clothing away, to find what you need, overall it is an amazing time saver!  So, first things first, go through your closet and do a donate/trash purge.  

Next, let’s talk about my five hacks to keep your hanger space clean and easy to navigate!

: FOLD, DON’T HANG YOUR JEANS

Hanging pants and other thicker heavy fabric items on hangers can create a lot of unnecessary bulk between your hangers. If you have the space, I recommend folding and stacking on a shelf or keeping in a drawer. 

: SKIRT HANGERS 

If you’re the type that loves to hang your pants or skirts, but need to save space, try snagging a few of these stacking hangers. These work great for those pieces so that you can layer up on space and easily find what you need with ease.  If you prefer to keep the flow with one cohesive look, you can hang your skirts through the hanger. 

: MATCHING HANGERS 

This may seem like a no-brainer, but having multiple different types of hangers can actually create quite a bit of chaos when it comes to your hanging clothing.  Wire hangers mixed with plastic mixed with ones with clips, can make your clothing easily tangled and hanging at different levels.  An easy fix is to use the same type of hanger for all of your hanging clothing! It may not seem like a big deal but this will make a world of difference when it comes to your closet!

: WORKOUT CLOTHING 

Are you hanging your workout clothing?  If so, I’d opt for a few of the stacking hangers for things like leggings or even sports bras! If not, I would opt to keep these all in one drawer so that you can easily put outfits together. File fold your sports bras, workout tops, leggings, shorts, and even workout socks or undies so that you can grab and go without using extra hangers.

: STORE SEASONAL CLOTHING

If  you’re living in a climate where you experience a variety of seasons, a great way to keep your closet clean and simple is to store away clothing that is out of season but that you are keeping for the next season.  Clothing that fits this bill (winter coats, sweaters, swimsuits, rain boots, etc.) are a perfect item to store in under the bed containers so that you don’t need to worry about the elements of cold or outside storage.

. . . SHOP MY FAVORITES FOR CLOSET ORGANIZATION . . . 

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I hope these tips and tricks help you clean out and simplify your closet with ease! What are you go to hacks for saving hanger space?