Really need help with organizing hand me downs!

Anon so people can't figure out who I am through my post.

We moved into a house about 10 months ago. At the time, I had 2 ds and was preg. with what turned out to be a 3rd ds. So, lots of clothes get handed down. More than that, I have two older nephews that pass down their clothes to my boys.

We moved in and all my boys were changing from one size to the next, from one season to the next. All were born in different seasons and are different body types and we're just living with boxes of clothes everywhere. Clothes that don't fit everywhere, which becomes piles of clothes on the floor, that are then no longer clean or folded.

One ds is a different top than on the bottom, on ds, I have no idea, because it really depends on the clothing.

B"H they have closets with plenty of space, but they seem really impractical as they're cubbies. So, I fold and pile the clothes and if a ds wants a shirt in the middle, everything comes tumbling down with it.

PLEASE help! What to do with these awful cubbies? How to organize the multiple boxes of clothes per size? Currently, I'm using diaper boxes because they're free, should I do something else?

TIA!

Moderator Joined: Mar 29 2005 Posts: 18318

When I've used cubby type of storage, I lined up the shirts with the pants so that the shirts would be in order of the "matching" pants...

You might also be able to get drawer inserts (those canvas/cloth drawers) to fit...

I love hand me downs, but they're such a mess, and after I take what I need, I give away the rest, because too much is overwhelming to try to find places for.

(not sure why you need to anon, don't be embarrassed!!)
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Gold Member Joined: Mar 18 2009 Posts: 1504

So here is the method I have for long term storage

I have clear 66 gallon (I think that's the size) Tupperware from target in blue for my boys and pink for my dd.
I have a box for 0-6 months. I keep the unisex items like onesies and sleep sacks in a ziplock so they can be pulled out for any gender child to use. I have another box for 6-12 months, another for 12-18 months. Then I have about 2 boxes for 24 months/2T. That's when the clothing start taking up more space. I think I also overbought clothes in that size. I have 1 box for 3 years. Then I have a 4 years box but here is when it got tricky. I have 1 box that says 4 years, and 2 boxes that say 4 years and 5 years. Basically I find that is the age that tops and bottoms become different sizes. I have them mixed, and we'll try them on when the time comes (just finished trying on today,spent a good 3 hours doing that).

I then have another box (diaper box) called "in between" in that box I have the clothes thats too small for my older ds but too big for my younger ds.

I have become better at not over buying clothes for them. Also I have tons in the 4-5 year size because I got hand me downs from my nephew. What I realized is just cause I have it doesn't mean it HAS to be used. For example, some of the short sleeved shirts are stained. I may be more willing to get rid of the ones that are not soooo bad and replace with a clean one because I have it, however, I wont repack the stained one, I'll either trash or give away.

As per closet storage. Each boy has one bin for their socks and one for their underwear/undershirts. Their clothes are in drawers so they don't have piles that topple over. If you only have shelves (and not drawers) you can use bins (clear or solid) to house each category to avoid clothes falling. If they aren't clear simply put a picture of the items inside, I do that on the drawers. For my younger son there is a drawer with printout of a short sleeve shirt taped on the outside, he also has long sleeve shirt, pants, shorts, sweater, and pjs.

I hope this was helpful.

don't go by size, match a shirt with the size that fits your child or the average sleeve and width of the shirts, same with the pants.

different companies run differently even within the same company, childrens place from years ago are much larger than nowadays

I have boxes for summer and winter boxes the jumbo diapers are for winter the smaller diaper boxes are for the summer, I usually only need the amount of clothes in the box for each child. even then some things don't get worn.

Gold Member Joined: Jul 14 2009 Posts: 2094

I live in a 2 bdrm appt w/ no storage so 1/2 of my children's room is taken up by suitcases & bags of children's clothes, hand me downs for the future......I REALLY REALLY want to get plastic storage bins, but they are SOOOOOOOOOO expensive here (in E"Y), I need more but I find that the plastic (keter) drawers are great for organizing kids clothes.

I don't know if this will help, but one day I want to have a hanging (long, narrow, the kind that hangs in a closet) shoe organizer for each child & stick 1 complete outfit, including socks/tights in each section.

Silver Member Joined: Feb 14 2010 Posts: 612

Pre-make the sets -Fold pants and put folded shirt inside
Stack no more then 3 sets in a cubby
Limit amounts of clothing -Have no more then 6 sets per kid (keep rest put away)
For the kid whos clothes is different size top and bottom -have it marked somehow - for example permanent marker on the tag

I use the large, clear, plastic bags that you vacuum out the air so they become compact. Inside each one is a clearly written paper with size and season written on it.

Stuff that's too small for my youngest gets packed into the closet for the future grandkids. Stuff that still fit my boys is stored under my son's bed.
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Gold Member Joined: Jul 14 2009 Posts: 2094

if your shelves are too big maybe you can get locker shelf inserts?

I use tupperware-like bins. You can put labels on the outside with descriptions like "BOY, 3 yrs old"

Gold Member Joined: Jul 07 2009 Posts: 1729

I'd love to get the vacuum bags- Yesha do you buy them here or in the states and how much do they cost if you don't mind me asking?

the way I currently organize is a bit over the place. I started off w/ plastic bins, then used some pamper boxes from the few times I went to yesh and now garbage bags as I can no longer buy the bins
my stuff is labeled like this 0-3 boy or girl, 3-6 boy or girl, 6-12b/g, 12-18b/g, 18-24b/g, 2tb/g, 3tb/g, 4b/g, 5b/g, 6b/g, etc. etc
if I have more than one bin per size then I separate it into summer and winter- also labeled on the box.
like this I can clearly and easily find what I need
just bec. s/t is labeled one size doesn't mean it only has that size in it. just clothing that would fit a child of that age so in my 3t box I can also have 2t or 4t stuff bec. s/t either ran large or small.
I also have one unisex box w/ onsies,and cloth diapers from my newborns
I keep coats in a sep. garbage bag
shoes that didn't get worn or worn only for a short time and are still in like new condition also get stored in a bag. every so often I go through it to see what I have.

I also try to make a note in each box if there's s/t missing that I need
for instance in my 3t boys box I dont have navy shorts so now that I pulled out the box I know that I can use a pair of navy shorts
or if I"m short on socks, or if I only have 3 shirts (bec. the rest of them got ruined) then I know I need to buy stuff

I buy them here.. depending on the size I think they run 25NIS for 2 large bags?

Right now I only have boys...and they all share a huge closet. I have upper cabinets & lower cabinets in the closet.

Each boy has a drawer for underwear/socks/tzitzis/pyjamas/bathing suits.

DS#1 and DS#2 each have a shelf with the clothing that currently fits them. They have a Shabbat pile (mixed trousers & shirts), a pile of gan shirts and a pile of gan trousers/shorts (season-dependent). If they have "outfits" like sweatsuits in the winter, those get paired up and have their own pile. DS#3's shelves are half-width, and we still dress him, so he's got a Shabbat shelf and an everyday shelf, split into shirts/long trousers/shorts.

For now the rest of the closet is storage. There's a NB/0-3, 03-06, 06-09/06-12/09-12 (all on one shelf, separate piles), 12-18. 18-24 I have on a shelf in a bag from duvet or pillow. 24m and 2T share a shelf (and we seem to have a double-shelf worth in that size!). 3T & 4T (summer) share a shelf. 4T (winter) and 5T/S (5/6) share a shelf. Nothing's in boxes at this point as it's unnecessary, but soon I'm going to have to clear out some stuff.
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I read about the most interesting idea in the Duggar family's book.. they have a family closet. Instead of each kid having his own closet, they make one room in their house into a gigantic closet. They have clothes sorted by size and by gender. Each child has a plastic tub with pajamas, socks and underwear that belong to them, but the rest of the clothes are shared. At night, before the kids go to bed, they go into the clothing room and pick out an outfit for the next day and bring it to their bedroom.

It sounds like a good idea if you have the space (maybe a mirpeset sherut or something).
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Gold Member Joined: Jul 07 2009 Posts: 1729