This may be a boring post to some so feel free to skip past, I won't be offended but it might just help other mummas out there... wardrobe organisation and keeping on top of it is a near fulltime job it seems given babies/toddlers need a new wardrobe every 2-3 months (or more) in those early years.
First things first, if you are drowning in clothes (like we do thanks to shopaholic me and grammy), separate everything into size and then type of garment - so all your 0000, 000, 00, 0 etc separated by size sorted into neat piles of onesies, shirts and shorts etc.
I must add, I'm paranoid about furniture in the boys' rooms after reading a horror story in an Australian newspaper about a 2 year old and a chest of drawers so given they have built in robes in their rooms, I prefer fabric storage drawers hidden in the cupboard in addition to a wide deep change table/dresser in Cs room and a big heavy hard to move shelving unit for toys and books in Es room strapped to the wall. I can't stress enough to think through your furniture choices for your childrens' rooms with a thought to safety - will they/can they climb on it, will it tip over... consider buying straps and securing pieces to the wall.
The fabric drawers the best for organising! They are hidden away but still look good when the toddler leaves his doors open and they are labelled to help my husband find things and actually dress our boys in a public appropriate outfit. We are just coming into Spring here at the moment but still enjoy some cool days so are using both Winter and Summer wardrobes, our labels on Cs drawers and Es boxes are something like this:
For me, I have found the best and easiest way to shop a wardrobe for the boys is to buy in bulk seasonally from one or two places during sales time for the following year and add a few extra pieces along the way. Its easy to put together a capsule wardrobe this way as most places concentrate on a colour palette so everything ends up mixing and matching. For example, this past Winter, a lot of E's basic wardrobe is from Target and Country Road. I bought a stack of pieces this time last year including long sleeve tees, pants, jumpers and shirts in a range of blues with grey, red, yellow/mustard and marle so almost all are interchangeable as sets. This saves me when I'm out shopping and think 'oh, I'll just get that shirt' only to come home and find E already has 5 shirts for Winter. This way I know I have the basics and just add to it as I see something I love - like the Sooki pieces when a sale comes up.
I keep all the next season's items I buy in a box in their wardrobes and in the last month of the season when the weather typically changes here, I pull it out, arrange it and cull the existing wardrobe as necessary. This June, I found almost all C's size 0 l/s tees were too short over his little belly so removed all but a few of the bigger ones while all his pants and leggings are still great length and width wise so remain in a drawer labelled accordingly.
When culling the littlest guy's wardrobe, I pull my favourite pieces out of his culled pile (a Nike onesie or Sooki set) if its still in good condition, and have been popping it it in a box I'm saving for my sister's baby #2 in case its a boy. All the rest that has been worn and/or washed to death goes to my mum for sorting and storing or to give away to family friends or charity.
When culling Es wardrobe, I obviously put aside anything in good condition (which is most of it as he has a lot of clothes) for C and it gets stored in the boxes in C's wardrobe labelled for season, size and type (pants/shirt/pjs). I tend to buy E a lot of Country Road and Target as I find it washes and wears well so even at full price, I get my moneys worth when it passes to C for round 2 and I'm finding even with his active traits, most pieces are still in at least good condition when he's through.
I've been pretty lucky size wise as E has been spot on in sync with seasons and average sizing therefore I have been able to time his wardrobe refreshes/replacements with the seasons. Whereas C has tracked a bit faster in growth than E and is ahead by one size at the same age ... which means lucky me, I get to shop for new clothes as we haven't been able to rely solely on Es hand me downs.
I find keeping up their wardrobes is constant job and I usually spend 10 mins in there every weekend rotating outfits or re-arranging things while the boys have a play in whichever room I'm in (under my feet of course) or if I jag a double nap like I did this weekend.
As I mentioned, I'm a little OCD with organisation, particularly wardrobes so I hope this might offer some helpful tips to others.
First things first, if you are drowning in clothes (like we do thanks to shopaholic me and grammy), separate everything into size and then type of garment - so all your 0000, 000, 00, 0 etc separated by size sorted into neat piles of onesies, shirts and shorts etc.
I must add, I'm paranoid about furniture in the boys' rooms after reading a horror story in an Australian newspaper about a 2 year old and a chest of drawers so given they have built in robes in their rooms, I prefer fabric storage drawers hidden in the cupboard in addition to a wide deep change table/dresser in Cs room and a big heavy hard to move shelving unit for toys and books in Es room strapped to the wall. I can't stress enough to think through your furniture choices for your childrens' rooms with a thought to safety - will they/can they climb on it, will it tip over... consider buying straps and securing pieces to the wall.
The fabric drawers the best for organising! They are hidden away but still look good when the toddler leaves his doors open and they are labelled to help my husband find things and actually dress our boys in a public appropriate outfit. We are just coming into Spring here at the moment but still enjoy some cool days so are using both Winter and Summer wardrobes, our labels on Cs drawers and Es boxes are something like this:
- Hats, socks
- Singlets & underwear
- Daycare clothes - this includes a range of shorts, tees and l/sleeve tees that are all labelled & can be worn for DC and messy play
- Leggings, tracksuit pants
- Tracksuit sets
- Pants, Jean
- Shorts
- Boardshorts, rashsuits/vests
- Winter pjs including onesies
- Summer pjs
I hang all of the boys tees, shirts, vests, coats, sets and short sleeved play onesies so we can see them therefore we use them. I have them divided into type/occasion, sleeve length and colour - very OCD of me I know. I found if they were in a drawer, Scott would just use whatever was on top and the boys would grow out of clothes before wearing them as anything at the back or bottom was never used.
For me, I have found the best and easiest way to shop a wardrobe for the boys is to buy in bulk seasonally from one or two places during sales time for the following year and add a few extra pieces along the way. Its easy to put together a capsule wardrobe this way as most places concentrate on a colour palette so everything ends up mixing and matching. For example, this past Winter, a lot of E's basic wardrobe is from Target and Country Road. I bought a stack of pieces this time last year including long sleeve tees, pants, jumpers and shirts in a range of blues with grey, red, yellow/mustard and marle so almost all are interchangeable as sets. This saves me when I'm out shopping and think 'oh, I'll just get that shirt' only to come home and find E already has 5 shirts for Winter. This way I know I have the basics and just add to it as I see something I love - like the Sooki pieces when a sale comes up.
I keep all the next season's items I buy in a box in their wardrobes and in the last month of the season when the weather typically changes here, I pull it out, arrange it and cull the existing wardrobe as necessary. This June, I found almost all C's size 0 l/s tees were too short over his little belly so removed all but a few of the bigger ones while all his pants and leggings are still great length and width wise so remain in a drawer labelled accordingly.
When culling the littlest guy's wardrobe, I pull my favourite pieces out of his culled pile (a Nike onesie or Sooki set) if its still in good condition, and have been popping it it in a box I'm saving for my sister's baby #2 in case its a boy. All the rest that has been worn and/or washed to death goes to my mum for sorting and storing or to give away to family friends or charity.
When culling Es wardrobe, I obviously put aside anything in good condition (which is most of it as he has a lot of clothes) for C and it gets stored in the boxes in C's wardrobe labelled for season, size and type (pants/shirt/pjs). I tend to buy E a lot of Country Road and Target as I find it washes and wears well so even at full price, I get my moneys worth when it passes to C for round 2 and I'm finding even with his active traits, most pieces are still in at least good condition when he's through.
I've been pretty lucky size wise as E has been spot on in sync with seasons and average sizing therefore I have been able to time his wardrobe refreshes/replacements with the seasons. Whereas C has tracked a bit faster in growth than E and is ahead by one size at the same age ... which means lucky me, I get to shop for new clothes as we haven't been able to rely solely on Es hand me downs.I find keeping up their wardrobes is constant job and I usually spend 10 mins in there every weekend rotating outfits or re-arranging things while the boys have a play in whichever room I'm in (under my feet of course) or if I jag a double nap like I did this weekend.
As I mentioned, I'm a little OCD with organisation, particularly wardrobes so I hope this might offer some helpful tips to others.
