The Posh Blog

As you may have noticed, this week I’m focusing on dealing with your children’s clothes, specifically: The Good, The Bad, and The Dirty!  This is part three in my three part series to help you solve the problems of the overflow of kids clothes! 

“The Good” is the current clothes that fit, “The Bad” is clothes that no longer fit or have seen their better days and, “The Dirty” is well…dirty clothes.  If you missed the previous two posts click here to read Part 1- The Dirty and Part 2- The Bad.  

“The Good”:  Current Clothes that fit. 

When dealing with your child’s clothing that he or she is currently using first look at who is going to be accessing the clothes most.  Do you have a very young child that still needs your assistance getting dressed, or is your child old enough that he or she will be accessing the clothing “all by themselves”.  Once this is determined be sure the clothing is hung or folded in a way that is easy for that person to put away and retrieve.  That means if that person prefers to fold things then there should be plenty of room to put folded clothes.  This could be drawers or shelves.  If it is easier for that person to hang things then be sure to have plenty of hanging space at a level so that the child can reach the clothes, hang up clothes, and retrieve clothes.

The third thing to consider is to be sure to use hangers that are easy to use.  Yes, that’s right, not all hangers are created equally.  Some people will use pant or skirt hangers that have clips on them and some people will not.  Some people prefer to hang pants over the bar of a hanger.  Don’t assume that if you prefer one method that your child will too.  Something that might be easy for you to do may not work for your child.  Ask your child if one is easier to use and you may be surprised at the answer and the result. Don’t ask your child which hanger they like better because you will probably just get a blank stare. 

Finally, as we discussed in “The Dirty” a big part of this is establishing the habits.  Start with baby steps and have your child simply help you put clothes away.  You can hand him or her a stack of T-shirts, socks, or pajamas.  It’s good to start out with this as a team effort and then work towards independence. 

Keeping these things in mind will increase your chances of your child actually putting their clothes away.  Oh, what a feeling!

Using these three parts together will help you to separate the old from the new from the dirty and give you a plan for dealing with them.  I’d love to hear how this is working for you or if you have any tips that have worked in your home.  Feel free to post a comment below.

Enjoy your more organized space!

Angela

Copyright (C) 2009 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com.

This week I’m focusing on dealing with your children’s clothes, specifically: The Good, The Bad, and The Dirty!  This is part two in my three part series to help you solve the problems of how to keep children’s clothes in their place and how to deal with the constant cycle of clothes coming in and out. 

“The Good” is the current clothes that fit, “The Bad” is clothes that no longer fit or have seen their better days and, “The Dirty” is well…dirty clothes.  If you missed yesterday’s post click here to read Organizing Children’s Clothes Part 1 of 3.  
“The Bad”  Clothes that are too small, out of season or have seen their better days. 
Children outgrow clothing so quickly that it seems like there is always something that no longer fits or is too worn to wear anymore. So how do you manage?  When the seasons begin to change and you are starting to realize that your child doesn’t own any long sleeve shirts that fit take that as your cue to go through your child’s old clothing. 

Here are some simple steps you can take: first, look through your child’s current season clothes (let’s use the transition of summer to fall/winter as an example) and quickly make a stack of items that are too small or too worn out and place them in a donation bag.  Second, remove the off season items (summer in this case) to a lower drawer or easy to reach storage box and put the new season clothing (winter) in the easy to get to drawer.  So each season you are removing the old seasons clothing and replacing it with the new seasons clothing.  Personally, I always keep the past season clothing (summer) close at hand because there may be an unusual day that you need that short sleeve shirt.  Finally, when the next season comes (spring/summer) pull out all the old clothes from the bottom drawer or storage box and take out what does not fit any more and put it in bags to take to the consignment shop, give to a friend, or donate.  You may be left with a few items that do fit your child for the new season which gives you some time to go shopping for new clothes.

Again, a big key to this is going through the clothing at the change of each season.  If you know the clothing does not fit your child, your child won’t wear it, you do not need to keep it for another sibling, or you will not be consigning the clothing then get the clothing out of your home as quickly as possible. There are many places that accept donations including some women’s and children’s shelters.  Check your community for resources. 

Don’t miss tomorrow’s last and final part of our three part series “The Good”.  I will give you tips on how to manage the clothing that your child has and wears on a regular basis.

Getting some of the old clothes out equals more space and room to breathe.  Take a deep breath and enjoy!

Angela

 
Copyright (C) 2009 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com.

There’s so much to talk about when it comes to dealing with children’s clothes that I could write a book about it.  Hey, there’s a thought!  So this week, I’m going to focus on dealing with The Good, The Bad, and The Dirty!  That’s right, this week I will have a three part series to help you solve those problems of how to keep children’s clothes wrangled and keep those drawers from overflowing. 

“The Good” is the current clothes that fit, “The Bad” is clothes that no longer fit or have seen their better days and, “The Dirty” is well…dirty clothes.  I often joke that dealing with my children’s clothes is a part time job in itself!  But it is something that I have to keep on top of.  I live in a small home with very little storage and if I don’t keep on top of purging the clothes I would have clothes everywhere! 

So here is the first part of what you should consider when dealing with your child’s or children’s clothes.  We’re going to start with The Dirty!

“The Dirty”  Need I say more? 
The most important part of dealing with The Dirty is a hamper.  This is a must and if you have children or teens it’s all about location, location, location!!!  Where are the children currently getting undressed?  Is it the bathroom, their room, where?  Sometimes you can tell by the piles of clothes.  Where ever they are getting undressed is the best place to put a hamper.  You HAVE to make it easy for them or they won’t do it.  Also, if you have multiple children who shower in multiple areas DO NOT attempt to have the children share a hamper.  If they are getting undressed in different areas they need to each have a hamper that is easy for them to use. 

Another huge part of this is teaching your children the habit of putting clothes in the hamper when they are young; we had our girls putting their clothes in the hamper when they were one!  Again, this can be made easier by putting the hamper in a place that is so convenient that they can’t miss it.  If your child is the organized personality type then you may consider a hamper that has three compartments, like the picture shown on the left, so your child can sort the clothes when he or she puts them in the hamper.  This can be a huge time saver on laundry day, but only do this if your child is willing to participate or if may backfire. 

The key is to try to work with your child.  Try to come up with a solution that is a win for both of you.  Easy for the child and helps to make life easier for you. 

Tomorrow we will look at how to deal with “The Bad”. 

Here’s to a room without piles of dirty clothes!

Enjoy!

Angela
Copyright (C) 2009 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com.

Children’s Room Challenge Number 1. I recently polled some parents and found that one common challenge in children’s rooms is what to do with stuffed animals.  They’re cute and cuddly, big and bulky and your child just can’t live without them!  So here are a few ideas on what you can do with your child’s stuffed animals.

First, use the one in one out rule.  It’s a must!  Children will pick up new stuffed animals throughout the year and it’s best to keep the number down.  Stuffed animals seem to multiple over night!  Letting one go for every new animal is a great way to keep your child’s stuffed animal population from exploding!  Discuss this with your child prior to their birthday or a holiday so they know what the rules are.

Second, have a place to donate the stuffed animals.  Many children have an emotional tie to the stuffed animal, so it can be helpful to make your child feel like the animal is going to “a good home” or to a child who doesn’t have any toys.  Some police stations accept stuffed animals in excellent condition that they can keep in patrol cars and hand out in situations where the children need to be removed from a harmful home situation.  Some women’s and children’s shelters also accept donations of stuffed animals that are in good condition. Again, think of what would help inspire your child to donate.  Be sure to call these agencies before taking a bag of stuffed animals too. 

The third thing is storage.  Now that you are limiting the intake of new stuffed animals and you have donated some you are down to the animals that are important to your child.  Because stuffed animals collect dust, I recommend keeping the majority of them in a closet or enclosed container.  One product I like to use is the Animal Sorter from Ikea (or IKEA PS FANGST) shown to the left.  It comes in two sizes and multiple colors and hangs on the rod in your child’s closet.  It has multiple compartments for “stuffing” stuffed animals, it’s like a condo for stuffed animals.  Another option for smaller stuffed animals is a behind the door shoe organizer.  I LOVE these!  I like the clear ones so you can see exactly what is inside.  Smaller stuffed animals like Beanie Babies, Barbies, even Transformers, etc. fit nicely in these small pockets.

Stay tuned for next week’s Children’s Room Challenge: Children’s Clothes!!!

Here’s to fewer stuffed animals!

Angela

Copyright (C) 2009 Angela Ploetz, POSH Space  www.theposhspace.com.