The Weekend Cometh... Closet Organization 101

Ahhhhh! The weekend.... sounds relaxing doesn't it!? Not in our world. No, it is the weekend of the dreaded closet "sifting". What that means is that I will be going through one huge, massive closet that is home to clothing for SIX people.

When you have a new baby in the house, you expect things to be crazy.... Well, add a few more faces to the mix and one incredible season of GROWTH SPURTS!!! I know, I know ... the baby is expected to grow and change sizes almost daily, but not all the other kids in the house. I thought we were set until later in Spring, but I am telling you that my children are all in "highwaters". It's not that they do not have clothing to fit them. They do... I promise. It is that I have not had the time to get in there and take the clothes out that are too small. It is at the point now that where things are starting to dissappear into the depths of nowhere.

Enough of that. I am very blessed. I have a huge closet and it is big enough to hold all the clothes for a family of SIX!!! What am I complaining about!?!! So, what I should be sharing with you is not all the whining.... I should be sharing with you how to organize such a space. The closet must be about ten feet deep and approximately eight feet wide. I am really not sure. I have measured every surface in that thing from floor to ceiling to make room as each addition has been made for each child, but for the life of me I just do not remember. With six people in the house there are just more important things to commit to memory... YA Know!

So, as you walk into the closet there are built in shoe slots on the wall that the door is on. Floor to about eight feet high and eighteen inches wide. We stash junk like board games, etc. in the upper slots that are just to hard to reach. Hmmm... I did not mention that I think the ceiling in that closet is about ten feet high and the upper two feet have shelving that goes all the way around. You would not believe the JUNK we have managed to store in there in the eight years that we have lived here. Anyway, back to the shoe storage. One one side we store my shoes. On the other side my husband stores his shoes and he shares that space with our eight year old daughter, Savannah.

In the back of the closet we have a flip down ironing board. There is a clothing rod that runs across the back that has extra hangers there and then a couple of those cheapey hanging plastic storage closet organizer systems that you can get at Wal-Mart for $8.88 (by the way I am FRUGAL) and a hanging shoe organizer that our five year old daughter, Sierra, shares with her two year old brother, Caden. The hanging storage containers that are on that wall contain things like night clothes, underwear, socks for our son. There is another metal standing organizer in there (I got free) and that holds Sierra's night clothes, shorts, and the family bathing suits. On the floor under that section I have empty Huggies Diaper boxes that are perfect for storing winter hats, mittens, gloves, and things to grow into.

On the right side and the left of the closet it is divided into three sections on each side. Each person has a top and bottom hanging rack. They also each have a shelf with three sections (actually a closet organizer that sells at Wal-Mart for $19, but is meant to have two sections... I turned it upside down and it makes it have three... (frugal/cheap). We use those for folded pants and such and the provide a "boundary line" between each persons upper section. The higher third shelf on all of them is used for "growing into" items. Also, wherever I can fit it in (and that kind of depends upon the ages and needs of each child) there are some lower storage shelves that also help define the boundaries while adding needed storage on the lower level. These get folded clothes poked in them. We do not have dressers or chest of drawers in the bedrooms and there are no clothes stored anywhere but this closet with exception to "growing into" clothing that is stored upstairs.

I take use of every space I can. I have some really great large size brightly colored rectangular baskets that are perfect for storage underneath everyone's bottom rack hanging clothes. The only problem is that I could not get more when I needed more, so we used some more of those great Huggies Diaper boxes. So, of course, we used the pretty ones for the kids and this holds the older girls socks, tights, underwear, gymnastics stuff, etc... whatever needs a home. For Caden it is home to some more summer clothing and stuff that he can wear that I have not had time to hang.... ooops!

Now Sahara's baby section is a bit different, because her clothes are so tiny. Under her section I have some stacking plastic bins that I got a few years back ($3 @ Dollar General) and there are four of those (stacked two by two). These hold socks and tights, tiny little shoes, hats and caps, bibs, and some to grow into items.

Everyone has these little labels I made from double sided cardstock paper that make dividers for the kids clothes such as, dresses, short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, casual dresses, dress dresses, etc. to help stay organized. And in answer to the question you are thinking... No, no one pays any attention to those but me. LOL! I think they think they are there just to make it "look pretty". Anyway, so you can tell that I WANT it to be organized. And with that said I will be heading into the depths of no where for a ?!relaxing?! weekend.