For instance we started with their bookshelves and I said to them “go through your books and put aside any that you won’t read again or like”. So they got to work and I was really impressed at how well they did. In fact maybe too well. There were a few moments where I wanted to say, “This one? Are you sure?” because some of those books that were making their way to the “to go” box were some of my favorites (Judy Blume anyone?) from when I was a kid.

But my favorites don’t need to be their favorites.

I held my tongue because I want them to learn to make their own decisions. I want them to keep what they use and love and nothing else because after all it’s just stuff. To learn that lesson now rather than when they’re adults living in homes filled with clutter that they can’t bear to part with.

No I don’t want that for them.

My job is to facilitate the PROCESS. To walk them through the steps and help set up organized systems that work for them. We’ve been doing this since they were little and each time it gets easier and easier. They make up their minds faster and they know to work within their boundaries and limits. They have a better understanding of what it means to own stuff but not let that stuff own them.

Our “to go” pile:

I’m very proud of my kids. They were tough this go around. More so than any other time I think.   We were all exhausted when it was done but it was so worth it and the lessons learned are what mattered the most.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.”  Matthew 6: 19-21

The kids get their purge on is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Twice a year (spring and fall) I go through the kid’s clothes. This past weekend it was my daughter’s (11) turn. Here’s what I do. I go into her room, I dump every drawer as well as the clothes from her closet into the middle of the floor and then get her to try on every.single.thing. Oh how I love to torture her this way, such fun it is! Really all the mumbling and grumbling it’s so beautiful. Anything that doesn’t fit or she doesn’t wear (grrr) gets piled onto another pile in her room.

So even though we went through all the spring/summer clothes back in the fall when we put them away, we went through and tried them all on again to be sure they still fit which they didn’t. We also went through and tried on all the fall/winter clothes before storing them away because anything that is bordering on too small and not going to fit next fall also goes into the out pile as well. Her growth spurt over the last six months means that most of her fall clothes aren’t coming back next year and many of her spring/summer clothes that we thought would fit this season won’t. Hence the ginormous pile above. Poor thing will now have to endure a shopping day with her mom, did I mention she hates shopping? What’s with that?!

After the torture session clothes trying on session I tackled the “out pile” and sorted it into 4 smaller piles, thrift store, two consignment store piles and garbage. Consignment stores generally only take in season clothing so I split the pile into spring/summer consignment and fall/winter consignment. The spring/summer stuff goes into one tote and put by the door ready to go and the fall/winter stuff goes into another tote and put away in the closet until it’s time to take it in. The thrift store stuff goes directly to my donation station.

In between seasons I keep the consignment totes in my younger son’s closet and continue to add to the applicable totes throughout the year. So in my son’s closet I have a spring/summer tote, a fall/winter tote and a wicker laundry basket. I use the laundry basket as a place to throw the outgrown clothes until I’m ready to sort them into the other two totes :)

The clothes that are too big I hang up in the closet by size.

I just try to keep it as simple as possible. Sometimes I think people make things more complicated than they need to be and then wonder why they don’t use the system. And be honest with yourself about the time and resources you have to manage your system. For instance, I use to do an Ebay pile as well, but gave that up when I realized my pile was sitting there untouched for months on end. Apparently the time it took to list everything just wasn’t worth my time so rather than beat myself up about it not getting done I just dropped it and moved on.

Now it’s your turn…what is your clothing system and does it work? Why or why not and what I really want to know is does anyone else love to torture their kids as much as I do?

*********************

Related posts:

Reorganizing the children’s drawers and wardrobes

Clothing storage for kids

Changing clothes out for the seasons…… is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

(You can see the before pictures here)

Well it turns out that my organizing freakness abilities may have rubbed off on her because just recently in preparation for their new baby who will be arriving next week (yay!) she took this closet:

and turned it into this:

What a difference some purging (ahem) and a closet organizer can make!

Closet organizers are a must in my book and definitely worth the investment although I’m not even talking big dollars here necessarily. Closet organizers come in all different configurations and prices so you can spend as little or as much as you want BUT since you’ve come to my blog you know I’m all about the affordable. So it’s safe to say that if you are looking for the $4000.00 closet solution, you’ve come to the wrong blog. I mean I’m not knocking the $4000.00 closet organizer because I’m sure they are hunky and dorry and the things that dreams are made of but this lady just doesn’t have that kind of cashola. So instead here are some solutions that work for me and my bank balance.

First decide what your requirements are for the closet. In other words what do you want to store in there? Clothes, toys, books, or all of the above? Take your requirements into consideration when shopping for a closet organizer.

Most department stores will sell some kind of basic closet organizer for under $100.00. The one I’ve used a few times in my house and the one my sister used above is this one:

Closet organizer from Canadian Tire $54.99

You can see a picture of my entryway closet with this organizer here, the only difference is the addition of a drawer in the middle. Very effective I must say and if you are super handy (unlike me) you can customize these inexpensive closet organizers to suit your needs without spending a lot of additional dollars. My friend Shari is a pro at this and you just have to go check out the amazing work she has done BY HERSELF in both her daughter’s room as well as the walk-in closet in her bedroom. How’s that for inspiring!

The point is it is possible to maximize space in your closet no matter what the size. Just simply adding an extra shelf at the top of your closetlike my hubby did for instance can make a huge difference.

Or how about this new product I just discovered on the Solutions website which looks pretty nifty for adding extra space at the top of a closet:

2-in-1 Closet Combo $29.95

These closet doublers also look great for creating more space at a great price:

Closet Doubler $13.99

I’m also a HUGE fan of dressers and bookshelves in the closet especially in kid’s rooms. In fact I created a closet library in my daughter’s closet to house all her books and allow her visual clutter to be kept to a minimum. Putting dressers/shelves in a closet also frees up bedroom floor space which for a small room can make a huge difference.

Whether you have clothes, toys or books to store in your child’s closet using cubbies is also a fantastic idea as seen here on The Nesting Diary. You’ll even find the instructions for making the tags to attach to the cubbies to assist children in knowing where to put things away. Love it!

Need more motivation? Check out this picture that appeared in the very first issue of Organize Magazine. All three girls share this closet:

The closet organizer works to divide the space so each girl has a section hopefully alleviating some potential fighting.

I hope you find this useful today. If you are currently using any of the products mentioned in this post I would love to hear your thoughts on them.

Have a happy weekend everyone!

Speaking of closet organizers…. is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Whether you have been busy organizing your entire master bedroom or just a small part of it, I can’t wait to see your before and after pictures. These pictures are wonderfully motivating and inspiring. This past month we’ve talked about making our bedrooms a place to retreat, about getting our clothes up and off the floor and about straightening out our closets.

To participate in Org Junkie’s Monthly Organizing Round-Up you simply need to link up below to a post of your own which includes both the before and after pictures of your newly organized master bedroom or area of your master bedroom. Basically anything do to with organizing your master bedroom goes.

Those that participate are eligible to win the awesome prize package donated by Lifeorganizers.com, everything to do with organizing our wires and cables. You can read more about this great prize here.

A lucky winner will be chosen at random at the end of May from the list of those that participated in April and/or May.

So if you are sitting here thinking “oh drats I didn’t get it done” well never fear it’s not too late. You’ve got until the end of today (Wed) to link up in Mr. Linky below. So got nuts and get er done!

And tonight when you crawl into bed you’ll be so happy you did, oh yes you will.

Get ready, May will have us working on our kid’s rooms.

PS:  Please remember to link directly to your round-up post and not your blog home page.  Thanks!

Hey it’s the end of the month, let’s see what you’ve done…. is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

If you read my friend Lylah’s post yesterday you’ll know that she also believes in the importance of creating a sanctuary in your bedroom especially for your marriage. She had this to say:

Your marriage is worth creating sanctuary in the bedroom. If this space needs a new touch, read Hebrews 13:4 and then pray. Pray about how to create sanctuary in this space. Pray for intimate times of communication with your husband. If you’re stuck in this area, then let the prayers of mine from my book – Power Prayers for Your Mighty Man help you.

So today, Lylah would like to offer a free copy of this ebook as an encouragement to any of you that are trying to create a bedroom sanctuary, an environment that will be a blessing to both you and your husband. Simply send her an email at lylahl@aol.com before Friday at 10:00 pm and put PPMM in the subject line.

Then tell me what one small thing you can do today to make your bedroom a cozy, warm haven?

Retreating to our bedrooms….. is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Time for some more links to keep you moving in the right direction towards an organized master bedroom including your closet. Enjoy!

The Savvy Organizer Podcast ~ In The Bedroom

Video ~ Closet Organizing Tips

Video ~ Martha Stewart ~ look for the video on the right hand side called Clutter Crisis ~ excellent tips

Video ~ Do It Yourself Closet Organization

Easy tips to organize your closet by Professional Organizer Karla Jones

To Love, Honor and Vacuum ~ How to Stop Feeling Fat!

And for those that missed it the first time ~ Create Sanctuary in Your Master Bedroom by Lylah

photo credit: realsimple.com

Link-tastic ~ The Master Bedroom Edition! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Whatever the reason I’d like to challenge you a little bit on that today. We spend so much time in our bedrooms, and yes most of that time is sleeping, but it’s also a place we come to unwind and relax and eventually sleep after a long day. Tell me how a cluttered room can be relaxing? It’s a constant reminder of something that still needs to be done, it’s not so easy to turn that off when it’s all around you. You deserve better than that. I know everyone reacts differently but visual clutter could be why you are having trouble falling asleep at night. This is the case with my daughter and I always know when it’s time to organize her room again. I’ve posted about that before here and here.

It’s time to create a sanctuary in our bedrooms, a retreat clear of clutter and chaos, a place to settle in with a good book, a good rest or you know “whatever else” WITHOUT the distractions of crap stuff everywhere.

What better time then now during April’s Monthly Round-up. Challenge yourself to work on it a little bit every day, I can assure you that it will be worth the effort.

This weekend if you are still wondering where to start may I suggest starting with the clothes. Clothes do not belong on the floor so gather up all the stray clothes that are without a home right now and pile them on the bed. Quickly sort through them creating smaller piles as you go…..laundry, donate, toss, put away and relocate. Consider the possibility that if clothes are ending up on the floor it could be we have too many clothes for the amount of space we have.

Is your closet too full? Do you need to make room in there? Start by removing everything. I know, everyone things I’m crazy with this step but I can assure you that the sorting process goes so much more quickly this way. Keep the clothes you wear and love!

Some helpful guidelines to remember:

1. If you haven’t worn it in a year, it goes.
2. If you don’t like it, it goes.
3. If it doesn’t fit properly, it goes.
4. If it needs ironing and you never wear it because you hate to iron, it goes.
5. If you don’t wear it because it’s stained or ripped, it goes (if you haven’t done anything about it by now chances are pretty good you never will).
6. If you hate the color on you, it goes.
7. Hang out of season clothes together on one side of your closet or keep them in totes on the shelf of your closet or under your bed.
8. Face all your hangers the same direction.
9. Throw out those awful wire hangers.
10. Weed out any one item you have way too many of.

What you want to do is free up your closet space for the clothes that you wear regularly. If you have clothes that are too small in your closet that you hope to fit into again soon and don’t have the heart to part with yet may I suggest also boxing them up and storing them separately so they aren’t taking up valuable closet space.

Those fortunate people with bigger closets don’t have to be as ruthless but if you only have a small closet you are going to have to be tough with yourself. I’ve noticed that many people keep clothes because of an emotional attachment they may have to them, which is fine if you have the space, however if you don’t then you really need to think about the space you are sacrificing to keep that particular item and whether or not it’s worth it.

Once you set your mind to it and tackle those clothes I think you’ll be surprised at how quickly it actually goes. I’ve also found it’s especially helpful to have a friend working along side you to offer their opinion, where appropriate, to keep things moving along.

Good luck!

Related posts:

Closet storage

Organizing clothes for the seasons

Organizing the master bedroom ~ get the clothes off the floor is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie