? - Putting Clothes away

MommyToAshley wrote: How do you organize your kids clothes in their drawers? I usually put all the shirts together and then all the shorts together, etc. But, I am wondering if I should put the matching outfits together so that Ashley doesn't have to sort through everything to find the match. It just seems like her drawer is a mess the next day after I put clothes away and I am trying to find a way to better organize it.

coasterqueen replied: For us shorts and leggings go in a drawer, pj's go in a drawer, underwear go in a drawer. Undershirts go in a drawer. Everything else is hung up in "outfits" for them.

I do not put away their clothes, they do that as one of their "chores" so their drawers are always messy. I go in their rooms every now and then and straighten out their drawers but they still mess them up.

So I'm not sure I'm much help as my kids put away their own clothes creating mess.

Maybe ask her what she likes best.? I never used to hang things in Kylie's closet as outfits and she mentioned something to me once and so I did what she asked. Uses less hangers. Megan doesn't like her stuff hung up as "outfits" as she never likes to wear the same things together every time. My girls only wear shorts (usually) under dresses so that's why they never get hung up as outfits.

Nina J replied: We always had the problem with drawers being a mess, even in my closest.

Do you have a closest with a hanging rack? We have built in robes in half the bedrooms and no closest space in the other bedrooms, which is a pain. For the bedroom's without closest space, I got a clothes hanging rack.

Anyway, they have these things. I have seen them in a lot of stores, closest organisers. They are made out of some sort of material but they have a velcro hanger, you fasten then to a closest rack and then you have like a tier of shelves to put shirts, socks, etc. I got one for each of us. I put shirts in on one shelf, pants on another, socks, underwear, etc. And then I hang dresses, coats, jackets, etc.

It really helped because now we can all easily see our clothes - there is no moving clothes aside to find a shirt you want, and things stay nice and neat. I can't remember the exact name of them, but I have seen a lot of different products around to organise closets. I'd suggest trying that if you have some closet space, it really helped all of us. And there is so much more room now too.

bluebear replied: What about using hangers with those clips, so a shirt can be folded over and the pants can be clipped? I used to do that when I was younger.

mom21kid2dogs replied: LOL! My daughter, at 9.5, STILL will not pick out her own clothes! I seriously wonder how long it will be before she wants to do it!

Pj's, underwear and bras are in the top 2 drawers. 3rd drawer is short sleeved tops. 4th drawer is long sleeved tops. 5th drawer is 2/3 shorts and the rest leggings.

Dresses, uniforms, choir outfits, sweaters, hoodies, jeans and capris are hung in the closet.

luvbug00 replied:

oh I know!! mya refuses.
I just have shirts in one
undies and jammies
shorts and pants

for me if it gets a mess it's no biggie. i dont see it very often until i put clothes away and i wait until she is down to her last outfit to bother with laundry. lol

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I still use those hanging sweater holders.. basically a bunch of cloth boxes hanging one underneath the other...

when I do laundry I put clothes that go together in those compartments.. including socks and underwear.. I have 2 or 3 of those hangers for each closet.. so we all have about 2 weeks of clothes ready to go...

the rest goes by shirts / sweaters in one drawer, socks and underwear in another, and shorts/skirts/pants in another.

coasterqueen replied: Question for those of you who use those holder things, clothes don't get wrinkled in there? This is why I basically hang up everything for the girls because I don't feel like their clothes in their drawers stay as nicely pressed as the ones hung on hangers. I ask because I like the idea of those holder things to just pick out a week's worth of clothes for the girls and put them in there. Although, their mood changes daily as to what they want to wear with what so I'm not sure it would solve my problem. Knowing them they'd just pick a shirt out of one cubby hole and a pair of pants out of another and then things would fall out, etc, etc. I can see a world of problems for my girls. I also don't want to get in the habit of picking out their clothes. I want them to form a sense of what goes together, what matches, etc, etc by doing it themselves. Not sure we'll ever get there, but the mornings they do put a whole outfit together and it looks good they love the praise they get for it.

kimberley replied: one drawer for jamas, one for shirts, one for shorts/skirts, one for "play clothes"
the rest is hung up.

luvbug00 replied: can someone edit my post please!!! the keyboard didn't type the "r" in shirts and so it reads... ..yea fix that one please! thanks

MommytoKKC replied: I struggle with this problem too. I wish the girls had a dresser with a six drawers, but they have four. So one drawer is pajamas, one drawer is shirts (half the side is long and half is short sleeve right now) one drawer is shorts and pants, and the bottom drawer is socks/underwear/leggings/camis/etc. Then I have a 3 drawer plastic container I use in the closet to hold leotards, soccer clothes, etc. I hang nicer outfits up, but with their school uniforms hanging I can't hang too much up. It's a tight squeeze since they share a room. I pretty much expect half their clothes to end up on the floor

MommyToAshley replied:


Fixed it, but was good for a laugh.

mom21kid2dogs replied:
Yeah, me neither! Unfortunately, if we don't pick out her stuff she'll never change out of her jammies and it would never bother her. She is very much not a fashion queen.

coasterqueen replied:
I know, either are my girls. Drives me batty, for some odd reason, especially since I'm not a fashion queen. I'm gonna try real darn hard though - that's what I tell my husband every time he tells me to give up.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I don't find the clothes in the holder things get any more wrinkled than if they were in drawers.. i mean, folded is folded, no?

As far as matching.. well pretty much everything my kids have is matching with itself. I tend to buy plain-ish pants and shirts... pants are usually tan, grey, white, black and jeans.. they do have a few pink and purple pants.. zach also has a red pair.. and shirts that I buy are sure to complement the pants just fine.. so, even if they pick a bright yellow shirt.. the pants will still match fairly decently with the shirts..

socks.. i don't buy those expensive multicolored socks.. they get white, or black..

as far as matching outfits.. well to be honest, it's MY opinion that when you get to school age, matching outfits just isn't "cute" anymore, it's.. well.. kindergarden.




I'm such a mean mommy

coasterqueen replied:
Interesting. So you don't care if they wear an orange shirt with pink pants that clearly does not go well together? Drives me crazy.

Our Lil' Family replied: I've thought about putting clothes together as pairs. I don't right now, just group all shorts/tshirts/pants/shorts. But what would you do about shirts that don't necessarily go with a certain pair of shorts but with jeans or khaki shorts instead? KWIM? I don't always buy shorts and shirts together. I'll pick up a cute shirt that I know he can wear with either khaki or jean shorts. So what would I do with those?

I do like Rocky's idea and I have one of those that I have his shoes in right now. Might think about starting a new use for it.

PrairieMom replied: We do underpants , socks, jammies, and shorts in the dresser, and everything else gets hung up.
The kids put their own clothes away, so as long as they get put into the right drawers I am happy. Ben hangs his own clothes up too, so as long as its off the floor I am happy.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
Nope! Then again, I don't get my girls bright orange shirts.

coasterqueen replied:
Well, either do I. Just an example. I just think of some of the outfits my kids put together, I quickly make them march back into their rooms and change them - only when going to school though. Megan is one who likes to wear 2 different shoes that clearly don't match.

punkeemunkee'smom replied: We are supposed to put them away too???

~Roo'sMama~ replied: I used to put outfits together in a separate drawer, and then put all other shirts in one drawer and pants in another, but it got to be too much of a hassle, and the outfits drawer was always overflowing. So this year I've just got the shirts, shorts, and pants all in separate drawers whether they're part of an outfit or not. Andrew likes to pick his own clothes... sometimes I cringe at the combinations he comes up with, but unless we're going to church or something I let him wear what he wants. Allie's starting to want to get her own clothes out too, but she needs help reaching the higher drawers so I'm always on hand to suggest stuff that goes together.

bluebear replied: Just a heads up: don't put heavy pants in drawers. I had about 2 or 3 pairs of jeans in my drawer and it broke. Thick hangers will support pants better (and will appear not wrinkled.)