My Daughter’s Wardrobe, Closet and Toys – Project: Simplify

Week Three of Project: Simplify

I was so happy about this week’s hot spot since it is something that I’ve really been wanting to get to. I also had planned on changing out my daughter’s wardrobe this week anyway. Although we still have some cooler temps this week, spring has officially made its appearance so it’s time to pack up the winter clothes (that are not fitting well anymore anyway) and get out the spring clothes! I did not go through her toys since I had just done this in January after all of the Christmas stuff she got. I’ll go ahead and detail below how I did that though just for fun. 🙂

Monday I worked on her clothes. I washed everything she had that was dirty so I could have everything clean. After that, I went through all of her clothes in her drawers and closet and packed up all of the winter stuff to save for any future children/consignment/donation. I had a pretty big stack of clothing and shoes that were handed down to me for Marcella from a girl from church so I took all of those out and washed everything in the correct size. (I already had all of this organized in her drawer by size so it was easy to just take it all out and wash it.) A lot of it was line dry so I hung it up on the drying rack and the rest I hung up or put in her (now mostly empty) drawer. I also moved everything from the closet in the next size up into the bottom drawer (where I keep storage clothes/shoes/etc. for later.)

Tuesday was Marcella’s 2nd birthday so we spent all day celebrating. All I did this day was hang up and put away the now dry clothes from the drying rack.

Wednesday I decided to tackle the closet. I’ve really wanted to get Marcella’s closet organized. It bugs me every time I open it. It isn’t very large and in the last year since we moved back into our house (long story) it has gone from nicely organized to cluttered with stuff we don’t use or need anymore. I took out everything on the shelf above and everything out of the storage shelving out and put it in her room and slowly went through everything. I made piles of things to get rid of, things that belonged elsewhere, things that could be stored in the attic for future children and things to keep in the closet. I went through all of the shoes that were handed down to me to see what the sizes were since I never actually did that before when I went through the rest of the stuff. I stored the ones that were 2 sizes too big and kept out the ones that were only one size too big or her size now. I also put a couple too small pairs with the clothes that no longer fit.

Once I had everything separated, I tackled each pile one at a time. Some of the stuff I found I can just get rid of were some hangers that are from the store that you can hang a shirt and pants on. I don’t use these so I’ll either find someone who would like them or give them back to the store (tip from a friend.) I also found a stash of cloth diapers that were given to me that are too big or otherwise won’t work for my daughter. Instead of hanging on to them, I’m going to give them to some moms that could use them instead. Most likely, my next child is going to be smaller like Marcella anyway. I also filled a basket with items for the attic and my husband put those up for me. The last step was finding a new home for what needed to stay. I now have room for anything new we need to store in there which is great! I also took all of her books out and resorted them in her basket since it had gotten messy.

I said I’d tell you how I organized my toys even though I did this back in January (so no pictures, sorry.) Basically I took every toy/book, etc that she had and put them all in our bonus room. It was a mess for a couple days while I worked through it but I was so happy with the final result. I then started making piles of like toys together (all stuffed animals together, all food related toys together, all books together, etc.) This helped me, since I’m a visual person, see what exactly she had so I could determine what went where.

We have 4 toy areas in our house. Downstairs we use the cabinets and drawer in our entertainment console to house toys. I like this because clean up is pretty simple and toys are out of sight for when we have company over. (We do have her baby doll with stroller out and her armchair out but everything else is stored when she’s not playing with it.) Upstairs we have a bonus room where all her large toys are and we also have some open shelving and a closed cabinet as well. Of course we have toys in her room as well. Books and stuffed animals are in her closet and there is a small shelf with various toys and board books. Lastly we have a small bin of toys I keep on the bottom of my linen closet that I pull out for her to play in my bedroom if she is awake while I’m getting ready in the morning or for when we go somewhere. It’s easy to just pick up (hand holds on both sides) and go.

I kept the majority of her stuffed animals in a basket in the closet in her room but took a few to place in each of her toy areas. All books, other than board books, stayed in a basket in the closet in her room. She still occasionally rips pages so I like these to be somewhere where I will most likely be around to make sure she isn’t ripping the pages (although it still happens sometimes.) The board books I divided up between the different toy areas. All of the larger toys (like her play kitchen, rocking horse, etc.) stay up in the bonus room. I also decided to have all of the food play things in the bonus room. She has a cabinet of her sports toys in the bonus room together as well. All dress up toys are mostly in her room while all of her musical toys are in her toy bin for on-the-go play.

What did you tackle this week? Clothes, toys, both? Did you have your children participate with you? I’d love to hear how it went!

*Sorry about the quality on these two pictures! Marcella broke my camera so I had to use my iPhone.