Like I mentioned in this post, my goal this year to simplify and organize. So one thing I tackled this past weekend was organizing Owen’s newborn to 3 month clothes and getting them packed up to put in our attic.
I started by investing in some storage bins so I picked up 6 light blue bins at Target for $6 each. I wanted it to be obvious what the bin contents would hold, which is why I bought 6 of the same exact bins. That way when we need to go up into the attic and retrieve the bins, we know exactly which bins are filled with boy clothes.
I told you in this post and this post how I’m a big clothes roller, meaning I roll clothes because I think it takes up lease space. So needless to say, I rolled the majority of Owen’s clothes to fit them into the bin. That’s after I washed them, of course.
Note: Sorry for the bad photography, I think I’ve seen the sun a total of three times since October, and it’s fairly hard to take good photos without natural light.
I started with his 0-3 month clothes on the bottom. As you can see, I folded his shorts in half because rolling them didn’t really work.
Then, I layered his outfits on top. By outfits, I mean the coordinating outfits with a onesie, pants, and jacket. I folded these because rolling didn’t work too well.
To keep the outfits together, I put the onesies and pants inside the jackets and then zipped up the jackets.
I topped off the bin with his newborn clothes and swaddles.
I plan to add vinyl lettering to the outside of the bin, indicating the sizes inside the bin.
Now I need to start knocking out the 3-6 month clothes because my 4 month old is starting to wear 9 month and 6-12 month clothes.
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Brittany Belling says
Oh I love this! Our problem is that we have way too much of her outgrown clothing stored (because I couldn’t give up anything.) I’m thinking of majorly down sizing to about 15-20 outfits per size range, because let’s face it if we have another girl chances are we’ll still go shopping a lot.
Now to go find some pretty pink or purple bins, because your color coordinated bins idea is way too smart.
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
I totally know what you mean about downsizing to about 15-20 outfits. I just can’t bring myself to get rid of some of the clothes yet, especially the tiny sizes.
Alison says
I used Space Saver cubes/bags. Kept out the water, bugs, air and allowed me to still see what was inside and took up much less space. Everything inside was just as it was when I stored it 4.5 years earlier.
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
Good idea! I love Space Saver bags. I use them to store extra bedding. I think Space Saver bags would be perfect if you’re tight on space because they fit perfectly under a bed.
Chrissy says
I feel like I am constantly buying new bins at Target for my daughter’s clothes. I do clear bins so I can easily see the contents. But I also label hugely as well.
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
Clear work too, especially if they’ll be stored away in an attic where the sun can’t discolor the contents.
Meghan says
We have so many baby clothes in boxes in our basement. Part of me wants to tackle it and organize it more but I’m waiting til we get pregnant again and find out what we are having. If it’s another boy I will get it super organized but if it’s a girl it’s all being given away! I love your rolling method though and putting the pants into the zippered hoodies!
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
I definitely know what you mean– why spend all that time organizing if you’re not even going to use it? I guess if you get super bored one day you could tackle it. Hah! 🙂
[email protected] says
This is exactly what we did for our children’s clothing as well. Made our multiple moves easier as well as easier to organize for the next child. Now that we are done having children, I am now using our storage bins as a per child and putting my favorite pieces of clothing, sports shirts, etc. in there and will make each of my children a T-shirt quilt that I will present to them on their 18th birthday. There are so many memories in those little pieces of clothing. I guess I have become nostalgic in my years.
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
What a great idea! I love stuff like that so I’m definitely going to file it away in my brain. I also tried to buy some nicer outfits for Owen that I can keep and pass on to him when he one day has children.
Caroline says
Isn’t it sad how fast they grow out of their clothes? I thought I did REALLY WELL storing baby clothes, until I just couldn’t keep up with it anymore (or keep up with separating sizes). Then I had a girl and consigned all the boy clothes 🙂
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
Yes! I want him to stay this size forever. He’s basically the perfect size for cuddling. Good idea! Once we’re done procreating I plan to consign.
Baseball T-Shirts says
I have tried to utilize, but it really does not works by any means.
Christina says
That is a great way to store clothes. We do the same and I have bins set up for larger sizes to. That way as I am able to get items on sale they are already sorted and stored and I can pull the next sizes out quickly.
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
Great idea!
Brittani says
This is such a great way to store baby clothes. I’ll have to go back through and re-pack all of Ashlynn’s clothes. She’s just growing so fast. Such a great idea!
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
Thanks, Brittani! Don’t you wish we could keep them small forever?
Tiny Mathew says
So is there a place u store these bins?I live in a two bedroom condo with my husband and a toddler girl so it;s limited space. I am expecting my baby boy this April. Any tips on how much I should buy?
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
We’ll store them in our attic above our garage. I’ve you’re limited on space, I’d recommend getting under the bed storage bins.
Caley says
Such a great idea – we did this with our first little girls clothes and it was so easy to take out, wash and pack away for our second little girl. At 7 months, I’m going to be doing this all again x
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
Thanks, Caley!
Diana Mattson says
I love the way you organize everything!!! This is so helpful my organization skills span as far as buying the bins and just dumping clothes in them to make room in the closet. It’s a start I guess.
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
Thanks so much, Diana! Hey, that’s better than throwing the clothes in trash bags. Hah!
Sarah says
Hi Chelsea! So I was just going through (ahem stalking) some of your organizational posts, and I saw this one in the recommended section of some of the other posts, but I scrolled down to the comments, surprised that this was posted just a few days ago! I am a daily reader, and have been kinda confused why you hadn’t been posting recently. When I go to your home page, the last post I see is your Christmas card! Do you know why that is? Argh! Do you know what else I’m missing?!
Sarah
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
Hmm, that’s so strange. So when you go to twotwentyone.net the very first post is my Christmas card? Maybe clear your cookies and cache? I haven’t had anyone else say they’ve had this issue. Have you signed up to receive emails whenever there’s a new post? If not, here’s the sign up page: http://eepurl.com/ba4kw5.
Sarah says
So now that I’m on my computer at work (I mean… home…) 🙂 I can see them. I use a Mac at home and work has Windows, but I’m still using Chrome. Hmm. I’ll try to clear my cookies and cache. Thanks for the suggestion.
Technology!
Well, now I have a slew of posts to catch up on. I hope that you had a great Christmas and a happy new year!
Sarah says
I figured it out! I have an ad-blocking software that makes the posts not show up on the home screen. It’s off! 🙂
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
Good! Not gonna lie– I’m relieved it wasn’t something on my end. Hope you had a great weekend!