Lets talk drawer organising for kids clothes.

[TimeForMy10thCuppa]

What do you find works best and helps the kids keep their clothes tidy? They have recently started picking out their own clothes and putting clean stuff away. I currently have everything jammed into the drawers with no organisation. No wardrobes as no space. To be honest they have more clothes than they need even after a declutter. But i need to organise it all so they can find what they need and DH can figure out what is pjs and what isnt. So please inspire me. I was going to get baskets but i really have no budget. I do have a tone of random carboard boxes of various sizes, a label maker and 2 children who enjoy a diy project. They are 7 and 4 by the way. Thanks in advance.

Years ago, I drew pics of pyjamas, socks etc and stuck them on to drawers. Now, you could do a better job with printing.

It only works if there's plenty of space. If they have more clothes than they need, I would do more decluttering.

If they're 7 and 4, it should be obvious who's is whose. If not, get a permanent marker, put one blob on the label of child 1's clothes and two blobs on child 2's. When clothes are passed down, add a blob.

Its dh that finds it difficult working out what belongs to who after bits are passed down. I also keep finding dd picking out pjs to wear out because dh said it was fine. 4 year old dd is very helpfull. Once she figures out the system she will know what she is doing. Ds on the other hand struggles to find stuff that is right infront of him. I may print of some pictures and let them colour them in. Will have another declutter once i have tackled the mount everest sized laundry pile i have to wash. Thanks for the tips.

Should add dd is a super tall 4 year old. Who regularly borrows her brothers clothes, especailly hoodies and sweatshirts. So i assume dh remembers dd seeing wearing them once and assumes they belong to her.

Do they share the drawers? How many drawers do you actually have?
For example DD has one with pj's ,knickers,socks and vests(in the winter). No confusion there,and everything she needs in one drawer after her bath.

I had three sons and one daughter. As the boys got older, they began to share clothes more often - there came a time when it was easier to just let them sort it themselves. Then, as they hit puberty, they would get territorial, and it would all start again.

I would recommend bulk buying socks. Buying 50 black socks for school and just pairing them as they came off the line was life changing!

Also putting clothes away like in the after picture maximises spaces and saves on the "i want the specific tshirt that's right at the bottom so I'll throw everything else around looking for it" issue.

Forgot to add the picture.

I have the IKEA malm drawers - 4 in each chest of drawers. One drawer for undies/socks/tights/PJ's, one for tops, one for bottoms, one for jumpers etc. Then I use these to separate the contents of the drawers, eg sections for socks, knickers etc in the top drawer, sections for long sleeved/short sleeved/school tops. The kids are still hopeless at folding but they have learned where things go quite well.

They have their own drawers. Ds has a 4 long and 2 small at the top type. And dd has 4 long drawers but they are different depths.
With ds i have the top 2 for socks and underwear, then pjs then tops, then joggers and hoodies and finally jeans and sweatshirts/ shirts.
Dds is trickier, she has more types of clothes. So top drawer is currently, pants, vests socks tights and pjs. Next drawer is tops- long and short sleeve. Then its dresses skirts jumpsuits and cardigans. Finally its jeans, leggings shorts jumpers.
They have a seperate area for school stuff.

The folding method is what i usually do, though havnt got tound to it yet. It is amazingand makes it easier for me to find what i need for them. Havnt tried it since they started picking their own clothes.
I need something like the dividers for dds clothes. Not sure if i should go dividers or baskets. I also have a lot of cheap mdf/ chipboard cut offs that i was saving to create drawer dividers.

Thank you for the replies. I will go get on with some cleaning now.

That’s a crazy amount of tops for one child rebel.

I just regularly donate and have a one in one out policy.

@NotTakenUsername that's an Internet picture not DD's actual tops. But she does have a lot of clothes.

@TimeForMy10thCuppa I'd think baskets would leave you with less space overall. Dividers sound like a better idea. You could make your own and hot glue gun them in?

The DCs 5&7 share a room and are very similar in size. We have an IKEA Pax wardrobe which is all shelves, baskets and drawers. At the top is blankets/ bedding. Then a shelf for my jumpers. New clothes waiting to be grown in to. Then communal pyjamas. Communal socks. Communal pants. School uniform. Sports kits. The other side at the top starts with more bedding. Then swimming kit/ wetsuits. DS1 jumpers. DS2 jumpers. DS1 t-shirts. DS2 t-shirts. Shorts (mainly DS1 also shared with DS2) Trousers (mainly DS2, DS1's don't ever tend to make it out of the drawer for growing into!)

The DCs are so similar in size with mostly the same taste so it seems pointless to separate so many of the clothes out when they would only pilfer from eachother anyway so the comnunal method is just quicker and simpler all round.

I use the vertical folding for my clothes. Faffy, but very efficient!

I also vertically fold my DC's clothes as it makes it easier to see what's what. Shoeboxes make good drawer dividers.

I use shoe boxes to dived my drawers as they sit tight side by side so no lost space.
If box doesn't fit drawer exactly then it acts as a divider between it and the drawer edge iyswim

I also fold t shirts like the photo above, roll tights and fold socks in to little square parcels (your DD could do it too!)

Yup just 1 box in the middle gives 3 "columns". Shoeboxes across the front for leggings/tights/pants.

I think the key is not having too many clothes. 6-7 tops are plenty and are so much easier for DC to manage than 20. We go through everything twice a year when the season changes, trying it all on and only keeping out what currently fits. Then we only buy what's needed to plug the gaps.

I have tried kondo-style packing too, but DC struggle to put their clothes away this way, so we've abandoned it.

On YouTube you can find videos of small children folding shirts with a hinged board. I think it's called the Japanese method or something. We have such a board made from a cardboard box. Make one, teach them to fold their own stuff.

Shirt folding board

I'd got the clothes count right down - mentioned to my mum my eldest was low as hell on t-shirts and she's bought a mountain of clothes for both of them again!

Mine are 5 and 6, and my mum tends to buy two of stuff in different sizes so I just tend to bung an initial for the relevant child inside the neck of everything. My youngest I put name tapes in her clothes to help her get them on the right way around too - but that's a bit of a pain in the arse if you don't have a child with SN.

Thanks all. I made a start on dds drawers because they were driving me nuts. Lined the inside with sticky back plastic - because i love the stuff and i have no life. Then did the folding like in the pics above. Got tid of about 6 tshirts she had doubles of- i buy them when on sale then mil will spot them and buy the same. The drawer is only now half full. Will get some more done tonight. Their drawers are in my bedroom because they have a smaller room between the two of them. Plus its easier to deal with laundry when they are asleep. Thanks again.