Eek, right? The closet system that was put in place by the previous owners of the house was simply not going to work for three girls. But before I could even begin to tackle that problem, I had to address the issue of the clothing that the girls have versus the clothing that the girls need. As I said before, I'm a shopper. I love to shop. I love to find bargains. I love to find tights that match the dress that match the shoes that match the headband. But as I looked out into the sea of dresses and sweaters and shoes, I knew we had too much.
I've already been following a system of switching out the closets to the seasonally appropriate items. Long sleeved tees and sweaters and boots get stored away in large plastic totes when spring comes around, leaving space in the closets for tanks and tees, flip flops and summer dresses. Each girl has a tote labeled with her name, and in it goes clothing for next season in addition to clothing that her older sister has outgrown. Greta's tote has the least inside; the oldest, she's six and is in the 97th percentile for height. That leaves little at the end of the season that looks like it will fit her down the road. Frankie's and Lou Lou's totes are brimming with style, however. They have no excuse to be running around naked!
So even without the extra clothing for other seasons in the closet, I needed to weed through the girls' wardrobes and make some choices. Some choices were easy. We just celebrated Halloween, so Frankie's long sleeved pumpkin tee and cozy pumpkin sweater could go into totes. Sure, they'd still keep Frankie warm for the rest of the winter, but who wants to wear a pumpkin shirt in December? "Not I," said the fly. The tee went right into Lou Lou's tote since there was no way I'd be able to squeeze Frankie into it next October. I was pretty sure the sweater would still fit her after another year, however, so it went into Frankie's tote. Adios, Halloween!
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| I love you, Pumpkin Sweater, but you still have to live in the tote until next October. |
After all of the out of season items were placed in their appropriate totes, I was left with the issue of just plain too much. I already told you how great it felt to clean out my own closet; now I was ready to do the same with the girls'. I had to face the facts. No one, not even adorable little girls, needs 25 dresses. I dove into the closet and pulled out the items that in no way, under no cicumstances whatsoever, even if it was the last thing on earth, the girls would wear. For example, there's a red shirt I bought for Greta with beautiful white stitching; she's never worn it - not ever! That went straight into the pile for Frankie's tote. (One of my girls is going to wear that red shirt if it's the last thing I do.) Then there were several pieces that were just....okay. These are the ones that I loved at the store but not so much at home or the ones that I couldn't pass up because of a great sale. Well, now I was passing them up left and right. And it felt good! Just like my own closet, my girls were going to have a closet with only our favorites - the pieces they wanted to wear time after time and the ones that really made us ooh and ah. Greta and Frankie gave me their input on their must-haves, and it was a fun time of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go." Several of the pieces had to go now, and we made a small mountain of clothes to bring to Goodwill.
Left with only the seasonally appropriate items we love, I could turn my attention to one of my favorite hobbies - organizing! First, though, we needed a better closet system, one that made finding the perfect outfit a breeze. That called for some demo and reconstruction. Stay tuned to see the results!
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