This is the Fourth  in a Five part series on the common problem of organizing laundry in your home:

number7ministries.org_.laundryLet’s look at that whole overabundance issue, as well as the storage of clothing. So often, I find that people buy more and more socks and underwear because they get tired of digging in the piles or they have no clean pairs. But this creates a whole problem in and of itself. They may have only one small chest of drawers for a child and yet many, many pairs of socks, underwear, t-shirts, shorts, pants, sweaters, etc. Closets may be small, contain outsized or donated clothing, toys or other miscellaneous items.

The organizing principle that there is a home for everything and everything has a home holds just as true for clothing, as it does for other items. So does the “like items with like items”. If children have outgrown items they should be removed from the “working area”. If you are saving things for a child to grow into, store it separately with a label on the outside of the size range. Examine your closets and put out-of-use stored items up on top shelves. Are the ceilings high enough to add a shelf? Can a second closet rod be added to double the hanging space? Sometimes this may require repositioning a rod higher and then adding the second. It may take a couple hours of time, but is well worth the effort in the long term use of the space and is not that difficult to do with the white wire shelving. Obviously, custom built-in closets are great, but are a bit of a luxury.

If friends or relatives have donated clothing, make sure you can use and want them. If they want them back, you may ask whether it is worth the hassle to use and store them and know what to return. You can graciously and sincerely say thank you but no thank you. Children do go through clothing quickly and you need to think how often you do laundry and how much clothing do they reasonably need for a couple of weeks. The more there is and the more packed a drawer or closet is the harder it is to put away or to find a particular item of clothing you may want, etc. This holds true for adults, as well. I think this is a contributing factor for why people do not put things away. Can you relate to this?

Next Week: Susan talks about women’s clothing