Today I have a guest who is sharing her “DIY closet organization” with us. Thanks Brittany. These are great tips for those of us who don’t want to spend a fortune organizing.
My daughters are only 2 years apart and they were both born in August, so we have A LOT of clothes.
(We also plan on having another child fairly quickly so I am keeping everything we may need and if we have a boy next I plan to resell them to purchase boys clothes)
First let me start by saying that I had 14, yes 14, 18 gallon totes of clothes PLUS 2 closets full before I started this mission! I knew I was going to need more totes soon because my oldest was growing completely out of somethings, and I try to always have the next stage of clothes waiting for her by hitting garage sales and hit off season sales before she even gets to the next size.
As some of you probably know those totes can get pretty pricey. I bought most of mine during Black Friday sales so I only paid about $4.99 a tub, however, they can run upwards of $9 or $10. I decided I needed to get some tubs before the Black Friday sales started because the clothes situation was getting out of control!
I brought all my tubs upstairs and sorted clothes for 2 days! Oh yes, 2 days indeed, and that is probably because everything I packed in the girls unpacked so I did almost everything twice! The second day was much easier because the girls just played in the totes while I organized everything in its proper place and they really enjoyed that! They were pretty sad when we put everything away!
14 totes unpacked … Closets emptied…. Drawers emptied… Items purged… and 2 days later….
My living room looked like a tornado had gone through it about 6 times!
However, once the smoke cleared and I packed everything away….
I ended up with this:
6 totes of clothes to store in the basement.
6 empty totes with NOTHING to put in them…… YET!
(unpictured is 2 totes: one in each of the girls closets for clothes they grow out of and for the next season)
I really did not get rid of very much stuff. The only things I got rid of were items that were too stained, items neither of the girls had wore it because I didn’t really like it, and unmatched items.
I just repacked everything well enough (very tightly and rolled up) to store it better!
Here is a small reveal of what I also did to reorganize the closets in the girls’ rooms!
I used some old CDs with too many scratches to repair and CDs from junior high and high school I won’t be listening to ever again!
(You know.. I’m a Barbie girl … in a Barbie world… okay….hanging my head in shame for once loving that song)
I used the CD label making program on my computer to create a label, printed them on card stock paper, cut them out, and used mod podge glue (which dries clear) to apply the labels to the old CDs.
I then just cut slits in the tops of the CD’s to allow them to hang in the closest.
I do not have a picture of the clothes sorted and hanging yet, but tomorrow I will be posting that photo along with the way I organized the girls’ dresser drawers! 
If you would like to use the background templates (poka dots) I used to create your own labels just email me at: brittany@thetruckerwife.com and I will email you the backgrounds
To give you an idea of what colors I used:
- Black
- Brown
- Pink
- Purple
- Blue
- Green
- Red
- Multi
- Orange
- Yellow
- Black
Of course if you have boys you will not need the pink or purple, or you might, but just include if you want them all or which ones you want in the email.
I made two sets of these (one for each girls’ closet) and I am thinking I need to make some up for me and the hubby’s closet next! If I create some for our closet I will post the photos of them too. I am thinking I would use a different background!
Also, I believe most computers come with a FREE CD labeling program, but if yours does not you can download one here.
I am a SAHM and trucker wife with two wonderful little girls. I spend the days making messes with my kids, crafting, couponing, waiting for my husband to call and whatever else it takes to keeping the homefires burning while my he is on the road!
If you would like to visit Brittany’s blog, here is the link.
Do you have any tips on how to organize the “cheap way”? Share them with us now. (You can also add a blog link to your comment so we can visit your blog).
Tags: closet, closets
Blog, Closets, guest post, Organize Posted in
10 comments
10 comments on “Guest post… Organizing on the cheap: DIY closet organizers.”
I’ve just gone through my daughters clothes so I empathise! I’m 37wks pregnant with my second girl and my daughter is only 20 months so I didn’t think it would be a huge job but it must have taken me two weeks to complete! But I’ve organised so much now and cleared out so much stuff. It was entirely worth it. Now for MY clothes and shoes 🙁 any tips on shoe storage?
Clothes can be overwhelming. To keep my three kids organized I change their clothes out with each season. My daughters goes to someone who can use them, middle son in bins for younder son and younger sons to my nephew. Otherwise I get so confused and my poor children are trying to put on clothes that don’t work,lol.
@Lianne for shoe storage I do the same thing with shoes. I collect all the flip flops at the end of summer and they go into a bin. And bring the bin of hat,gloves & boots back out. It really helps.
I’m organizing my Son’s closet right now. Extreme nesting going on since I’m 30 weeks pregnant with Baby #4. 2 girls, 1 boy and a Surprise. 🙂 My makeover is costing me right around $100 for a 5′ wide closet.
We actually use boxes to store things like old clothes, shoes, keepsakes and decorations. My husband either gets printer paper boxes from work or we find them for free at grocery stores. I make sure to label them with a permanent marker on every side so I know exactly what is in each box no matter where it gets tossed. It keeps our closets very organized for free! What doesn’t fit in the boxes, I purge. I am always looking for the next thing to downsize, lol! (My Radical Storage Solution)
Wow – your girls sure have a ton of clothes!! I love hanging organizers – what a greta way to organize clothing in kid’s closets!
Sarah from The House That Ag Built
Those organizers are so cool. I need to do something like that too.
LOVE the CD idea…so cute!
http://www.Marriagefromscratch.blogspot.com
Love the CD organizer! I am just wondering if these will fall. I have tons of CDs that I have for crafting. Thanks for this idea!
I have used cardboard all over the house to organize! Cereal boxes, leftover cases of beer! Check out what I’ve created using cardboard on my blog!
http://www.untamed-elegance.com/
xo,
Liz
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