Wardrobe

One of the biggest things we miss in our home overseas is the neatly concealed closes that we had in the States.

Here, we only have a wardrobe.

And though Narnia makes them sound all magical and like portals into a fantasy world, ours, is not.

More like a portal into a world where clothes and toys overtake every inch of a 2 by 4 by 6 box. Please, step into my sand filled horror world.

Last week, we were off of school for our Easter break and one of my goals was to get Grace's wardrobe under control. I didn't have the forethought to take "before," pictures, but here are the "afters" of an afternoon's endeavor.



1. Grace's Easter bunny from my parents plays "If You're Happy and You're Know It," and it claps its hands and flaps its ears. Grace can see it from the changing table and she lights up every time we turn it on.

2. To the left of the wardrobe is where all of our baby gear is stored. Infant tub, bouncy seat, play mat, and several bags of clothes to pass on to other families.

3. The left side of the wardrobe is where we keep her "fancy" clothes (read, do not send her to day care in these clothes,) and her extra clothes.

4. The top, right side is where we keep some toys.

5. The bottom, right drawers are where we keep her bed linens, towels, and burp cloths.


6. At the top I have stored Grace's shoes, hats, and head bands, in flat storage containers. On the right side is our travel diaper bag (it is huge!) stored with other infant gear.

7. On the far left of the hanging rack, you can see a garment bag. I tied off the bottom and cut a slit in the side, and it is where I store all of the matching bloomers for the dresses.

All of Grace's "fancy clothes," are on hangers. I had a hard time with this batch because she has been given SO MANY clothes. It is such a blessing but also a struggle as I try to get her in everything before she outgrows the size! Also, on the far right of the rack, I have a hanging bag with all of her swim suits, rash guards, hats, and flip flops.

8. On the bottom of the wardrobe, you can see our pack-n-play and our storage containers for Grace's past and future clothes, arranged by sizes (newborn, 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 12-18, and 18- 24 months.)This whole side was wasted space before, as I had been keeping 3 of the storage containers here. Now it is making for some great toy storage!

9. The top shelf is for all of her infant toys. The cans are formula cans that I spray painted and taped off the top to prevent cutting on the edge. These were all part of a bean bag toss game for Grace's 1st birthday party but I repurposed them to hold her rattles, blocks, animals, and such. She doesn't really use these toys any more but on a day when she is really bored I can easily pull out a can for her to explore.

10. The middle shelf is for all of her "later," toys. They are either toys that I have picked up at an amazing discount (like a wooden dollhouse family or a Melissa and Doug bowling set,) or are toys that have been given to Grace but she is not ready for them developmentally (Fridge phonics, ball drop, bath tub boat/fishing set.) These are all just set aside for when she is ready for them- like having our own in house toy store.

11. The bottom shelf is for her "now," toys. These are toys that are appropriate for her developmentally right now, but perhaps she needs assistance or modeling with them (the baby doll or the bag of Arabic books,) or they make alot of noise and we don't want her having access all the time (can of musical instruments, singing snail with blocks.) These toys are for when we are playing with her and can spend some time showing her how different toys are used. She has her normal toys out at her level and she can access them whenever she wants but it makes these even more special when we can pull out something "new" and play with her!

I'm really glad I got this project done this week. I was able to cull out alot of clothes that I want to pass on to another family, and also weed out the clothes that another family lent us but aren't season appropriate or that Grace has out grown. Considering we're moving in two months, this was a good first step to organizing and slimming down on Grace's things!

I'd love to see how you keep yours or your kids clothes and toys organized!

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Wardrobe