Closet Cleanout, Episode: Baby Gear

It's no secret that I am not an organizational wizard.

I blame it on my artistic tendencies.  I blame it on my busy schedule.  I blame it on Annie.  I blame it on... myself.  Yeah, it's pretty much just me.  I'm ok with a pile of clutter.  Or three.

BUT.  It has to be within certain zones, and I have my limits.  Our living room is always neat (or within a two-minute toy pickup session away from neatness), and I like my baby's room to look nice and be functional.  I'm not ok with Beep's closets being chock-full of outgrown clothes and infant gear.  Which they were...  So recently I went on a binge of organizing and storing all things infant.

I'll spare you the details, but I do want you to keep in mind that I tackled this on a Saturday morning while Cabbage was feeding/cleaning stalls/generally avoiding being sucked into this project.  Luckily, I had a very good helper.  She's about two and a half feet tall and looks something like this:

Actually, she looks exactly like that.

So together Beep and I pulled out, repacked, reorganized, refolded/unfolded/refolded (thanks, Beep!) clothes, nursing supplies, infant gear, baby bottles, and a million other things. 

Over the past year or so, I'd tried a few different categories for and methods of storing baby stuff, and it all seemed too general or too cumbersome.  Here's what I finally came up with, and I love it. 

(I realize it might seem forehead-slapping dumb to most people, but hey.  I'm organizationally challenged.)

1. I set aside all super-important, family-heirloom-type keepsake items in a totally separate bin (not pictured).

2. I stopped trying to cram items into too-small boxes.  Instead, I made peace with some unused space in bigger containers.

3. I hunted down some storage bins we had half-filled with crap we didn't need lying around, wiped them out, and labelled them properly.  This was a better option than my previous method which included using empty diaper boxes with barely legible pen markings.  I feel like I've actually achieved adulthood.

4. Clothing, shoes, and outerwear was separated by size:

    0-3 months

    3-6 months

    6-12 months

(I stopped there, since she's petite she still can wear some bigger 12-18 month clothing)

[I'd like you to notice the labels prove my baby really does go by the name Beep at home.  It's not some random blog code name.]

5. When in doubt, I separated things according to the smallest category.  For example, if a shirt was sized 6 months, I put it in the 3-6 month bin, not the 6-12 month one.  Overthinking this in the past left me completely flummoxed.  I like this solution because whenever I pull out that bin again I may have a few items on the too-large side, but haven't missed the chance to have a little person wear them again.

6. As I went, I double-checked that everything was separated by size, and left all bins open until every. last. thing. was packed up.  Very helpful when finding stray socks and onesies.

7. A separate bag was dedicated with Goodwill items, for the stuff I knew we wouldn't use again in the future.  I'd rather have another baby get good use of something that's just not our taste, after all!

8. I dedicated a bin to all our feeding supplies, including nursing supplies, breast pumps, bottles, burp cloths, bottle drying rack, etc.

9. I used kitchen liner garbage bags to separately package bulky gear-type items like boppy, nursing pillow, bouncy seat, bassinet to the pack-n-play, baby play gym.  Then I stuffed them all into one huge 55 gallon yard bag, so everything is grouped together.  Yay!

At the end of the morning, this is what my pile looked like:

Ready for storage in the attic, along with the baby bath seat and baby swing. 

Now we have tons of empty closet space in Beep's room... just right for panic-stuffing a mess when the doorbell rings.

I may be more organized now, but I'm still me.

How do you organize your stored clothes?  What tricks work best for storing your personal or seasonal items?