The Seasonal Switch

It FINALLY feels like Spring in Indiana, which means it's time for me to embark on the monumental task of the "seasonal switch."  This is when I put away the wintery clothes and get out the spring/summer clothes that are stored in totes in the basement.  It doesn't sound hard in that single sentence, but it is SUCH a process!  This year I decided to do things a little differently to try to make it more efficient and enjoyable.

I have two boys, so I save everything that's in decent shape from the older one for the younger boy.   Since they are 4 years apart, that means I have tote after tote labelled by size.  Currently I have totes for size 6, size 7, and two totes for size 8 (as the clothes get bigger it takes more room to store the same amount), an 8/10, a 10/12, a 12/14, a 16/18, one for my oldest boy's out of season clothes that still fit, one for my out of season items that fit, my too small tote, and my husband's out of season - oh and then there's one for boots (or sandals depending on the season), one for hats/ gloves, one for coats/jackets, and one for kids' shoes that my youngest hasn't grown into yet!  That's a lot of totes!  And it never fails that the one I want is on the bottom of the stack, so I have to do an intricate redesign of the towers of totes to get to it.

Yesterday was the day I decided to tackle this season's switch, and even though I think I've come up with a pretty good new system, there's no denying, it's still a lot of work!  Here's the new way I'm doing things and how I am organizing the totes of clothes so that when, in a couple weeks I ​find some T-shirt or pair of sweats that somehow escaped the switch , it'll be a cinch to store it because I'll be able to identify which bin it should go in AND access it easily.

Step 1 - Sort the new season's clothes
Don't start with what's currently in your closet or drawers - if you do that you may end up sleeping in a tent for two weeks.  That's what happened to my then-6-year-old last year when I switched his summer clothes to fall/winter clothes.  I started by sorting through the clothes in his drawers, deciding what would be too small next year and what I could save.  Then I didn't have anywhere to store the clothes for the next summer because the storage bins were full of the fall/winter clothes that I hadn't gotten out yet.  So, I dumped the fall/winter clothes on the bed, filled the emptied bins with the summer clothes, and took them to the basement.  When it was bedtime, I was OVER clothes sorting, and since his bed was a mound of long pants, sweaters and long johns, I tried to make it fun and let him sleep in a tent on his floor that night.  Well, one night turned many nights, and I actually lost track of how long he'd been sleeping in a tent until one night he said, "Mom, when can I sleep in my bed again? I've been sleeping in this tent since the night we watched the nun movie!"  He was talking about Sister Act, which we'd watched a full two weeks earlier!  

So to avoid tent sleeping due to a clothes infested bed, start with the new season's clothes.  I store our out of season duds in the basement, so I started with one family member (my youngest because I felt bad about the tent incident.)  I brought up several bins that contained sizes he may fit in this summer (if only there was truly a universal sizing system so I didn't have to have him try on sizes 6 through 8!)  I pulled everything out of each bin and put aside anything that was visibly too small or out of season (if I were better at planning I would have had my kids so they'd be the same sizes during the same seasons...)  and made a giant pile of what I needed for him to try on.  I did this only one bin at a time because, if you have boys you know that trying on clothes is something they can only endure for a very short amount of time.  We tried everything on and decided if it fit and if he liked it enough not to whine about wearing it.  We made three piles: it fits, it's too small or he won't wear it, and it's too big.  When we were done with each bin, we put all the items that fit into the laundry room clothes sorter, the too small items into a bag for my nephew (so my sister-in-law can store those at HER house!), and the too big pile back into the tote it came from.  We repeated with all of his bins (after some breaks in between each one.)

You can repeat this process for each member of the family:

1. ​Get out ALL totes that contain clothes for the upcoming season
2. Before trying anything on, sort out items that visibly won't fit or you don't like
3. Try on everything else, and create three piles:
   1. fits
   2. will never fit again (for kids these would be too small, for adults it is clothes that are for a weight that you realistically won't be again within a year or two)  OR clothes you don't like.  If it's something you know you won't wear because it's not flattering or it's a color you don't care for - donate it!  Don't waste precious closet space to store something you won't wear.
   3. will fit in the future (for kids these would be too big, for us adults, this could be the clothes that are within a few pounds of our current weight)
4. Put items that fit into the laundry
5. Put will never fit again/don't like clothes into a donate box
6. Put will fit in the future clothes back in a tote.

Step 2 - Sort the previous season's clothes
While the new season's clothes are in the laundry, go through the clothes that are currently in your closet and drawers.  Use the same general strategy as you did with the upcoming season's clothes with a couple of tweaks.

1. ​Take items directly from your drawer or closet and make a decision on each item (in other words, don't take them all out and make a giant pile.)  This allows you to do a little at a time and not risk the tent- sleeping -for-two-weeks fate.
2. Create three piles:
   1. fits
   2. will never fit again (for kids these would be too small, for adults it is clothes that are for a weight that you realistically won't be again within a year or two)  OR clothes you don't like.  
   3. will fit in the future (for kids these would be too big, for us adults, this could be the clothes that are within a few pounds of our current weight)
3. If you can make a decision without trying it on (since you likely recently wore most of these items) just put it into the appropriate pile.  But if there is any doubt, try it on!
4. Put items that fit or will fit in the future into the empty bins created when you emptied the upcoming season's clothes.  You may consider creating one bin for "will fit in the future" and another for "fits now" or you could put them all together since you'll have to sort them next season anyway.
5. Put will never fit again/don't like clothes into a donate box
6. Label the tote clearly on multiple sides.  If it's kids' clothes, mark the size and gender, but if it's adults' clothes, just mark it with the name (and if you separated by fits and will fit in the future, indicate that as well.)  Label it on multiple sides so that no matter which direction the tote is stored, you can see the label.  Colored duct tape and a sharpie make easy and cheap labels that can be removed so your totes can be reused.

Step 3 - Store out of season clothes
This is the biggest thing I'm excited about!  I am going to bite the bullet and do something I've been thinking about for several years...I'm buying shelves for my totes!    (I know big step, right?)  When totes are on shelves that means you don't have to play that game like the one you played as a kid where a square was filled with tiles and there's one blank space and you have to move tiles around to get them in a certain order.   I've ordered the shelves and can hardly wait til they arrive (don't worry, I'll let you know on Facebook when they do!)  Mine will go in my basement for the out of season clothes, but these could easily work in a garage or pole barn for anything you store in totes.

Bonus tips

• Make sure to put the tote containing the size of your oldest child in the most accessible spot because, as they grow out of things, you will want to be able to add to that bin without a lot of hassle!
• Keep a trash bag with handles hanging in the laundry room so you can toss too small kids' clothes for giveaway in it right after they come out of the dryer. 

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Step 4 - Put away new season's clothes
After you've washed all the new season's clothes, put them away in your closet or drawers.  Use this as an opportunity to purchase new (or re-purpose other items as) closet and drawer accessories to keep you organized.  Some of my favorites for the closet are the hangers that allow you to hang multiple items and then collapse to save closet rod space, belt hangers or a purse hanger which takes advantage of vertical space, a scarf hanger which take advantage of the depth of your closet without hogging closet rod space, a cami hanger which can handle multiple sleeveless tops in the space it takes to hang one hanger, fabric totes where you can store items like t-shirts, hats, athletic clothes, stacking bins for closet shelves, hanging shoe holders, or shoes shelves.  In your drawers, use clear plastic shoe boxes or wire inboxes intended for a desk to divide large drawers, or criss-cross  organizers for socks and underwear.  

I hope these 4 steps will help your "seasonal switch" go much smoother this year.  If you are lucky enough to have huge closets, you may not even need to go through this difficult process (I'm jealous!) but for most of us, we have to store at least part of our clothing in a different location when they are out of season.  If you have multiple kids and are saving their clothes for a younger sibling - kudos to you for saving all that money!  Take it from a mom who's done it the hard way for way too many years and try some of these tips.