How I Organized My Family Closet - Finally!

In October I shared some of the issues and plans I have used to make my laundry for an army more manageable.  In November I shared some of my dreams and plans as well as my then current modifications to my family closet.   Today, I share the final results, pictures and all.  Here is my Family Closet.

I am sure you noticed that there were no "before" pictures.  I know everyone loves to see "before" the makeover so they can appreciate the difference.  However, I was too embarrassed to take, let alone post, the pictures of before. Picture a laundry mat, clean and dirty laundry both, exploding inside a small, dark, poorly lit bedroom. That is about it. 

I originally planned to keep two dressers and install more closet rods.  Then a friend of mine who works at a major retail store told us that his store was closing and selling off all their fixtures.  We went shopping.  We came home with goodies for remodeling our pantry in an attempt to store more food for emergency preparedness (hopefully I will post on this later) and with hanging racks and cubbies for the closet. 

We have 6 columns of cubbies, and four rows.  Since we have 6 kids this seems to work.  Each kid has a tub for socks and undies, pjs, shorts (pesky things - don't like to stay on hangers) and shoes.  On the top of the cubbies, there is a small plastic basket for tights.  We keep all the girls' tights together since guessing the size is next to impossible.  Next to that is a wicker basket filled with swimsuits.  I decided that since we occasionally go swimming in the winter, I needed easy access to them.

All other clothing goes on hangers.  Each child has their own rod for hanging their clothes. (Or rather they will have once the final rack is collected from the store.  We were able to buy two, but they couldn't give us the second until all the clothes had been removed.)    I hope that by having all this extra space for each child, we can keep winter/summer clothes out all year and not have the endure the hassle of season change.  I was also able to put some clothes I have been saving for my 7 year-old for this coming winter on his rack rather than find a home for them.  The cardboard box in the bottom of the boys closet is a temporary home for sheets until I find my final solution.

This also helped me find a solution for The Bathrobes!  We have tried finding places for these things, but nothing has ever worked.  Now each kid has a spot for a bathrobe.

I put a laundry hamper (not pictured) in the room so that they have a place for dirty laundry.  For some reason, I did not foresee them wanting to actually dress in here, presuming they would take their clothes to the bathroom.  This created quite a problem as I couldn't figure out which clothes were dirty and which were clean that they "dropped" while putting laundry away.

This room still must, temporarily at least, act as the printer/school computer room.  I am including a shot of the printer station.  The computer is out for repairs.

This project was the culmination of a lot of trial and error, pondering and planning.  We removed 4 dressers and a table along with 3 boxes that had never been dealt with since our move (almost 5 years ago).  The room still needs painted (school bus yellow walls and ceilings are rather nauseating), some wiring needs run for the computer and an overhead light needs to be installed.  But finally, this space is usable.   

Do you have a family closet?  Or a laundry system that is workable for your family?  Share your ideas!

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