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Do you have a "family clothes closet"? - Page 2

post #21 of 42
10/11/07 at 9:16am
This sounds like a great idea for younger children. I don't think most teen girls would go for the idea, especially if they have sisters who want to borrow their clothes at any given opportunity.

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post #22 of 42
10/11/07 at 2:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennlyn View Post
This sounds like a great idea for younger children. I don't think most teen girls would go for the idea, especially if they have sisters who want to borrow their clothes at any given opportunity.
my dd12 takes care of her own clothes....she doesnt tend to rip clothes off of hangers or leave piles of clothes all over the floor.....she's very organized....it's the younger kids that wind up mixing up clean and dirty clothes or pulling clothes out of drawers and not putting them back, etc.....so the system works perfectly for younger children OR IMO for children with ADD .....this way everything is perfectly organized and in one location....
post #23 of 42
10/11/07 at 4:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthla View Post
ETA: That "dot" idea is a great one- but not something I can implement in my home. DD2 has just outgrown her size 12s and DD1 still fits very nicely in her 14s, so I think my days of passing clothes down from DD1 to DD2 are over!
Actually I would still use the dot system. My #2 and #3 are practically the same size, but they "own" different clothes. This totally takes the guesswork out of whose-is-whose. We determine who it belongs to, mark it, and that's that.

They still sometimes share clothes, but it's easy to know whose drawer it should go back to. My youngest two share clothes but I mark the dots for the larger child - younger kids can often wear a size up but bigger kids can't wear a size down.

So even if you can't use the dot system for handing stuff down, you can still use it to keep the kids' clothes easily sorted.

I find my kids' sizes are all over the place. My 5yo has clothes ranging from sizes 4 through 8 in her drawers right now. Some stuff has shrunk, some stuff she likes big (dresses long), some stuff is just sized wierd. I like making it so I don't have to think while sorting laundry. LOL.
post #24 of 42
10/11/07 at 6:03pm
Yes we have a family closet. We have our laundry in the basement. We attached two rods, one to the exposed boards in the basement and the other suspended below it. We bought three of those heavy duty shelving sets with four shelves on each. The shirts all get hung up on the rods. On the shelves is bins for undies/socks, bottoms and pjs. We also have four dirty clothes baskets, so when anyone takes off their clothes they sort them right into the baskets. We have a shower stall in the laundry area, which all the "men" in the family use. I am the only lady so I use the upstairs bathroom and keep my clothes in the closet/dresser in our bedroom. IT WORKS SO WELL.
post #25 of 42
10/11/07 at 6:08pm
Yes, we have one. Almost since DD was born (about 3 years ago) when I found it cumbersome to have to go to her room to get her dressed after I bathed her in our master bath (our closet opened from the bathroom). I really love it. At this house, it's a walk-in with 4 rods, so each family member gets a closet rod.

We also keep all of our clothes that don't hang in the closet too, like underwear and socks, in drawers. I just find it so much easier to have everything in the closet when I put stuff away.
post #26 of 42
10/12/07 at 1:25am
I've wanted to do this for a long time . I'd like to have laundry machines, all clothing, all hampers, and all linens in one room - adjoining a stoop where I can line-dry clothing outdoors of course too . Not possible where I live right now though. Every room seems to have to serve 5 purposes, except for dh's messy "romper room" :.
post #27 of 42
10/12/07 at 2:25pm
I've often wondered why they don't just put the washer and dryer in the master closet or in a utility room off of the master closet in houses. I think if I architected and built a house from scratch I would do that.
post #28 of 42
10/12/07 at 2:34pm
i kind of do this, though my closets are small. it was just easier putting dd's stuff in my drawers than going back and forth to a room that she doesn't even sleep in to get things...
post #29 of 42
10/13/07 at 10:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SusannahM View Post
I've often wondered why they don't just put the washer and dryer in the master closet or in a utility room off of the master closet in houses. I think if I architected and built a house from scratch I would do that.
My advisor and his partner did this when they remodeled their home. He loves it!
post #30 of 42
10/14/07 at 11:30am

If you had a big enough closet this might work for your family

I just taught my children to do their own laundry (well my almost 11 yo does his 4yo brother's laundry). This way I only do my own and DH's!

Sincerely,
Debra, homeschooling mom of 4 ages 10 1/2 (AS), 9 1/2, 7 1/2, and 4 (Apraxia, Dysarthria, HFA, OCD)
post #31 of 42
10/14/07 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SusannahM View Post
I've often wondered why they don't just put the washer and dryer in the master closet or in a utility room off of the master closet in houses. I think if I architected and built a house from scratch I would do that.
Makes perfect sense

our closet is to small to share for 4 ppl, but once we looked at buying a very old house built in the 1800, they don't have closets or laundry rooms and all bedrooms connect so my idea was to use middle room as a closet/dressing room/laundry room---the rooms are huge like 20X20....we didn't buy the house, but a girl can dream
post #32 of 42
10/15/07 at 2:29pm
Hi, I'm new here - just found this forum - but we do this.

Well, my 17yod keeps her clothes in her room but she does her own laundry, too. I keep my adult, disabled cousin's & 15yos 'church' clothes in my closet because I got tired of them never having clothes when it was time to get ready. Now, I can just look the closet over to know they'll have some. I keep all my 10yos clothes in my closet because I got tired of the 10 outfit changes thrown on the floor every day. My 20mos shares our room so his clothes are in there, too.

We have a HUGE master closet which I thought was a giant waste of space but when you look at it as a family closet it's awesome! If we ever remodel our master bath we are putting in a stackable washer/dryer! Also, we have a niche in the upstairs bathroom that is screaming for a stackable washer/dryer but it will cost about $1000 to renovate for it.

My teenagers do their own laundry and I do everyone else's. We do have assigned laundry days, too.
post #33 of 42
10/15/07 at 4:42pm
We have a "clothes room" (we're cosleeping with our only child, but my DH and I have been doing the "clothes room" idea for a long time...).

Basically, the middle bedroom of our house (the one next to where we all sleep) is where all our clothes are: closet has my clothes and DH's dressy clothes, the IKEA wardrobe next to it has my DH's clothes (and two drawers for my undies and socks -- also our bedlinens are in one of the bottom drawers). Then we have a dresser that has all of our son's clothes -- plus drawers for blankets and towels for him and such. Also, his cloth diapers are in baskets on top of the dresser.

Next to his dresser are our dirty laundry hampers (except the cloth diaper pail, which is in our bathroom. Toddler poop = toliet dunking!)

We have a divan in this middle room and that is where we fold laundry. Most of the time I don't let clothes pile up on it, but occasionally there will be a HUGE pile and then my DH has to do most of the folding b/c I hate folding cold clothes! But we're being good right now about folding laundry as it's dried...

HTH!
post #34 of 42
10/18/07 at 10:33pm
My dream house would be a walk in laundry room/closet for everyone's things. Then in the bedrooms, I would have no dressers or closets, more space for a really big comfy bed and a place for a chaise lounge to read in!! Things would get washed, dried, hung up or put away in one spot. Also, I would add in a ironing board and a place to store sheets, towels, shoes, etc. Seriously, this is really something we are thinking about doing!!! Imagine the possibilities in a house like that!!!

Cheers,
Heather
post #35 of 42
10/18/07 at 11:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife View Post
I would love to do this, especially if it were a huge laundry room full of shelves and closets. It would be so much easier to never have to even carry them to another room.
This is my dream! When I was thinking we would build up a level rather than move, the plan was to have a 2nd story laundry/clothing room possibly combined with a bathroom. At any rate, wherever we end up, all of the clothes will be close to the laundry machines. When people disrobe, they can throw straight into the sorter bins. I hate putting laundry away with a passion!
post #36 of 42
10/19/07 at 11:56am
me too, me too! i would love a giant closet/laundry room/bathroom and 2 bigger bedrooms (vs. 4 smaller ones). My moms new house has a hUGE master bedroom wlakin closet and it has a washer/dryer in it. she loves it. it seems so silly that carying laundry across the house, which takes all of a few seconds, can be so maddening....but it is!!

i didn't realize how much i lovee having my laundry room adjacent to the kitchen...until we bought this house, with laundry in the unfinished basement. yuck to the stairs, the time/energy to get the clothes back and forth and the dirtyness of it all.

I love all your suggestions and am filing them away for someday when we move.
post #37 of 42
1/22/08 at 5:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mykdsmomy View Post
We have a large family and for some reason putting clothes away is a monumental task! I actually saw on the Duggar show : that they have a universal closet for clothes for everyone. This seemed genius to me because instead of taking everyone's clothes into 4 different bedrooms, we could just hang it or sort it all out in one closet (the problem is finding a big enough closet)

Has anyone done this?
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bump == I saw this episode --- its a great idea ~!!!


post #38 of 42
1/22/08 at 6:20pm
We don't, but our master closet is big enough for it and I've really considered doing this in the past. For now we only have one DD though, so it's not too difficult - but when we have more, it might be an option.
post #39 of 42
1/22/08 at 7:25pm
We don't. My children dress themselves and I like the privacy that my own closet in my own master bathroom provides, especially as my children get older.

What I am trying to do is teach my children to put away their own stuff and make it to where laundry never leaves the laundry room unfolded or unhung. We have a frontloader set that will have 8 feet of counter space on top of it with a closet rod above. I already put the boys non-hang stuff into dishpans with their names on them and have them put their own fold clothes away, but after the laundry room has counter space, I will teach them to get their hangup clothes and put them away as well. They each have a small stool in their closet for reaching clothes to get dressed, so it should be just about as easy for them to reach to put away clothes.

I agree that laundry folding/putting away is one of the worst chores, and the hardest to streamline!
post #40 of 42
1/24/08 at 2:01pm
We have a huge walk in closet with all of the kids clothes in it. All sizes and seasons. Then we have a dresser with all 3 girls' folded clothes in it.

We will be moving in the summer and I'm actually looking forward to a separate closet for each girl. They will then be able to put away their own laundry and pick out their own clothes. They are getting old enough to do this now but I can't let them because they will choose from the wrong size and season.

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