The family closet is a laundry/storage system that has always interested me. You must click on the link, it’s just pictures, go on. If you aren’t intrigued after looking at the pictures then you don’t have to read anymore, I promise.
Still here? The premise is simple, store all of the clothes or at least all of the children’s clothes in one room, preferably the laundry room.
Here is my list of perceived advantages:
- No clothes strewn about the house.
- Super simple to put the laundry away as you take it out of the dryer.
- Bedroom closets are free to store toys or other treasures.
- Easy to pass down clothing for children who are close in age.
- No gathering, bringing to the laundry, then dispersing back to every one’s room.
- No piles of clean (or dirty) laundry outside of the laundry room. (What a novel idea!)
- Easy to keep track of how many clothes each person has.
- Easier to limit amount of clothing.
- No dressers taking up space in the bedrooms.
Disadvantages:
- Seems you might have problems with boys/girls wanting to change at the same time.
- It won’t work in every house.
Are you still interested? Go read “Creating a Family Closet” for more pictures and step-by-step instructions. Too Many Kids in the Bathtub has a wonderful post that explains how they use their family closet in combination with an entrance exit station to simplify leaving the home and keep the shoe, coat, bag clutter out of the bedrooms.
Read my other laundry organization posts.
Related posts:
These pictures are great!!! I have been dealing with the laundry dilemma for a few years now!! I have no space anywhere upstairs to do this but it sure does help with alternative ideas for our downstairs clothing storage area. Maybe one day I will have a laundry room to make into the family closet! Clever!! Lori S.
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I LOVE the family closet and miss it in this house. But when we move next month, I am DETERMINED to have a family closet again.
As far as boys/girls wanting to change at the same time, you can always assign times to change.
In our last home we had a family closet for just the children. But I’m thinking it will be for the whole family in the next house.
Love your blog as usual, keep the great posts coming!
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I *only* have three kids and this is an intriguing idea!
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I am so glad you commented on my blog and I got to find yours. First off, Curly would love that your blog is called Raising Olives! She does love her Olives.
Second, we only have two children so far (there are plans for more), but I have been working on creating a family closet. I find that since my children are in bed at 6pm, most of the laundry gets taken care of then and has to wait for putting away until the next day. It’s already improved moving it into one room and we haven’t even finished organizing yet. (I don’t think any pictures I take would compare though. There are only two children with clothing…)
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My Mom’s laundry/sewing room was about the size of a bedroom. She had a double closet in there which she filled with shelves on one side and rods on the other. Our laundry was sorted into our own baskets after she folded it. then we took it and put it away. not exactly a family closet but still efficient. I have taught my kids to do laundry…all seven of them. They each have a day to do theirs and they wash fold and put away. I wash the towels, sheets and other houshold laundry and mine and hubby’s clothes. Some times the kids will “pool” their laundry together to save time and/or get a full load. They get valuable life skills, and I have time to do other things.
Found you blog through Pure Mommy Extract…My oldest child’s blog. I think I will come back often, great bolg! Can’t wait to make my own laundry soap!
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