We have a family closet.  I’ve mentioned it before, long ago and far away.

I got the idea from the Duggar family, back when I was fascinated with their family and how they manage it.  (Now? Not so much.)

They had one room where they stored all of their clothes. They didn’t lug a laundry basket from bedroom to bedroom dropping off clean clothes, or pass out stacks of folded shirts and hope they stayed folded after the kids crammed them into drawers.  They lined up dressers, installed some closet rods, and gave everyone a dishpan for their socks.  Genius.

We’ve been through a few permutations of the family closet, but it’s still my #2 timesaver in the laundry room.  (What’s the #1 timesaver?  Check it out here.)  Previously, our family closet was located in the laundry room, and I used wire cubbies to sort out the clothes.

In our current house, the master closet is huge.  I moved the wire cubbies in and it became our new closet/changing room.

I’ve moved past the wire cubbies and installed wire shelving like this all the way across the back wall.  It cost about $40 altogether, a bargain.

Y’all, open shelves are the key.  Drawers + kids = disaster.  This way they can see their favorite shirt and grab it without digging.  I don’t worry about drawers falling out onto little toes.  No more dresser drawer stair steps for Evil Knievel style stunts.  And I can control it all!  BWAH HA HA HA.

Not that I’m controlling.  Except maybe a little.

I still love our family closet.  I love it even more now that I bought a set of dishpans to line up on the floor underneath the shelves for socks and undies.

All of the clothes are in one spot, making putting clothes away a snap.  I have the in between” sizes stored in shelves at the top of the closet, so if something is outgrown, I just fling it into the appropriate box.  I have a lot more boxes up here, since this pic was taken.

What, you don’t organize your stuff by throwing it in the general vicinity of a recycled box?  Maybe I should just get a step stool to keep in the closet.

Yeah, all the clothes on the rod there are mine and husband dears.  He wears jeans and T-shirts to work, and that’s basically what I wear, too. Not much to hang up.  In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not the type to iron creases into my jeans and arrange my tops according to color.  If the clothes are on a hanger, I’m doin’ good.

I can also see at a glance if all of our church clothes are together and ready.  All of the outfits are hung side by side, together.  My boys can never seem to find anything, so the pants, undershirt, tie, etc. are all on the hanger together. When I wash the black socks, I’ll stick them in the pocket.  Although I confess that I’ve let up on the dress shoes to church and let the boys wear their sneakers.  Pick your battles, and all.

The dirty clothes hamper is in the closet. We fill it every day!

Here’s where the adult’s unmentionables are stored.   It’s in the master bathroom.  Also, swimsuits for everyone are in the same drawer instead of in their individual cubby.

Yeah, it’s ugly. We got it at an estate sale for $20, and it’s solid wood. Someday we’ll refinish it, or at least sand the glue off the front. It works for now, though!  (Note: I originally posted this in 2008 and the dresser looks the same.  Procrastinate much?)

I do still store the little one’s clothes downstairs.  I use an old dresser as a changing pad in the hallway off the bathroom, and it’s so much more convenient to store Baby A and Mr X’s clothing there.  Dresser as changing pad is awesome, BTW, especially if you have cloth diapering paraphenalia.

The family closet definitely rocks my world