How to Store Outgrown Baby Clothes (When You Don’t Have the Space)

How to Store Outgrown Baby Clothes (When You Don’t Have the Space)

Are you looking for a solution to store all those clothes your babies grown out of?

Here’s a simple (and affordable) way that just so happens to also work great if you don’t have a lot of storage space.

So I had a large bag of my daughters outgrown clothes in my closet. She’s 16 months now and still wearing a few of her outfits from 12 months so I mostly have clothes from 0 – 9 months to store.

My closets are pretty full already and I don’t have an attic or basement to store things in either. (We are in a one-bedroom apartment) So I needed a solution that wouldn’t take up a lot of space. Large boxes and plastic bins were not going to work for us.

Eventually here’s what I came up with:

Old Shoe Boxes

I had a few shoeboxes under my bed and I knew if I could empty them out I could then use them for her clothes. Thankfully, with a little organizing and moving things around, I managed to make space in my closet for the shoes in those boxes.

ok let’s get started storing away all those adorable baby clothes!

Here we go…

How to Store Outgrown Baby Clothes – When You Don’t Have the Space

Step 1

Find a few old shoe boxes.

The larger the box the better.

Think boxes for knee-high boots or those bulky winter boots many of us have.

Tip:

Check your husband/boyfriend’s closet for boxes too! 

Step 2

Clean your boxes.

Because if you found them under the bed, like me, they are probably a little dusty.

I just wiped mine down with a rag and my Method all-purpose cleaner but you can use whatever cleanser you’d like.

Don’t go crazy with whatever liquid you decide to use. You don’t want to ruin the boxes. Remember, we’re working with cardboard here!

Step 3 (Optional!)

I decided that I had to make the boxes pretty.

I just had too.

My shoeboxes were looking kind of boring.

If you don’t want to do this that’s ok. Don’t bother.

Your shoe boxes won’t mind and I won’t either. Move on to step 4 where we’ll talk about folding.

I used close to two rolls of contact paper (9 ft. x 18 in.) that I found at Family Dollar to fancy up my shoe boxes.

I’d love to tell you step by step how I covered my boxes but honestly, I don’t follow any specific steps whenever I use this stuff (which is pretty often).

I just peel, pray, stick and repeat ’til I’m done.

I usually get a few air bubbles here and there but that doesn’t bother me.

If you won’t accept anything other than perfection for your boxes then check out this tutorial by Amy at Homey Oh My.  She gives clear and easy instructions that anyone can follow, including me 🙂

Step 4

This one’s important

How to fold the clothes.

So I had a hard time getting everything to fit in the boxes when I first started organizing my daughter clothes.

I tried folding them a few different ways but nothing worked.

(FYI: I’m about to ramble for a minute) Later that day I was in my bedroom with my daughter. She was playing with my scarves and pulling them out of the drawers. When she was done I quickly grabbed everything to put them back but I was in a bit of a rush so I started rolling them up as opposed to neatly folding them the way they originally were. When I was done I noticed I had much more space left over compared to before!

So I decided to try the same with her clothes and sure enough, I was able to fit everything.

Follow these simple steps to roll everything like I did:

• First, lay your piece of clothing on a table or flat surface and fold it down the middle once.
• Next, fold in the sleeves for tops, dresses with sleeves and onesies.
• Then start rolling. Be sure to roll very tightly so your finished rolled item is as small as possible.
• For pants, shorts and skirts just fold down the middle and start rolling.

This is what you want to be left with:

Also, make sure everything is the same height or shorter than the height of the box. (see picture below)

This is so that the top of your shoebox will fit and close properly.

NOTE:

I repeated the first step for most of the larger items and folded them in thirds so that they were the right size. (Anything that was size 6 months and)

Pile your baby’s clothes as you go with the rolled side down so that they don’t un-roll while you continue rolling everything else.

I rolled about ten to fifteen pieces then placed them standing up in the box before continuing with the rest.

Step 5

Start filling up your boxes.

Here’s what I did:

First, I decided to use the smallest box for her white onesies.

She’s still wearing a few of her onesies that are labeled 9 months (amazing how sizes can be so different depending on the store) so I didn’t have too many of these to store.

The medium-sized box turned out perfect for all her pj’s.

The rest of her clothes, minus coats and any bulky items, went into the largest box.

Don’t worry, we will talk about the bulkier items in Step 8

Another way to organize everything would be by size but that would probably work best if you can find boxes of similar sizes. One box can be from 0-3 months, another for 3-6 months and so on.

Step 6

Label your boxes.

I used chalkboard labels from Amazon.

You can use whatever you’d like of course. White printer paper, a black marker and some tape would get the job done too!

Step 7

Storing the boxes.

I decided to store my boxes back under the bed. What’s great about this is that I still have some space for a few more boxes. So next time I start organizing more of her clothes I’ll know exactly where to store them.

Step 8

Storing bulky items.

I decided to use Dollar Tree storage bags for the bulkier items like her coats, thick sweaters, and a Halloween costume.

I only needed to use two bags (photo of one included) and for now, I am keeping them both hanging off a hanger in my closet.

These bags are very sturdy and they can fit under the bed if you’d like next to your boxes.

TIP:

You can also use these bags to cover your boxes once you are done and give them some added protection if you are concerned about moths, bugs or potential leaks/moisture (depending on where you are storing your boxes)

ok friends, thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog!

Sending happy, safe, and healthy vibes your way…May God bless you and your family today and every beautiful day to come

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