Great Clothing Roundup

Posted by on May 11, 2013 in Recent Posts, Simplify | 7 comments

Great Clothing Roundup

In order to fit four wardrobes into our 8′ x 21′ tiny house, twice a year I hold the great clothing roundup. Yesterday was the day. This is the time when I switch out our seasonal wardrobes. Ideally, no one is home, but if they are, the weather has to be nice, so we can be outside.

During the great clothing roundup, I pull everything out of the cabinets one wardrobe at a time. The house is unlivable for a few hours since I stack clothes on all surfaces including the deck.

I sort them into piles:

  1. Clothes that are out of season, but still useful. These go into storage bins which we keep in the shed.
  2. Clothes that we’ve either out grown or worn out. This pile gets separated again:
        • Clothes still suitable for donation. I take these to our local thrift store or hang on to them for clothing swaps.
        • Clothes not suitable for donation become napkins, dish rags or fabric for other projects.
Old Clothes Upcycled to become Ella's Lunch Bag

This is Ella’s lunch bag. I made it from her old clothes that were too stained for donation.

 

Switching over our seasonal wardrobes is something I dread, but once it’s done I’m really glad. I relabel all clothing bins, and everything is super-organized. It always feels good to get rid of stuff we don’t need.

The whole house takes a deep breath. We are ready for the warm weather!

Clothes organized for spring

New labels–all ready for spring and summer.

 

Tiny House Family rotates seasonal wardrobes

Great Clothing Roundup–spring


Simply,
Hari
P.S.
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7 Comments

  1. tree - May 11, 2013

    i am in the process of this right now. In about two weeks my family will be moving into a 260 sq ft RV for 10-14+ months while our house is being built. Trying to downsize, sort clothes into various bins and keep it all organized is already proving quite a challenge. i completely understand why you dread it. 🙂

    • Mama - May 11, 2013

      Ugh. Yes, but so good to get it done. Good luck to you, Tree!

  2. Jane OBrien - May 11, 2013

    I live aline (well, with two dogs and two cats) in a 1000 sq. ft. house–feels so luxurious to have a guestroom and a workroom, too. More space than I need but the smallest already-built and affordable cottage I could find. I just love having two clothes closets and never having to keep things in off-season storage any more. I used to keep my off-season clothes in the trunk of my car when I lived in a 240 sq. ft basement studio that only had one small closet that had to fit the broom, vacuum, mop, as well as current clothes and linens.

    I love your blog, loved the book you wrote, and love your newfound resolution to write something every day. Congratulations and thank you for doing that. I admire you tiny house folks, but my current house, the largest of my life, feels “just right” for me.

    I mulched all morning and am planning on saving cardboard and newspapers so I can imitate your garden example–anything to keep down the weeds.

    Thanks again for all the good energy your blog brings to me and others. Much appreciated !!!

    • Mama - May 11, 2013

      Hi Jane!
      Thank you for reading! I am glad you enjoyed my book and are reading my blog posts. I appreciate you letting me know that it is spreading good energy. That encourages me to keep at it.

      I totally know what you mean about feeling just right in 1000 sq ft. I’m pretty sure I’ll really enjoy the big house when I don’t have to switch out seasonal wardrobes. As you experienced, I’m sure this time living tiny will help me appreciate so much the 1300 sq ft big house.

      Yay for cardboard! I’m spreading more today.

  3. Liz - May 11, 2013

    What a job. Happy you are done with it:)

  4. Liesl Schick - May 11, 2013

    I started doing this last week and as I have been doing the laundry, as I find more I evaluate and then add them to their proper bin. The problem was that 2 days ago it was around seventy and yesterday – 42 degrees! Luckily the bins were not put away yet so I was able to grab a long sleet T shirt for each kid. We do this twice a year, as I imagine you do 🙂 Hopefully by next weekend mine will be put away!

  5. Mama - May 11, 2013

    I hope so too, Liesl! Happy warm days to you.

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