Hey there! So, today's post is quick, but the process itself, of updating Lou's closet, wasn't thaaaat fast.

We started by dumping Lou's entire wardrobe out onto the living room floor. This picture doesn't begin to do it justice, but, in the chaos, I didn't get time to snap a pic that really represented the chaos. Anyway, I always go through Lou's clothes in anticipation of the coming season, to see what we have, what fits, what we held onto and shouldn't have, what I bought that nailed current sizes and trends, etc. I'm also, as I mentioned, reading Marie Kondo's book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, which really drives home the point of not keeping things for keeping them's sake. Anyway, we tried on every. Single. Thing.

We ended up with a pared down (but still big for a wee one who will be wearing uniforms come September) and practical wardrobe that we both like. This last part is key. This summer, I had bought all these clothes that she just didn't like and never wore, including anything made of or resembling denim or pants. (She's a skirt gal, like her mama). And she had some items I wasn't super stoked to see so much, including some Frozen shirts that made the rotation so often I finally hid them. In the donation pile. Now we're at a happy middle ground, and I think the fall will be a nice compromise area, too.

I talked about our use of clear plastic shoe bins to hold Lou's (still) wee clothes here. Once we had gone through her wardrobe and knew what we had, I folded everything, using the file system, and then printed out a new set of labels to match the contents. So that's three bins of skirts...

Then I went ahead and "laminated" them, using clear contact paper. I had planned to do this in our previous round, but of course it never happened, and of course the unprotected labels got a little beat up. I somehow failed to take a photo of the "before," but trust that you probably have a good mental image of what a four-year-old would do to paper labels over time.

You'll notice that some of these labels have pics, but some don't. That's because, although our labeling system was working well for us, it had one flaw. Lou gets herself dressed, and I also ask her to put away her laundry sometimes. If she doesn't do it, Bret or I do, which means three people are dealing with these bins, which means no one bin was ever in the same place twice. When you want to simplify a routine and keep stress levels to a minimum and find the damn favorite nightgown, it helps to know where to look. So while I was printing new pictured labels, I printed a set sans visual cue.

I taped the non-picture labels to the spot on the shelf belonging to each bin. I skipped the pictures because I figured I'd try to kill two birds with one stone and encourage Lou to look at and read the words on each label. You might think that she won't have to do that because only one bin is out at a time, but every bin comes out every time, which is what makes it all necessary in the first place!

It seems to be working! I know most people put their clothes in drawers, not bins, so this may not be super applicable. But it would definitely work for toy bins, games, toiletries (especially toothbrushes, washcloths and the like) and anywhere else you have a kid in charge of putting their things away.

And, because you've read this far, here's a bonus shot of my wee gent in the Bumbo.

So that's my closet update for wee Lou. Like I said, it wasn't totally painless - the purging and trying on was time-consuming, and even laminating the labels could definitely be classified as a mild pain. But overall, this system has worked well for us, and I'm looking forward to an even smoother process now. Have any great tips for helping kids put their things where they belong? Share in the comments and as always, thanks for reading!