Have you ever pulled out a shirt to wear for the day only to discover it is stained? Have you ever gone to dress for a nice dinner out or an event, only to realize you have nothing to wear?
One of the aspects of being a stay at home mommy is that you often end up with a blur between your “good” clothes and your everyday clothes. The real tragedy here is that when this happens everything you own turns into everyday clothes and soon you have nothing nice to wear out of the house.
When we moved to this new house, I suddenly had 2 closets in every room, including the master bedroom. Folks, I just don’t have that many clothes! But, I decided to make good use of the second (much smaller) closet in our bedroom and create two separate areas for my clothing…one for good and one for everyday.
The photo at the top of this post is my “good” closet and the one directly above is my everyday closet (it is a walk-in I share with my husband).
My everyday closet isn’t full of ratty, stained clothing by any means (remember, I’m trying to move away from living in junky clothes 😉 ), but it does contain items I feel most comfortable wearing around the house and not things I would wear to a convention or a dinner. And yes, it does include its fair share of house-cleaning, chore-friendly clothes.
I really wish I had done this years ago because having that separation between the going out clothes and the everyday mom-around-the-house clothes has made it much easier on me when it comes to finding something to wear out for that special occasion or even for a nice dinner out with friends. The items in my good closet are not all super fancy holiday wear, some are just shirts I really, really like and want to save for those special date nights or doctor’s appointments (like today).
So, while not all of you are going to have the luxury of 2 closets to separate out your clothes, I’d highly encourage you to separate out your own closet into two different kinds of clothes. And don’t forget to throw in those favorite casual outfits! Create a Mommy Closet that works for you and makes it easier on you to get up and get dressed!
Megan says
I LOVE this idea! I, too, have this issue. I don’t really have any “going out” clothes because I wear everything for everyday! Thank you for this wonderful tip!
Suanna says
Thanks for the idea. I have a limited number of clothes and wear them just so I can look nice, but I have often come to Sunday and had to scrounge to find something suitable to wear for church. This happens more with maternity clothes. I’ll have to see what I can come up with, there’s plenty of room in my closet to separate everyday from special day clothes.
Christy dR says
Great idea! I also noticed in one of your pictures that you had sweaters hanging up. If you want to keep there shape they really need to be folded and not hung. It took me a little while to figure out why my sweaters never stayed there shape after I bought them. Just another clothes savings tip!
Jessica Moore says
This is a great idea! In my house, I have a hard time finding the every day clothes (but not pajama-worthy tee shirts and pull on pants!)
Any time I pull out something that’s not “junky” I think, “but I might want to wear this out of the house and if I wear it at home, it’s going to get stained!”
I need to just set aside several things that are decent but not too nice for every day wear so I’m not stuck there every morning.
Jenny Kurtz says
What a great idea! Having closet space is awesome! I live in an old 1 1/2 story farm house built circa 1900. Most old farm houses don’t have many closets, they didn’t have the abundance of clothing we have today. I like the idea of seperating the every day from the nice. I also have oftern ended up on a Sunday morning wondering what am I going to wear! One thing I try to do is pack away the off season clothing in a tote box so it gives us more space in the little closets we do have. Thanks again for another great post!
Katherine says
Brilliant! You just changed my life! Why has this never occurred to be before? It’s such a simple idea, but it really will solve the whole I have nothing decent to wear problem. My closet is getting a makeover tomorrow! Thanks 🙂
Kim says
I did it Amy!!!! I got up, got showered, got dressed, put on make-up, and even did my hair. Then I took the baby for her first well check up. It was the first time out of the house in a couple of weeks since I just had her. WOW, I have to say it felt great and a little weird, for the first 30 minutes of driving(to the doctors) I had this feeling of being in the land of the living. I’ve been in the comfort of my own home without venturing out for weeks(I loved that to because I wanted to keep the baby away from germs and everything else) but getting out was great and getting dressed and putting myself together in regular clothes felt great. Thanks for the boost 🙂 I’m going to try the closet idea, I don’t have 2 but I do have a large walk in that I could rearrange. Right now I have my clothes color coded, light to dark shirts on 1 side and pants, skirts, and dresses on the other. The thing is that I have to go through everything everyday to decide what to put on, and it’s a waste of time. If I try it your way that might work out nice, because I will only have to look at my everyday clothes (I won’t be going out much/at all since we have a new baby). What a great idea.
Amy says
Yay!!!
Amy says
My new baby (#4 after an 8.5 year gap and vasectomy reversal) really threw me for a loop with clothing. Most of my pre-pregnancy shirts were too tight to be modest. I’ve also found that solid colours and white are a baaaaad idea. I’ve been slowly finding patterned tops and blouses that are easy to nurse in, fit properly, and don’t show stains.
Meg says
I love this and I’m already doing it. I used to organize by type of clothing/color/ sleeve length/outfits. But, after my 2nd child it took all I had to put the clothes away after washing/drying. I just started putting all my around the house cothes in the front of the closet, leaving nice “go out” clothes in the back. Makes it SO much easier getting dressed quickly! Love your site btw, :o) Thanks for sharing!
Jamie says
Ah, my motivation to make my way towards my own closet. I have been sorting through everyone’s closets and have of course avoided my own. I wish I knew a really good way to organize/sort the maternity, after-pregnancy, and non-pregnancy related clothes. Btw: I have so many cuter maternity clothes than anything else. haha. How does that happen??
stephanie says
I normally pull out maternity and put away clothes in that same tote that I know I will not were until I put the maternity back. Makes the shuffle easier. I only have so much closet. If your weight goes up alot while pregnant a few more totes are required in the shuffle.
Andrea says
I would love to have a separate closet for my “nice” clothes. I do also have the problem of trying to find something nice some times and realize I have things that are faded or a stain that I missed. I have started trying to get a few nicer items to wear but I dont wear them when I am going to be at home with the kids because I seem to always get messy some how.
Leanne says
Hi Amy! I am new to your blog and am enjoying it all the way from NH!
I am going to try this tomorrow, as I usually stay in my PJ’s most days (that don’t match…).