Tuesday, January 3, 2012
My Storage Dilemma
Yes I know I'm supposed to be the guru but I just don't know what to do and need advice. Perhaps other big families can advise me. I have so many outgrown clothes now and I cannot donate them or sell them because I am saving them for the next kid and possible potential kids or grandkids. In the meantime the rooms are starting to look like hoarders. I have nowhere to put this stuff. We don't have a garage and our shed is full and that would probably just make the clothes mold anyway. Our storage is full under the stairs. Everything is in boxes but there is nowhere to put it. My children are not having kids so I can't pass those things down. My youngest son is 5 and all his stuff from 4 on down is just sitting in boxes and suitcases. My youngest daughter is 2 and all her stuff is just sitting there too. Then there are all the sizes in between. I have never been in such a situation before. I was managing until the last few years. Now the shoe is bulging and we have nowhere to turn. If I were rich I would just give everything away and replace it if need be but I'm not. I don't like this feeling of inertia which feels like clothing constipation. We should live in this world as travelers but we must also not waste. I am torn between these two platitudes. Help!
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Salam C,
ReplyDeleteI would like to have more kids in the future as well and think it's a good idea to save the kids clothing. We don't have a lot of space at all in fact we have two storage rooms, one is really a linen closet that doubles up as a diaper, toilet paper and "beauty supplies" room and the other is a second pantry slash seasonal items storage room.
I have to get rid of our kids clothing, otherwise it would line the hallway and I'd have a panic attack. I keep the items that are special to me, ones that family members have bought, really cute stuff or somethings I purchased in Syria. I save things in diaper boxes and only save one box per age group. For example one box for 0-6 month clothing, one for 6-12 clothing, one for 12-18 month clothing....and so on.
I know kids clothing can be expensive, but it's one of those things you can get cheap if you plan ahead. Old Navy always has great sales going on this time of year, their sidewalk sales seem to offer better deals than their boxing day sales. Kids swapmeets are great, craigslist or kijji can offer "lots" at a good price.
If you don't want to get rid of any items though I would invest in shelves with brackets put the clothes in airtight containers and that way you;ll save some floor space and keep the clothes clean and mold free.
Assalamo alaikum,
ReplyDeleteMy advice; liberate yourself and get rid of it! I had the same problem, i kept everything "just in case" but finally when there were boxes galore it just felt claustrophobic and untidy and I actually felt really good giving it away. I did have another baby several years later, and had nothing, but bought all clothes and equipment from carboot sales which was really cheap anyway.
Assalamu Alaikum,
ReplyDeleteDonate it to some other muslim family or to the masjid. Insha'allah if you ever need more clothes it will come back to you easily by the grace of Allah.
I say - keep the really cute stuff that you can't manage to part with because you remember how darn cute they looked, and give the rest to charity. As for the items you cannot bear to part with buy those space saver bags and vacuum the heck out of them. I've done this. It's a small investment and it works. The bags are cheaper online than in stores. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteSalam sis,
ReplyDeleteI am just passing by here sometimes. So I am might be just a stranger to you!
Just donate and clear everything out. Leave the near future deal to Allah swt, you will be shock on what will come back to you as a gift from Allah swt.
Asalaamu Alaikum
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the advice. I am still mulling things over. I'm leaning towards reducing.
Update! Dd3 rearranged the storage and by some miracle ds3 and dd3 helped me today and we got all the boxes out of dd5's room and managed to fit them in! Alhumdullilah! What at wait off my shoulders!
ReplyDelete