Drowning in Doll Fashion: What to do with Barbie and American Girl clothes?

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Drowning in Doll Fashion: What to do with Barbie and American Girl clothes?

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Started 1 year ago by akcorcoran
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akcorcoran
Member

Hi everyone -

OK, hoping for a little help here from you all-knowing unclutterers!

I have two girls who are 6- and 7-years old and with them comes Barbie and American Girls stuff, mostly clothes. I'm wondering if anyone has any ingenious suggestions with how to store the clothes and I do *not* mean in a Barbie or American Girl armoire. Not only do I not want to pay for such items, but also - there is just no way that the girls would actually hang the items or even put them in carefully.

Currently, I've got a zip lock bag method going for the Barbie clothes (a 2-gallon one) but it's not the best solution necessarily. American Girl doll clothes are just all over my younger daughter's room - and have been known to end up in the wash b/c I grab it up with her laundry when I'm trying to straighten her room!

I do feel pretty good about how I store the Barbies for my daughters to play with - I'll try to take a picture of that b/c that works really well (and uses drawers cleverly) but it's the clothes that are out of control.

In my next life, I'm coming back as one of my daughters' dolls - my, my...the wardrobe they have! ;-)

Suggestions? Pictures to your solutions or items is very helpful. Thx!

P.S. Anyone else feel that we really need to have Family Room added to the Living Spaces section?

Posted 1 year ago #
bluebyyou
Member

Oh, this is so funny-- figuring out how to store these things was my big project last week! I found some hatboxes and other little boxes with covers that work well for American Girl doll clothes and shoes-- and I store the boxes in an ottoman that has storage-- all contained and out of sight when not in use!

Posted 1 year ago #
wintersmom
Member

When I was a little girl, my mom kept my Barbie clothes in a small tote bag hung on the bedroom doorknob.

The Barbies themselves didn't have a proper home though. They usually ended up under the bed, where my pet dog would gnaw on their limbs...

Posted 1 year ago #
Zora
Member

Plastic dishtubs. When my daughter was young, she had a deep shelving unit lined with tubs. One for the Legos, one for the Barbies and their clothes, etc.

Posted 1 year ago #
Gypsie
Member

I kept (and still do keep) all of my Barbies and their clothes and accessories in a small child's suitcase. All of my Cabbage Patch clothes were in a suitcase as well and I had a lot as the only granddaughter. All of my cousins were boys, so Grandma made matching outfits for my Cabbage Patch Kids and I. You might look into picking up some used suitcases from yard sales or Goodwill.

Posted 1 year ago #
themusiclivez
Member

I collected American Girl Dolls as a child and still have my collection! As a kid I had the clothes hanging on their hangers on a low rack in my closet (I had a closet organizer that enabled me to do this). They hung just like my clothes did but low enough so I could access them. I loved it!

Posted 1 year ago #
akcorcoran
Member

Hi all -

Thank you for the tips! I've been reading and puzzling away.

DOLLS:

So, first, I think I may have solved my American Girl doll / baby doll clothes issue. I love how these boards force me to evaluate things around the house and - voila! - a creative solution. I had an older "bin" shelving unit that wasn't being used anymore, so I repurposed that to make her "doll and baby storage area". There's still a lot of stuff on the floor or "loose" but if they are just doll beds, maybe that's OK. It's the clothes and shoes and "accessories" that were always all over and getting lost.

So, here are pics of the NEW and improved Doll area:

All prim and proper when closed:
http://bit.ly/9wKw5t

Organization areas:
http://bit.ly/bRkwah

You can see that she can open it and put all the clothes in the top storage area (it was actually a file folder traveling box but just happened to fit in that frame perfectly). I like that it has a lid but it just opens and falls closed easily - attached and no work. Shoes and socks are in the orange pull out bin beneath it. Accessory stuff (birthday balloons, witches broom, baby pacifiers, etc.) in the blue smaller bin. And, underneath and to sides are the "traveling" gear - bags, backpack and stroller.

Closer up on how it's organized here:
http://bit.ly/93eujo

So, there's sort of a weird space in that top section, but it works for now.

BARBIES:

And, maybe my Barbie situation isn't so bad? You can see the pictures - as I said, I think I've handled the containment of the Barbies and their "stuff" fairly creatively. It's just the clothes (you can see a folded ziplock bag - they never seem to make it in there!) So, I have two drawers that we had built into the bench of our window seat when we remodeled the room in '04 (girls were babies but I was planning ahead!)

Drawers are here when closed:
http://bit.ly/arVEEB

So, I put bins in the drawers that hold all the Barbie dolls and accessories. At first it was one drawer, but now spilling into two:
http://bit.ly/agAtfi

So, this side and bin has the Barbie dolls:
http://bit.ly/bvs5J8

This side has all the "stuff" and furniture, plus small dolls or animals: (On this one, you can see the clothes are just in a ziplock - bridal dress is on top.)
http://bit.ly/by9UdK

And, you can see how they close into the windowseat to be hidden away:
http://bit.ly/bDMu55

Once you look at pics, maybe I should move the puzzles to another drawer and make that whole area clothes?

My younger daughter plays with Barbies at least 1 - 2 hours a day. Little voices talking to each other quietly in my family and living room, so I like that they are there for her to play with - just trying to figure out the best way to minimize the clutter.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions - I will keep reading and start to improve it, especially if this does not work! Any suggestions to improve it are also welcome!

Alexa

p.s. Just to see if anyone is closely scrutinizing, you may see that the bins that are holding the Barbies ARE the bins from the original bin shelving unit - that's why it wasn't being used anymore! It's funny that the two ended up being put to use doubletime to solve my doll issues! ;-)

p.s. 2 - I should have included a "before" - this wasn't just dolls but I've shown it in my other organizing of my daughter's room. The doll stuff is ALL OVER the floor there:
http://bit.ly/8B1HKQ

http://bit.ly/7gfWLi

Posted 1 year ago #

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