Clear the Clutter Challenge Day 21: How Many Clothes Can One Kid Wear?

How many clothes can one kid wear?  Well, not many at a time.  How many they can own is a totally different story!  Challenge Day 21 is about getting rid of other people’s clothing.  (If you don’t have a child, you can downsize someone else’s hoard–a spouse or a roommate–or just work on yours again!)

We have been so very blessed in the lives to have so many friends and family members who pass down clothes and/or buy them for our children.  Sometimes it gets to be a lot though and there is no choice but to pass them on.  Whether you give them away to friends and family, sell them, or donate them to charity, it’s good to let things like this go!

To Do:

• Gather all clothes into one place.  This includes everything in drawers, bins, closets, etc.
• Go through and sort out any clothes that no longer fit.  Keep those in a separate pile to get rid of.
• Go through and pick out all clothes that the child absolutely refuses to wear.  Put them in the “get rid of” pile.
• Remove anything that you even remotely suspect your child would have to be possessed by some unknown entity before they would pick it out and wear it for a day, despite how cute and fashionable it may be.  Add these to the pile.
• Inspect the clothes that are left for stains, tears, missing buttons, etc.  If they can’t be fixed, toss them or repurpose them.
• Also, don’t keep a bunch of one thing just because.  If your child is still growing, they probably don’t need 10 bathing suits or swimming trunks for one summer season.

Organizational Tips:

• Put like things with like things.  For example, all dresses in one place, all pants in one place, all socks in one place.
• Or, if children are smaller, group outfits together for a quick grab in the mornings!
• Keep baskets or labeled bins in the closet for things like belts, hats, shoes, scarves, and other accessories.
• Use shoe shelves or over-the-door hangers to conquer some of that clutter and keep things accessible.
• Use small bins or dividers in dresser drawers to keep things separate.
• If you don’t have drawer space, try adding a set of plastic pullout drawers in the closet.  (You can also label these!)
• Rotate seasonal items–store them away in bins or hang them at the back of the closet out of the way.

There are dozens of ways that children’s clothes can be organizaed, but in the end you have to do what works for you!  Please share some of your organizing ideas if you have some.  Don’t forget to join the Clear the Clutter challenge while you’re at it!