I have a dream..
That kids closets are only filled with the clothes they actually need.
That their shoes are limited to a pairs of snow boots, a pair of sneakers and a pair of goes with everything shoes.
How do you purge your kids closets?
How do you deal with the sentimental crap (yes it is crap lol)?
Do you go by how many pants, tops, dresses, etc. and narrow them that way? I'm curious as to what your magic number is.
Do you donate?
Freecycle ?
Sell?
I always find selling tedious and freecycle almost as painful.
I am doing this today. I am putting everything that can be worn next spring in one tub and everything that will be too small into another.
This tub with the clothes that are too small will go to younger siblings. If they don’t need or want them I am going to give them to anyone who wants them.
I have tubs with clothes that friends have given me that are all the way up to young teen sizes. I go through the closets in the fall and spring but also as I do laundry.
I have 2 large tubs under my folding table. One is for clothes that are too small and the other tub is for clothes that are off season and too big. They get in the clothes that are stored sometimes…lol. I put it back up when it comes through the laundry. So it’s an ongoing process.
I usually do this twice a year, when it starts to get cold and when it starts to warm up. I put all the things that are too small or will be too small by next season in bins marked with their size. I give them to my sisters family as their kids grown into them.
I don’t keep a number, just what fits. Sometimes I put things that were bought big in the closet because they always grown into them quicker than I think.
My daughter (8) and I just cleaned out her room and closet this weekend. She admitted getting to big for princess things so I was able to store away some nick-nacky things (that I hate) so yay! I let her keep enough stuffed animals that will fit in one bin, if they don’t fit then we donate the ones left out.
Plus, I have NO problem throwing things away. In fact, I really love the feeling of lightening up. If they are decent I bring them to Goodwill, which is close to us, or give them to a family member who may want them. My sister loves STUFF so she’s always happy to take what my kids have grown out of, which is great for me.
I am purging the toy closet right now–just stopped to sip some tea to recharge!
I clean out closets twice a year. Anything that isn’t used gets donated. I give to a variety of organizations. Baby stuff goes to a local organization that takes in single moms. Most stuff just gets given away to organizations that call for pick ups. Occasionally I will sell on craigslist, but usually I donate. Sometimes I use free cycle, but I’m getting the feeling there are increasing numbers of people picking stuff up to sell! I don’t like that.
I also have no problem throwing away things. My 5 year old and I are right now fighting over a broken rocking chair. Hubby keeps fixing it, and it is now dead. She refuses to part with things, so I throw out when she isn’t home. She never asks. I threw out her favorite boots from last season, and she’s forgotten about them. Her chair is going today. When I take the kids to soccer, I will have hubby break it down and put it out with the weekly garbage.
When we actaully go through thier closets I find what does not fit. I usually don’t get rid of stuff that still fits or of my oldest that will soon fit my youngest. If it does not fit my youngest we box or bag up and depending on how soon we may have a yard sale we either store it till then or donate. I have never done the freecycle or selling online. Granted I have two boys. It might be a little different if I had girls.
We do this each Spring and Autumn. Just did it on Saturday, actually, since the temperature dropped and it’s too cold for shorts.
We first go through and figure out: Does it fit? If it does fit, is it ever worn?
Items that are too small or never worn go into a tote to be given to my friend who has a son a size smaller than my boys. We get all our clothes from a friend who has a boy a size bigger.
The rest of the clothes: Hang up the long sleeved shirts and pants, short sleeved shirts, shorts, socks and underwear go in drawers.
Sentimental crap. I let them keep it unless it’s broken and crappy. Then I toss it or they do. If there will be a fight about a broken item, I toss it without telling them. Unless it’s something truly sentimental (given by a loved one).
Numbers of stuff? Basically, laundry in our house is done on a weekly basis. So clothes enough for the week, plus a few extras.
For selling items, I love the local Swap Shop/sell Facebook groups. Look for swap shops in your county or town. You can easily post there and it’s far less creepy than Craigslist and less of a pain than a garage sale or Freecycle.
If you purge closets only at certain times of the year…for me at least, this is not practical. Why? Because, in the meantime, kids grow. And they grow out of things, not according to your ‘spring cleaning closet purging’ times.
So, for me at least, I get rid of my kids’ clothing, AS it needs to be.
For example, I got rid of stuff a few months ago, before summer.
BUT recently, both of my kids had growth spurts from about summer onward, and they then outgrew, lots of their pants and shoes/shorts/tops.
SO at that time, I purged. Again.
And my kids know it, and I tell them, and I tell them if they want to look through things AS I dump it, they can. If not, then I will put it all in trash bags and we can then, give it to friends who have kids younger and who would fit it.
For each of my kids, well mentally, I just know how many of what item they need or not.
For ‘sentimental’ stuff. Well, I have a plastic bin. If it can fit in there, fine. But if not, I tell my kids “you can find a place for this that is out of the way. IF you cannot, then… we throw it away.” And the rule is: for whatever they want to keep for whatever sentimental reason… THEY have to find a place for it or make room for it or put it someplace out of the way… or file it or whatever. And if not, it gets thrown away.
My eldest child is 10 almost 11. I am NOT, going to keep things from when she was born and every year after that. It is ridiculous. If I kept so many things, for the past 10 years that she is, then that would take up too much room.
I love to clean out closets and dressers… I would actually love to have a home organizing business. So we do it fairly frequently - 4-6x a year. Any time I notice some clothes are getting a bit small, we go through and see if everything still fits. Usually there will be one or two items that just are never worn and we agree never will be so those get pulled too. But mainly it’s things outgrown or too stained. Outgrown stuff I donate. Sentimental items go in my closet (or super high quality dresses) in a pile “for their kids someday”. If it’s an old tshirt that is not actually going to hold up until I have grandchildren, I may toss it and just not tell bc they never remember. We have services that come to the house and I donate there or Goodwill/Salvation Army or neighbors with younger kids. My kids enjoy doing it with me btw so it’s kind of fun, quality time with them…
We donate, get a receipt and write it off our taxes.
Actually I need to clean out a few closets (and the garage, and the den) right now before the holidays get going.
Set a limit on how many of each you need-when more come in the same amount goes out. I purge often. I have a box near my laundry room that stuff goes in as it gets to small (or for me when I no longer like the way it fits) and it get donated when full. Sentimental stuff-look at project repeat and have them make a blanket out of that stuff.
I have a box at the top of the closets too so I can buy stuff on sale for the next season. Good luck with the sentimental stuff cause that’s hard.
She wore a lot of hand me downs so I don’t mind giving them away when she out grows them. I drop them off at the thrift store or put them in the charity boxes on street corners.
Wearing a school uniform has also been a huge help.
You’ll notice that kids will chose their favorite few outfits. Keep those ones. Get rid of the other crap (yes, I agree, it’s crap!). Maybe keep a nice outfit or two. Generally, my kids have a few pairs of jeans (3-4 pairs), several pairs of shorts (5-6 pairs), ~10 shirts (some long-sleeved), 2-3 sweaters, 1-2 sweatshirts, 10 pairs of underwear, 10 pairs of socks, 5-7 sets of pajamas. 1 pair of sneakers, 1 pair of “nice” shoes, several pairs of flip-flops. We’re in California, so it’s nice most of the year here. We don’t need very serious winter clothing, except when we’re going skiing (so that kind of clothing lives in a bin in the garage ;). My kids have 3 large-ish drawers each, and their clothing fits in there easily. When I start seeing them cram the clean clothes in there on laundry day, I know it’s time to purge again!
The stuff they’ve outgrown… the nicer stuff I send to a friend of mine with quadruplets (poor woman has to clothe 3 girls, all of the same size - luckily they’re a size smaller than my oldest), or to my sister-in-law (whose youngest is a size smaller than my youngest). The stuff that could just be play clothes, I donate to Goodwill.
