Today I decided to finally embrace fall. The summer flew by, so I was still trying to cling to it. But it seems like fall weather has arrived and we're already into the 2nd half of September, so it was time. Today in our little household, you knew that Fall had finally arrived...not because of the smell of pumpkin bread baking in the oven (which, now I really wish I had done so I could be eating it now) or because of a crackling fire in the fireplace (the inagural fall fire has yet to be lit)...but because of the official biannual changing of the closet. That's right- spring/summer clothes have been put into storage and fall/winter sweaters, long sleeves, scarves etc... have been shaken out of dark storage bins and hung in light, airy closets. Let the fall weather begin!
I love switching over between the seasonal wardrobes. Each time it feels like I have all new clothes. And because I'm an organizational nerd, I really enjoy the little system I've set up for staying on top of clothing changes for a fast-growing girl.
Organizing children's clothes can sometimes be overwhelming. They grow out of things so quickly, and still need clothes for each different season, and so an almost 3 year old can amass (over the short 3 year period of her life so far) a surprisingly HUGE amount of clothes! So, here is our system, in case anyone is looking for a better plan when it comes to processing children's clothes:
Intake
Because I am a huge fan of hand-me-downs, garage sale & consignment store clothing, and general bargain shopping, I always have a stash of clothes in the next few sizes. Hey, when they're a bargain- you buy things, knowing they'll be used in the future. So, I keep these clothes in a giant diaper box on the top shelf of my daughter's closet.
Outgoing
- Once Leta has outgrown clothes they are tossed into another large diaper box, this time on the floor of her closet. This is perfect because anytime I notice that they're something that's suddenly too short or that she refuses to wear, I can toss it into the box right then.
When that box gets full- then I take the time to sort through it- placing it in 3 piles: 1. The clothes I want to save for a possible future daughter (these go into bins in our basement storage) 2. clothes I want to consign 3. clothes to either give to friends in need, or to Goodwill.
A quick word about those decisions. Because little girls can have large wardrobes and I don't like storing tons and tons of bins in our basement, I only save the items that I REALLY like. Especially if they're infant clothes, where the chance of having another girl the same size in the same season is slim. I figure that I can always buy suplemental items later if needed with my free in-store credit from a consignment store.
- Which brings me to point number 2 - although I pass on some to friends or people who could use it, I also consign some of Leta's clothes because I want to have enough store credit built up to help out if our future child is a boy and we have nothing but pink to dress him in.
The #2 pile- those going to consignment - are divided into 2 boxes that I have in our storage downstairs: "fall/winter" and "spring/ summer." This is because you'll get the most money from consignment stores for clothes that are in the current season. These clothes just sit in these boxes until the week of my consignment appointment rolls around, when they are taken out, cleaned, ironed and ready to sell. Consignment stores that require appointments and only take seasonal clothes are also usually ones where you'll make more - I use one that gives 50% store credit or 40% cash back.
How about you? Do you have any great tips for storing seasonal clothes or sorting children's clothes?
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