Clothes, growing and laundry are constants around here with two small boys. No sooner have I gotten their drawers and wardrobes up to date and set with their current sizes than one or both have a growth spurt or the weather changes or something comes up that requires special clothing or the like.
Today I am sharing my system for keeping on top of the changing clothes sizes, growth spurts and clothes that are yet to be grown into or that need to be donated.
These tubs right here are probably the number one reason that my system is so effective. Above our dresser, where 90% of the boys clothes are kept, is some shelving. On those selves are the above (and below) tubs. They are all clearly labeled with categories that make sense to me and how I work.
So when I go to put a top on Caleb and discover that it is too short in the arms I can take it straight off and put it in his tub. I can do the same as I am folding laundry and find something that I know no longer fits.
In my experience, I have found that different brands have slightly different shapes and fits and therefor I notice that my boys will grow out of a particular size in some brands before others. This system helps me to simply put aside those items that they have outgrown rather than fully swapping over their clothes for the next size.
Once I know that a child has pretty much moved to another size I will take a few minutes to sort through their drawers and hanging space and pull out any lingering items.
The next important part of the system are these two tubs. The donate tub lets me place any items that needs to be passed along straight in there. The next tub holds clothes for Caleb that we have been given or bought that he does not yet fit into. There is only a small quantity of these so a small tub makes the most sense and it being on the shelf also means that I am more likely to check it before shopping for something new.
Clothes that are not currently being worn are kept in these large tubs. It makes sense for me to just store clothes due to the boys being pretty close in age rather than pass along/donate and then repurchase. These are organised by size first and then divided by season when moving to whole sizes. So we have a tub for all Newborn - 000 sizes, 00 and 0. These contain all of these sized clothes regardless of season. As we move to Size 1 and up these clothes are divided into Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. Each of these larger size tubs hold all the clothes, shoes, socks, underwear and accessories in this size and season. I have current sizes kept in the wardrobe in the boys room with the rest in longer term storage in our shed.
Simple labels on both the front and side of the tubs make them easy to identify and mean that they are able to to be stored in either direction.
A few other notes on my approach to clothing my children -
- I attempt to stick to a capsule wardrobe type for the boys clothes. This is something I am still working out and on as each season rolls around. I have found that this is an easier concept to stick to as our boys get older.
- I use the best possible laundry detergent, laundry soaker and stain spray that I can and make room in my budget to be able to afford to do so. This helps clothes look their best, last longer and makes it possible for clothes to be passed down.
