Project Simplify: Kids Clothes & Toys

by Mandi on March 25, 2011

project simplify

All month, I’m participating in Project Simplify over at Simple Mom. Each week for five weeks, Tsh is sharing a new hot spot and inviting readers to join her in decluttering & simplifying that space. I’m excited to be participating and decided that I’d give you a peek inside our home with vlogs instead of just telling you what we do!

This week’s hot spot is to clean out your children’s clothes and toys. Although I am a firm believer in involving kids when I declutter and organize their toys, I’m not brave enough to involve them in rotating the clothes just yet.

Here is a peek inside our clothes rotation process:

In this vlog, I share:

How I simplify the process of determining what fits whom.
How many outfits I keep for each of my girls.
How I prepare for unexpected weather when rotating the clothes.

I also recorded this vlog two years ago after Christmas as the girls and I sorted through their toys. It’s not the greatest quality, but you can still get an idea of how we do things:

If you’re reading this by email, you may need to click through to the original post to see the videos.

Are you participating in Project Simplify? Do you rotate your kids clothes and toys with the seasons?

Kara Fleck

This is great, Mandi, thank you! Like you, every year I seem to keep less and less clothes for the kids – they just really don’t need that much.

I’m thankful to get to see your system in action, especially as a mama about to have 3 stairstep girls herself

Great tip to keep things out for those anomaly days during the seasons, too.

Best Wishes!

http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life…Your Way

Woohoo to 3 girls!! So excited for you!

http://conniedownsized.blogspot.com Connieweiss

The biggest help for me this time was pulling everything out into one pile and then sorting! It’s a great tip!
http://momforhim.blogspot.com MomForHim

Thank you so much for the clothes sorting vlog. I have 5 stair-step girls, so I have been feeling overwhelmed by the clothes and shoes and how to sort them and store them all! I just bought a bunch of big bins and was thinking that doing one bin per size was a good idea, so it was nice to get that confirmation. Thanks also for the numbers of outfits you shared–that gives me a number to shoot for while sorting!

I do have a question–do ALL the clothes of that particular size fit in that bin at once, or are there always some out in use? With my girls, some clothes get instantly passed down because of their sizes (like you mention 2 in the same size), but some need to be put away for a year or so before they are used again by another child. What do you do in that case? And what about all the shoes?!?

http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life…Your Way

Right now we don’t have anyone wearing 2T, 3T or 5T, so all of those are packed away. The other sizes 18mo, 4T and 5/6 & 6/7 have some clothes in them for winter since I keep those packed up until the fall. But alll of the clothes for one size do fit in a single (big) bin since we have the limits on how much we keep.

I keep ALL shoes in a separate shoe bin, but lately we’ve been having to throw them away rather than pass them down (with the exception of dress shoes) because they wear them out!

http://momforhim.blogspot.com MomForHim

Sorry, I have another question–does this mean each size has 7 shorts, 7 short sleeve shirts, 7 pants, 7 long-sleeve shirts, a few capris, a few dresses, a few leggings, etc? Still trying to get my head around this…I as thinking about making a list I could print out and put in each bin. What do you think of this?
I am a newbie to decluttering/organization. Thanks SO much for your help–I need it!!

http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life…Your Way

I probably could be this structured about it, but it’s not. I try to pair tops and bottoms and keep 7-10 outfits for the current season (which may mean more tops than bottoms since we usually wear those a couple times before washing them and they match more items), a few dresses and matching leggings and maybe 2 outfits for the opposite season plus a sweatshirt, sweater, etc. I find that setting actual rules can get a little stressful too, so I try to think of them as basic guidelines.

Pingback: It’s That Time of Year Again: SPRING CLEANING! « The Causey’s
http://momforhim.blogspot.com MomForHim

What do you do if I girl is wearing size 5 shirts and still size 4 pants, for example?

http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life…Your Way

We’re actually dealing with this right now because a lot of the 6/7 bottoms do not fit my oldest daughter even though she wears 6/7 tops. What I’ve decided to do is stick to my one-size rule within each group. So, I pulled out all of the 6/7 tops out of one box and all of the 5/6 bottoms out of another. Even though there are some 5/6 tops that fit her and some 6/7 bottoms, I left those in the boxes so that I wouldn’t make it more complicated when it’s time to pack them all back up!

It’s not a perfect system, but it seems to be working!

http://momforhim.blogspot.com MomForHim

Thanks so much for your help! I really do appreciate it! On Saturday I was able to get through 4 bins, which was great, but I still have probably 4 to go. (we are currently using sizes from infant–which I have more than one bin for–up to size 8). But it is good to limit it to things that only fit in one bin–makes it a lot more manageable and easier to store. I finally invested in clear matching bins that stack better and have better lids–I used to have such a mish-mash. So I think that will help, too. I’m fairly new to your blog, and appreciate your tips!

http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life…Your Way

You’re welcome! And I agree that having nice bins really does help!!

Pingback: Garmin Nuvi 1490t
Pingback: Short sale
Pingback: luxury apartments Boston
Pingback: k cups coffee
Pingback: Megabus Promotion Code
Pingback: forex brokers
Pingback: Sites We Like
Pingback: car shipping services
Pingback: i have an intermec cn3 handheld computer, it wont upload wirelessly at home, but will out some where...? | Best VPN Router
Pingback: Pure Acai Berry
Pingback: Conveyancing Lawyer
Pingback: Solicitors
Pingback: immigration lawyers
Pingback: immigration solicitors
Pingback: iPhone 5
Pingback: Sex Chat
Pingback: Colon Cleanse Recipe
Pingback: Monster High Dolls 2011
Pingback: Scholarships for Minorities
Pingback: Quickest Way to Lose Weight
Pingback: Grow taller for idiots
Pingback: Sweat Free Formula
Pingback: Investment opportunities
Pingback: apartments Boston
Pingback: China releases human rights activist Hu Jia | Latest News 24
Pingback: 1988 Honda CR250 Rebuilt and back from the DEAD!!! | Service AC
Pingback: automated forex trading
Pingback: best gifts for girlfriend
Pingback: Solicitors
Pingback: {30} Things to Declutter