Systems :: Kids' Clothes

{I realize not all of you are interested in this, but since so many of my friends ask about it, I just wanted to post it on here. I'll get back to the kids' lives in the next post, ok?}

Our house is not large, and neither are our closets. My kids are tough on clothes. I don't like excess. Our budget is small.

All of this led to finding a simple system of how to do the kids' clothes a couple years ago.
We have a built-in cabinet in the hallway with three big 2'x2'x1' drawers -- the bottom two are what we use for the kids. They each have a drawer which holds all their clothes with the exception of a few things that need to hang up and obviously their shoes. Each season I make a list -- one for spring/summer and also for fall/winter. I have a master list I consult and pretty much just fill in the blanks as I go through the "next size up" storage box and also do my shopping (90% of which is on ebay and the rest from second-hand stores).

For fall/winter they each end up with something like this:

6 everyday play outfits that are for outside or inside, just not mud -- these are the ones I actually will stain treat if they get dirty
4 nice playoutfits for the store/indoor friend visits/library outings/family visits
2 outfits for totally destroying with mud/stains/outdoor goodness -- the 'I don't care' clothes
2 dressy outfits for church only

So there are 12-15 tops and 8-10 bottoms each. That actually sounds like too much as I'm writing it, but with second-hand blessings and gifts from friends and family, this is almost always what we end up with. Plus, it is good for laundry's sake since my children have sometimes been known to soak or excessively dirty two outfits a day. By the end of the season, half of it is ruined or doesn't fit so it really works out to do all the shopping once and be done even if it does seem like too much at the start.

Based on doing laundry twice a week, I buy them each 6 pairs of socks, 6 undies and 4 sets of jammies.


Here is Chloe's drawer: Across the front are jammies, undies and socks/tights (and her jean skirt is folded up there too). Pants in the left bin, shirts in the right. Minus the tie-dye t-shirt and rainbow stripe pants she is sporting today, and a pair of tights hanging to dry, this is what she has (still some spring/summer things lingering in here).


Here is Evan's drawer:Minus the t-shirt and sweatpants he is wearing today this is what he has. This is set up just like Chloe's with pants and shirts in bins, and across the front are jammies, socks, undies and a couple pairs of shorts (which he insists on wearing year round).

In the closet, hanging up, there are four nice shirts and two dress pants for Evan and two dresses for Chloe. They each have two pairs of sneakers --one for regular play and one for muddy grubby play. They each have a pair of church shoes to wear each week. (Chloe also has a fancier pair of church shoes for her fancier sparkle dress.)
The only times this system is difficult to manage is in between seasons when there is just too much stuff to accomodate the unpredictable temperatures. Luckily where we live, this only lasts a couple weeks -- but even now I am still culling things that are "out of season" from the drawers.

Getting into buying winter "gear" is always a challenge for us because we love to be outside a lot and that means tons more laundry than I want to be doing every night. So the outside stuff is something like this for each of them:

1 fall jacket for grubby play -- I try to have this clean for Sunday morning
1 hooded sweatshirt for grubby play or layering under fall jacket
1 pair mud boots(never mind the unfinished trim area there.... I never said my house was glamorous)

1 winter coat for grubby play
2 snowpants (so I don't have to do laundry between outside play days)
1 slim fitting but warm coat for the store outings/church/car rides anywhere in the colder months
1 pair warm winter boots
2 pair gloves
2 hats

Evan's boots, coats and snowpants usually can be passed down to Chloe since they are just for playing in. Last year's coat was red and black so she likes it, but hopefully she won't be too picky about colors in the coming years.

Well, that's it I think. I'll be doing a couple more 'systems' posts in the coming weeks.