Tips for Organizing Your Kids Hand-Me-Downs

If you have small children, chances are your closets and dressers are bulging with extra clothes. Babies and toddlers grew through clothing too fast for any mom to keep up with. Keeping hand-me-downs organized can be a big challenge. With three boys, each three years apart, I found myself drwoning in clothing that was too small for my oldest son, and too big for my younger sons. How could I properly store clothes and not forget that I have them for later? After much trial and error, I have discovered the best way to organize my children's clothing is by two annual "sorting days."

Each spring and fall I empty my kids closets and dressers and sort through everything. I would rather get it done in one day, than drag it out over several laundry sessions. I sort clothing into four piles: keep, hand-me-downs, goodwill, and toss.

The keep pile is for clothing that still fits, and will last through the next season. The hand-me-down pile is for clothing that does not fit anyone at the moment. For example, when my oldest son outgrew his size 6 summer clothes, my middle son was only in size 3. I had two more years before anyone could wear the size 6 clothes. I sort all hand-me-downs by size and store them until someone grows into that size. (We'll get to the sorting and storing of hand-me-downs in a minute.)

The goodwill pile (for charity donations) is for clothing in fair condition, that we don't need. For example, I somehow had gathered thirty-two pairs of pants, all in size 5. I sorted through the pile and donated half the pants to charity.

The toss pile is anything ripped, or badly stained or pilled. Don't give junky clothes to goodwill. Just get rid of them.

Once you have your clothing sorted into the four piles sort the keep pile, and put th clothes away in the dressers and closets, just as you normally do. You should find that you have a lot more storage room now! Bag up the goodwill clothes and drop them off at your local Salvation Army or thrift store when you are out and about. And of course, throw away the toss pile.

Unless all your kids are born back to back, you will probably have one or two sizes between the oldest and the youngest. It would be silly (not to mention expensive) to give away all your older kids clothing, if they will fit your younger child in a few years. By sorting hand-me-downs by size and/or season, you can have an instant wardrobe ready for your younger children in no time. I sort all my clothes by size, placing each size in a clear plastic garbage bag. I label each bag with black marker and store it in the loft above my garage. Whenever I do a sorting day, I pull out the bag that corresponds with my boys current size. This system has saved me from buying unnecessary clothing every school year. I tried using Rubbermaid plastic bins, but they don't hold nearly the amount of clothing a garbage does. Besides, plastic bins can turn into a costly investment, if you need more than a few.

To help maintain my closet space, I keep an empty laundry basket in each of my sons closets. I use it to stash clothing they outgrow in between sorting days. When the basket it full, I bag the clothes and store them away. The reclaimed closet space has made my life much simpler in the housekeeping department!