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in Blog on June 5, 2018 by Meagan Francis

Organizing Kids’ Clothes: Seasonal and Hand-Me-Down Storage Made Simple

I wrote this post back in 2014 about the storage and swap-out of seasonal clothes and handmedowns that I used for my four (!!) boys for a decade. Enjoy! –Meagan

My seasonal transition and hand-me-down system used to be impossibly complicated. Going by popular advice, I’d keep separate bins for each clothing size, each season. It sounded good at the time: in theory, that would mean that every season, I’d only have to pull out that season and that size’s bin…right?

But in practice there were a few things wrong with this system:

  • We rarely have enough kids’ clothes in a single size to fill an entire bin, and especially not if we separate them out by season. So a bin for each size, each season, cost too much and took up a lot of space.
  • Too many bins meant too many opportunities for bins to get buried or shoved too far back in the closet or basement storage area. Every year I would lose track of at least one bin, then go buy a bunch of new clothes and later uncover the bin and realize I’d spent a lot of money I didn’t need to.
  • All size 6’s are not alike. Sometimes clothes in a certain size – especially when we’re talking about baggy t-shirts and adjustable waist pants – fit a variety of kids. There is way too much variety in fit and sizing practices to predict which child will wear which sizes, in which brands and types of clothing, at which age.
  • All seasons are not alike. A kid who is an athlete or doesn’t like wearing warm pajamas may need shorts and t-shirts in rotation throughout the year. And t-shirts are winter wear for kids who like to layer.

I also attempted to keep a detailed written inventory of all clothing items we own, but somewhere along the line my head started to spin around and I abandoned that idea quickly enough!

So what I finally settled on is a simple, streamlined system for organizing hand-me-downs and off-season clothes that allows me to factor in my actual kids and their actual clothing needs, right now. By keeping everything together in one place, there’s less risk of a size going missing.

Basically what I do is store everything together – all off-season clothes and all in-between sizes – and, twice a year, commit to going through every single item of clothing to make a decision about what to do with it for the upcoming season.

If you live in a climate that has seasons and you have multiple kids who are no longer growing out of sizes every few months, and/or handing down clothing to a younger sibling, this strategy can help you keep the task of organizing all those clothes manageable.

Organizing Kids’ Clothes:
Seasonal and Hand-Me-Down Storage Made Simple

Note: for the sake of this post, “off-season” refers to the clothing I will be putting away for the upcoming season, while “in-season” refers to the clothing I’m working back into our wardrobes for the upcoming season.

Bins, bags, boxes, and baskets (what you’ll need):

  • Enough bins with lids to hold all off-season clothes for the whole family (We usually need one more bin for winter/fall clothes than for summer.)
  • Bags or boxes for donations
  • Every laundry basket in the house

Before you begin (inventory & planning):

1. A few weeks before the weather changes, I start slowly collecting clothes out of the clean laundry that I intend to put away for the season and put them in a basket, which I keep in my room. Anything that the kids will have outgrown in the next six months goes into a donation pile.

At the same time, I go and pluck a few extra items per person out of the off-season bins and wash them so we have a variety of clothes to wear during the transitional months. This just gives me a head-start on the whole process.

2. Once I can tell that the weather is heading quickly in the cooler (or warmer!) direction, I choose a day that I can set aside several hours to work on the project of doing the big transition.

Gather all the clothes in the house (yes, really.)

3. We keep off-season clothes in plastic bins in our basement, which is also where our laundry is. So the first step is to start taking all the clothes out of the bins and washing them. When they’re dry, they go in a laundry basket.

If your clothes went into an airtight bin while clean, they might not need to be laundered, or maybe a spin in the dryer with a dryer sheet would freshen them up. I find that ours get a bit musty being in the basement and with all the dust and mold allergies in our family, washing them is best for us.

Whether or not you choose to re-launder the clothes that have been stored,  you will need to make sure all the clothes in the house are clean for this system to work well. Think of it as incentive to get caught up on the laundry!

4. While the laundry is running I take the basket of clean off-season clothes I’ve been collecting, and start folding and putting them away into one of the bins. I don’t worry about sorting them by family member – everything goes in together, because I always do this job all at once so the sorting happens on the other end. You don’t absolutely have to start collecting clothes ahead of time, but I find that it gives me something to do while I’m waiting for clothes to get clean.

seasonal clothing swap

5. Then I walk around the house and go through every single drawer, plucking out any clothes I want to put away for the season. Those get folded and put into the bins, too – remember, everything just goes together, no need to sort! Note: I always leave a few off-season items in each child’s drawer for layering, or in case we go on a vacation or experience unseasonable weather. 

6. When everything is clean, we bring all the baskets of clothes upstairs, and dump them all in the middle of the living room floor. Yes, everything together! It creates quite an impressive mountain of clothes.

Fold and sort. Fold and sort. Fold and sort. Repeat.

7. Now comes the epic folding and sorting session. I set myself up in front of the TV with a cup of tea and start creating a stack for each family member. As I go, I quickly make executive decisions about each item:

  • Is the item too small for Owen, my youngest son? If so, it goes in the donation pile unless it’s something Clara would wear (t-shirts, pajamas, and hoodies, yes; jeans and pants, generally no.)
  • Note: I sort Clara’s clothes separately because hers are mostly passed down to her from her older cousin Ruby, and when she’s done, we put them in a bin to go to Ruby’s little sister Luna!
  • Is it hopelessly torn or stained? It goes into a separate pile to be turned into rags.
  • Is the item a between size – for example, too small for Isaac, not yet big enough for William? If so, it goes right back in the off-season bin, even if it’s in-season.

This is an important part of my system – I keep off-season and in-between-sized clothes, regardless of whether they’re in season or not, TOGETHER rather than separating them into separate bins. I find that it keeps everything very simple and streamlined, which is what I need! Otherwise I’d constantly be losing track of where everything is.

I do give sizing some leeway here – if something isn’t quite fitting a kid yet but is likely to within the coming season, I go ahead and put it in their drawer.

8. The rest of this process is self-explanatory: just continue to fold, separate into piles, and then give to the kids to put away in their drawers. I usually have the kids take clothes up as soon as the piles start to get precarious, rather than waiting until they’re toppling over. This also helps keep the kids from getting too overwhelmed by the putting-away process.

Put it away, store it away, or give it away

9. Donation bags go out to the car and I ask Jon to take them immediately to the thrift store so I don’t forget!

10. Now I put the lids on the bins, which are already labeled “off-season clothes,” and put them in a designated area of the basement…all except one, which I leave in the living room for now.

Why? No matter how careful I am to find everything I want to put away and get all the clothes clean before we start this process, inevitably a few items I meant to put away will continue to show up in the laundry over the next week or two. So I keep the least-full bin upstairs a while longer until I’m pretty sure the process is done.

Note: If you are incorporating this system for the first time, you’ll need to start your process a little differently than I detailed above…but either way, I recommend starting from scratch, as scary as it might sound: get ALL your clothes in one place and go through them a piece at a time.

Yes, it’s time-consuming, but I promise you will save yourself time and money not having to shop for something that it turns out you already have, or constantly shifting around hand-me-downs that nobody is ever going to wear again.

I’ve been using this strategy for three or four years now with a couple of tweaks along the way, and I have found that making personal contact with every item of clothing in our house greatly simplifies my seasonal clothing transition AND helps me save money on clothes shopping because nothing gets “lost” along the way.

And since I know I’m going to look at every single piece twice a year, there’s no reason to over-complicate the sorting, labeling, or organizing system.

Now that I’ve got this under control? This year, I’m moving on to getting our off-season shoes under control. If anyone has tips for THAT, I’m all ears.

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Comments

  1. Marina Zemina says

    June 9, 2018 at 6:13 am

    Здравствуйте! The first part is Scheduling . I approach this two different ways. Twice yearly, in the spring and the fall, I set aside a few hours to go through the kids closets for a seasonal switch and organization. And I also make ongoing clothing evaluations on a daily basis as we live our lives and do the laundry.

    Reply
  2. Donna Harrison says

    June 18, 2018 at 10:56 pm

    Are you selling any out of season onesies/footie pajamas? I would love to purchase them for my kiddos! Love your blog/podcast.

    -Donna

    Reply

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Hopping on the mic to record today, dealing with o Hopping on the mic to record today, dealing with our own everyday stressors, and pausing in total gratitude for reviews like this one, and communities like this. 💛 -M & S
New episode! Performances. Plays. Graduations. Th New episode!

Performances. Plays. Graduations. The lusty month of May is upon us as we ditch our well-oiled, calendar-planning systems and enter our end-of-school-year survival mode. In this episode, Meagan and Sarah share strategies for tackling the extra-ness of this season (like death by a thousand emails), setting intentions for the next few weeks and the many lessons May tries to teach us year after year (maybe someday we will learn?). Enjoy this May madness roundup as you dream of the peaceful, calm days of summer ahead (Ha, wouldn't that be great!).

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
Happy Monday, friends! Tomorrow’s show is about Happy Monday, friends! Tomorrow’s show is about end-of-school madness and other May malarkey, and in the episode we talk about how there’s just not a lot of margin for anything EXTRA or UNPLANNED in May. But the universe doesn’t always listen to us, or respect our boundaries, so please enjoy this selfie in front of a fallen “tree branch” on my back patio.

(It’s actually like the size of an entire tree. But the tree itself is fine and still standing. It just lost like half its bulk in a windstorm on Friday night. Roof, house, humans, pets are all fine. Glad we don’t have any patio hangs on the May calendar!)

If you like to watch Stories, I’m doing a Day In The Life series all day today, where you can see what else is up in the Powers house. I hope all the branches stay on all the trees in your yard this month. -Sarah
Sarah joined @marnihughestv on @newsnationnow this Sarah joined @marnihughestv on @newsnationnow this weekend to talk about how the formula shortage is affecting moms in our community. You can watch the clip at the link in our bio.
A day at the beach with kids is, um, no day at the A day at the beach with kids is, um, no day at the beach. (Sorry, had to. 😎) There’s gear to pack, sand to remove from unseen regions, and safety and sun protection to be mindful of. Thanks to our team of contributors, we’ve got you covered on the blog this week with the products that will make your beach outing fun, safe, and comfortable at every age and stage.

Click this image at the link in our bio to get beach gear recs for every age and stage from baby through teen! And big thanks to @catieparrish @cafedumartin @stacybronec @kiamhammon @emilyeroark for the great suggestions!

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We're meeting next week to build out podcast and b We're meeting next week to build out podcast and blog content for the next few months. What topics should be on our list to cover?
New episode! As moms, we are our kids' biggest fa New episode!

As moms, we are our kids' biggest fans. But when it comes to deciding when, how and what to share about them with others, the struggle is real. In today’s episode, Meagan and Sarah discuss how talking about our own kids in a public forum gets tricky as they get older (think bigger kids, bigger problems) - and not just for the reasons you might think. Join us for a real conversation about navigating the ever-changing seasons of motherhood and how we think you can be honest and authentic without sharing *everything* going on inside your four walls. We wrap up with some updates on our specific kids (all eight!).

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
Over the past few weeks, one of my kids - the one Over the past few weeks, one of my kids - the one who, as a baby and toddler, I would once have titled Most Likely To Wail So Long And Hard In The Gym Child Care That I Will Almost Certainly Have To Skip My Shower - has developed a bit of a fitness obsession. 

We've spent hours discussing his lifting program and gym schedule. And today, I scoured the grocery-store shelves for all the ingredients for a smoothie that will, I believe, help him get "jacked" and perhaps "make gains", then stood by as he prepared said smoothie, in case he needed assistance. (He did.)

The path from mothering toddlers to teens is full of surprises, friends. One day, you're trying to squeeze as much self-care as possible into the two-hour child care limit and wondering if the gym folks would catch you if you slipped out the side door for a solo sprint through the grocery store (never had the guts to try, but the temptation was strong.) 

But before you know it, the gym - and the coffee shop, and the inside of the car, and your favorite social media platforms - are no longer primarily your turf, but a shared domain where you try to find common ground even though you feel increasingly old and potentially cringe-inducing (and anyway, you've been told, clearly all the best reels were TikToks first.)

But you keep showing up. 

Because while it’s occasionally uncomfortable to wonder just how out of touch you’ve become since they were little, you also know there are bits of wisdom they rely on you for…wisdom such as how to secure the lid to the blender so you don’t wind up with protein smoothie on the ceiling.

And while they may never again look at you with with unquestioning adoration of a two-year-old, the respect you receive now, while less effusively expressed, is much harder-earned and well-deserved. 

Parenting teens, it seems, is all about striking the proper balance between humility and authority. I’m not sure I’ve figured it out yet and maybe I never will. But I’m still in here punching the bag, and meting out my mothering efforts…one smoothie at a time. 

-M

#parentingteens #grownandflown #bigkidparenting #teens #motherhood
New episode! Moms are savvy consumers, conscienti New episode!

Moms are savvy consumers, conscientious home managers, and discerning decision-makers. So why are we so often the target of hyper-generalized and cringey marketing efforts? In today’s More Than Mom episode - airing on Mother's Day! - Meagan and Sarah keep it light (and a bit snarky 😉) as we vent about the sloppy intent, terrible puns and ridiculous stereotypes advertisers use to market to us moms.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
Words by @sarahelimberg, contributor to The Mom Ho Words by @sarahelimberg, contributor to The Mom Hour and new mom of a toddler from San Diego:

--

#MyMomHour usually looks like this. Mid-day Saturday, exhausted from the work week, run down from the morning, heart full because I finally made it to a day with my little girl.

This window of free time is usually during nap with a quick lunch and an episode from the DVR archives that is no doubt a few weeks old. It’s probably the most relaxed and at peace I am all week.

What isn’t pictured is all the work it took to get to this point. All the effort it took to create this time for myself. It took meal planning and dishes after bedtime and house cleaning before breakfast and grocery orders and late night laundry and lunchtime emails and a coordinated vacuum run during our park trip.

I don’t think enough people acknowledge the work it takes for parents and caregivers to take time for themselves. There are endless people and Instagram posts telling you that you need time for yourself. Time to relax. Time to decompress. But I’m not seeing those same people recognize that it isn’t always that simple. I have yet to figure out how to say to my 15 month old, “Mommy needs some time, you good?”

So if you’re reading this during your mom hour, cheers.

If you’re taking two minutes to scroll on your phone in the bathroom, cheers.

Whether you’ve figured out your mom hour or not, I hope your mug is full. 

--

Want a mug like Sarah's? Click this image at the link in our bio.

Want to share what an hour for yourself looks like to you? Tag your post #MyMomHour so we can see it and share!
It's been so fun seeing our mugs out in the world, It's been so fun seeing our mugs out in the world, filled with your coffee and tea, sitting on your kitchen counters or porch steps. Get yours by clicking this image at the link in our bio, and follow the #MyMomHour hashtag to see how moms in our community are taking (or hoping for) an hour to themselves.

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Words by @lisapayne4, contributor to The Mom Hour Words by @lisapayne4, contributor to The Mom Hour and mom of four from Kansas:

--

As a single mom of 4 who works full time out of the home, free time hasn’t always been plentiful. But new arrangements have found me with more free time than I’ve had for about 15 years.

Those first hours of free time included trying to figure out what I *do* with free time. Sitting paralyzed, figuring out which of the hundreds of things should occur in this unfamiliar and uncomfortable space of alone.

As the normalcy of the new schedule begins seeping in, indecisiveness trickles away like granules of sand dissipating in an hourglass. Both indicating the countdown to the old normalcy and the gentle flow of time.

Since I work well with organization, I make a mental list, prioritizing 1-2 items begging to be accomplished in #MyMomHour. Sometimes it’s a date with myself at the gym, or a tv show that my kids don’t need to (or want to) watch with me. Often, I’ll pop in an air pod and it’s a podcast, audiobook, music, or phone call while I take care of putting things back in order around the house. Sometimes I doodle on the writings I’ve started, seeing if any inspiration percolates.

I walk away feeling accomplished, refueled and more relaxed without so much clutter, one less pile on the counter or thing on the stairs. It rejuvenates a spirit in me to get back into something I’ve left behind, a friendship, an old project or hobby, self-care…even if it’s binge-watching a new (to me) series. And it always helps me be more present when the old normalcy returns.

--

Want a mug like Lisa's? Click this image at the link in our bio.

Want to share what an hour for yourself looks like to you? Tag your post #MyMomHour so we can see it and share!
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Hopping on the mic to record today, dealing with o Hopping on the mic to record today, dealing with our own everyday stressors, and pausing in total gratitude for reviews like this one, and communities like this. 💛 -M & S
New episode! Performances. Plays. Graduations. Th New episode!

Performances. Plays. Graduations. The lusty month of May is upon us as we ditch our well-oiled, calendar-planning systems and enter our end-of-school-year survival mode. In this episode, Meagan and Sarah share strategies for tackling the extra-ness of this season (like death by a thousand emails), setting intentions for the next few weeks and the many lessons May tries to teach us year after year (maybe someday we will learn?). Enjoy this May madness roundup as you dream of the peaceful, calm days of summer ahead (Ha, wouldn't that be great!).

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
Happy Monday, friends! Tomorrow’s show is about Happy Monday, friends! Tomorrow’s show is about end-of-school madness and other May malarkey, and in the episode we talk about how there’s just not a lot of margin for anything EXTRA or UNPLANNED in May. But the universe doesn’t always listen to us, or respect our boundaries, so please enjoy this selfie in front of a fallen “tree branch” on my back patio.

(It’s actually like the size of an entire tree. But the tree itself is fine and still standing. It just lost like half its bulk in a windstorm on Friday night. Roof, house, humans, pets are all fine. Glad we don’t have any patio hangs on the May calendar!)

If you like to watch Stories, I’m doing a Day In The Life series all day today, where you can see what else is up in the Powers house. I hope all the branches stay on all the trees in your yard this month. -Sarah
Sarah joined @marnihughestv on @newsnationnow this Sarah joined @marnihughestv on @newsnationnow this weekend to talk about how the formula shortage is affecting moms in our community. You can watch the clip at the link in our bio.
A day at the beach with kids is, um, no day at the A day at the beach with kids is, um, no day at the beach. (Sorry, had to. 😎) There’s gear to pack, sand to remove from unseen regions, and safety and sun protection to be mindful of. Thanks to our team of contributors, we’ve got you covered on the blog this week with the products that will make your beach outing fun, safe, and comfortable at every age and stage.

Click this image at the link in our bio to get beach gear recs for every age and stage from baby through teen! And big thanks to @catieparrish @cafedumartin @stacybronec @kiamhammon @emilyeroark for the great suggestions!

#beachgear #momsatthebeach #beachwithbabies #beachwithtoddlers #beachwithkids #beachvacationgear #bestbeachgear #beachgearguide #beach #momlife #summermomlife #beachmom #beachfamily
We're meeting next week to build out podcast and b We're meeting next week to build out podcast and blog content for the next few months. What topics should be on our list to cover?
New episode! As moms, we are our kids' biggest fa New episode!

As moms, we are our kids' biggest fans. But when it comes to deciding when, how and what to share about them with others, the struggle is real. In today’s episode, Meagan and Sarah discuss how talking about our own kids in a public forum gets tricky as they get older (think bigger kids, bigger problems) - and not just for the reasons you might think. Join us for a real conversation about navigating the ever-changing seasons of motherhood and how we think you can be honest and authentic without sharing *everything* going on inside your four walls. We wrap up with some updates on our specific kids (all eight!).

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
Over the past few weeks, one of my kids - the one Over the past few weeks, one of my kids - the one who, as a baby and toddler, I would once have titled Most Likely To Wail So Long And Hard In The Gym Child Care That I Will Almost Certainly Have To Skip My Shower - has developed a bit of a fitness obsession. 

We've spent hours discussing his lifting program and gym schedule. And today, I scoured the grocery-store shelves for all the ingredients for a smoothie that will, I believe, help him get "jacked" and perhaps "make gains", then stood by as he prepared said smoothie, in case he needed assistance. (He did.)

The path from mothering toddlers to teens is full of surprises, friends. One day, you're trying to squeeze as much self-care as possible into the two-hour child care limit and wondering if the gym folks would catch you if you slipped out the side door for a solo sprint through the grocery store (never had the guts to try, but the temptation was strong.) 

But before you know it, the gym - and the coffee shop, and the inside of the car, and your favorite social media platforms - are no longer primarily your turf, but a shared domain where you try to find common ground even though you feel increasingly old and potentially cringe-inducing (and anyway, you've been told, clearly all the best reels were TikToks first.)

But you keep showing up. 

Because while it’s occasionally uncomfortable to wonder just how out of touch you’ve become since they were little, you also know there are bits of wisdom they rely on you for…wisdom such as how to secure the lid to the blender so you don’t wind up with protein smoothie on the ceiling.

And while they may never again look at you with with unquestioning adoration of a two-year-old, the respect you receive now, while less effusively expressed, is much harder-earned and well-deserved. 

Parenting teens, it seems, is all about striking the proper balance between humility and authority. I’m not sure I’ve figured it out yet and maybe I never will. But I’m still in here punching the bag, and meting out my mothering efforts…one smoothie at a time. 

-M

#parentingteens #grownandflown #bigkidparenting #teens #motherhood
New episode! Moms are savvy consumers, conscienti New episode!

Moms are savvy consumers, conscientious home managers, and discerning decision-makers. So why are we so often the target of hyper-generalized and cringey marketing efforts? In today’s More Than Mom episode - airing on Mother's Day! - Meagan and Sarah keep it light (and a bit snarky 😉) as we vent about the sloppy intent, terrible puns and ridiculous stereotypes advertisers use to market to us moms.

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
Words by @sarahelimberg, contributor to The Mom Ho Words by @sarahelimberg, contributor to The Mom Hour and new mom of a toddler from San Diego:

--

#MyMomHour usually looks like this. Mid-day Saturday, exhausted from the work week, run down from the morning, heart full because I finally made it to a day with my little girl.

This window of free time is usually during nap with a quick lunch and an episode from the DVR archives that is no doubt a few weeks old. It’s probably the most relaxed and at peace I am all week.

What isn’t pictured is all the work it took to get to this point. All the effort it took to create this time for myself. It took meal planning and dishes after bedtime and house cleaning before breakfast and grocery orders and late night laundry and lunchtime emails and a coordinated vacuum run during our park trip.

I don’t think enough people acknowledge the work it takes for parents and caregivers to take time for themselves. There are endless people and Instagram posts telling you that you need time for yourself. Time to relax. Time to decompress. But I’m not seeing those same people recognize that it isn’t always that simple. I have yet to figure out how to say to my 15 month old, “Mommy needs some time, you good?”

So if you’re reading this during your mom hour, cheers.

If you’re taking two minutes to scroll on your phone in the bathroom, cheers.

Whether you’ve figured out your mom hour or not, I hope your mug is full. 

--

Want a mug like Sarah's? Click this image at the link in our bio.

Want to share what an hour for yourself looks like to you? Tag your post #MyMomHour so we can see it and share!

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