With school starting soon, I’ve been spending time turning over the closets in our house. With my 3 growing boys, I feel like this is a constant task, but prepping a wardrobe for school kicks it into high gear. I have found, through some years of experience, some easier ways to tackle the hand-me-down situation.
First, decide what gets saved and what gets thrown out. There’s no reason to save clothing that isn’t going to last, so don’t even worry about packing it up!
Save these clothes:
“Church clothes” – Which to my boys is anything with a collar. They don’t wear them much and typically only wear them to church, picture day at school, or for some other event. They aren’t washed much and are great hand-me-downs.
Sports Clothes – We shop for our team gear when we go back to New York. Having 3 boys, this stuff is surely getting it’s workout going from kid to kid. And if you’ve ever bought a nice jersey, you know that they are pricy and handing them down can save a ton! (Hats are not a save item around here. They get so gross!)
Winter Layers – We don’t get much of the cold weather, so winter coats, snow pants and boots are great to save.
Get rid of these clothes:
Clothing with stains or tears and socks with holes. A lot of the “play clothes” fall into this category. I try to spot treat and am constantly doing laundry, but it’s impossible to keep kids clothing clean! I pack up personalized items in a special box, instead of mixing them up with the rest of the clothing.
Save these shoes:
Dress shoes – I love my little guys in Sperry loafers and they are great hand-me-downs. (Cooper is wearing the same pair in a picture above as Callan is in this picture!)
Boots – I guess this depends on your weather, but our boot season isn’t too long. I love little Timberland boots because they are sturdy, but look cute with an outfit.
Replace these shoes:
Sneakers: 1 school year of sneakers is all I can get out of them before they look like this! They are now play in the yard shoes, until they get too small.
The 2nd grade pair actually got so bad that we had to get a new pair close to the end of the year. He got these cool neon Nikes from Rack Room Shoes, where we get practically all our shoes these days! They have a huge selection (and backpacks!) that makes both boys happy and that makes it easy on me. Back to school prep is hard enough, I’ll take an easy route any day! Side note, they’re having a Nike sale through August 13, so if you need those, now is the time!
Flip-flops – Occasionally I can get these to last, but they get beat up around here, too.
I love storing our shoes in these cubbies in the mudroom. I think it helps take care of them a little bit more and also decreases the amount I hear “Mom! Where are my shoes?!”
Storage tips: – When putting my kids clothing in the closets, I usually put the clothes they like to wear in a more accessible spot. I like the hanging cubes from Ikea for their “comfy pants” and shorts. I usually hang jeans and other dress pants that I will need to get out and make them wear anyway. Haha.
Invest in some plastic tote boxes. I have tons of these in the basement, all stacked up. When it comes time to bring out a new size of clothing, I refill the box with the smaller size from the closet.
I put a shipping label on the front with the size and season, then try to stack them in a way that makes sense for taking them out, with new boxes going on the bottom.
Do you hand down clothes and shoes between your kids?
Or do you sell and re-buy?
This post was sponsored by Rack Room Shoes. All opinions are my own.
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So smart to sort them as you store them…I can see that saving a ton of frustration later!
Yes, it totally does. Especially because it's almost always the last minute when some kids has nothing that fits. hahaha