Have you ever felt overwhelmed during the month of December with all the stuff that enters your home? The trick I've found helps me is to declutter throughout the month. Will you join me in the Net Zero Decluttering Challenge?
Each day this month I'll share some decluttering tips and ideas so you can end the month with the same number of items in your home (or maybe even less!) than what you started the month with.
Today I'm sharing tips on decluttering kids' clothes.
Today's Suggested Decluttering Task
Kids' clothes can clutter up our homes very quickly if we don't stay on top of it. How do we keep them from growing like weeds?
Here are some tips to help you declutter your kids' clothing:
- Give away clothes that your kids have outgrown
- Toss clothes that are stained, worn, ripped, have broken zippers, are missing buttons, etc. (if you're handy and plan to repair them, give yourself a deadline... otherwise your "clothes to repair" pile becomes clutter!)
- Donate clothes that your kids have too many of (the number will depend on your space, how often you do laundry, how messy your kids are, etc.)
- Declutter any clothes that your kids don't like (how much control you give them depends on their age, but I figure why take up drawer space with pants your kids aren't comfortable in or shirts that are too scratchy or colours they just don't like?)
What you're left with should be clothes that are the right size, in good condition, and look great!
Note #1: For those of you who need to store clothing for a younger child, you don't have to save everything an older child wore. Chances are seasons will be different at different ages, body types are different, and tastes / interests are unique to each child. And don't forget you'll receive some clothes as gifts for the younger child too. Keep the clothes that are favourites, that are the best quality, and that mix and match best with each other.
Note #2: If you're sentimental and you want to save some of your kids' outfits, set yourself a limit so you don't end up with a lot of sentimental clothing to store. Pick a bin that you feel is an appropriate size and add the sentimental clothing to it. When it's full you have to purge something to make space for the new outfit. If you don't have space, take pictures of the outfits (or look through your pictures... you probably have 638 of your child wearing the outfit anyway!). Then give them away to someone you know who has a child younger than yours or a new mom. Or donate them to a family shelter. Knowing your kids' clothes are being worn by someone who needs them will make it easier to let them go.
For more decluttering tips, here's a post showing how I decluttered my daughter's clothing a few years ago and what factors I used to decide what to keep and what to let go of.
If you want to organize your kids' clothing now that you've decluttered it, here are a few posts to help you do that:
Decluttering My Kids' Clothing
- whenever we find an item that is too small
- when we get a bag of hand-me-downs
- after birthdays when we're adding in new clothes the kids receive
- in the spring and fall when we change clothes for the seasons
- before Christmas to prepare for the new clothes they'll receive
I've put a "Give Away" basket in each of my kids' closets (see my daughter's in this post) and we add add clothes to them until they're full. During larger decluttering sessions I empty the baskets and add more.
Then we give the clothes to my sister-in-law for my niece and nephews or to other friends. I also sell some at Once Upon a Child sometimes.
Here are the results of our most recent decluttering session.
That's a "bed-in-a-bag" bag, a comforter bag, and a sheet set bag. Full of kids' clothes! And one pair of boots.
I didn't count the items before I bagged them up since I normally don't count my kids' clothes in the 365 Items in 365 Days challenge. But for the NetZeroClutter challenge I want to include at least an estimate of the number of clothing items we decluttered since I'll be counting each individual item of clothing we receive this Christmas.
So I'm going to estimate it as about 100 items. I'm pretty sure it's more than that, but some of them were technically decluttered before December and were waiting in their baskets. Now we have room in their closets and dresser drawers for the new clothing they'll receive for Christmas!
My Progress in the #NetZeroClutter challenge
So that puts me at -100 items today in the #NetZeroClutter challenge and -237 overall. 2 Happy Meal toys entered our home yesterday. I'm happy with my numbers but I want to keep decluttering... we have lots more where this came from!
What's Next For You?
Take some time today to declutter your kids' clothing. Or anything you'd like to declutter! Take some pictures and share your progress on social media using the hashtag #NetZeroClutter. Let me know how you're doing in the challenge so I can cheer you on!
Sign up to receive my blog posts by email so you get each day's post in your email inbox every morning. You can unsubscribe after the challenge is over if you don't want to continue receiving my blog posts by email.
I'd also love for you to join our 365 Items in 365 Days Facebook group as you do this challenge! You'll be able to share with others what you're decluttering and feel encouraged and inspired by everyone else who is also decluttering!
If you'd like more decluttering ideas, you can check out my Decluttering/Purging Tips & Ideas board on Pinterest.
So that's today's post in the Net Zero Decluttering Challenge! I'm enjoying doing this challenge and I'm excited to have you join me. I love hearing all the stories of how much more you're enjoying your holidays because you're not overwhelmed by all the stuff in your home!
How much of your kids' clothing did you declutter? How can you stay on top of kids' clothing clutter in the future so it's not as overwhelming?
Happy
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Here are all the posts in this challenge in case you missed any or want to share some with your friends or family!
