The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Angie at Echoes of Laughter.
Over the last two weeks, my youngest child has been telling me that he needs a WHOLE new wardrobe…nothing fits him, everything is too tight, and he has nothing to wear. Sound familiar? And he needs all new t-shirts and shorts. Oh my! Poor child! To be fair, he has grown a ton this year and outgrown many of his clothes. As I thought of the many clothing items that have gone to Goodwill over the winter, it was easy to buy into the idea that he really did have NOTHING to wear and that I might as well resign myself to taking him to The Mall to buy an assortment of summer items. However, the organizer in me thought I should first take an inventory of his wardrobe and organize a shopping list.
To begin, I used Laura’s organizing PROCESS, which breaks down organizing into a series of easy-to-follow steps. My plan of attack was to itemize everything he already had…all of which could easily be found on the floor of his bedroom. No wonder this child can’t find anything to wear!
Then we removed things that were too small or too stained. And we organized what we had left into piles. Oh yes…I had him help! This is what we were left with:
-1 bathing suit
-2 pairs of jeans
-3 pairs of pajamas
-17 T-shirts
– 0 shorts
Thank goodness I used PROCESS because clearly with 17 T-shirts, this child does not need anymore! With 2 for every day of the week and then some, he has more than enough to see him through the end of the summer. And also, more importantly, it became clear to him that he did have lots of T-shirts to wear. What did become glaringly obvious….he has 0 pairs of shorts that fit him! Now I know that we need to set a budget and organize a shopping trip for shorts for the summer. I am thinking that 4 pairs of shorts will be sufficient for summer, especially since it is fair to guess that whatever we buy this summer will not fit next summer.
I am so thankful that I took a little extra time to organize his wardrobe using PROCESS because I might have spent a lot of money on things that were not needed. Now, I can just buy the things that ARE needed. Using the PROCESS saved me money and will make our shopping trip much easier since we can just focus on shorts.
Have you used Laura’s PROCESS in helping you to organize a child’s wardrobe before heading off to The Mall to spend money? If not, I highly recommend it!
Wishing you a great week!
Angie’s blog, Echoes of Laughter, is all about filling your home with love and laughter. She loves creative projects, organizing & decorating, cooking, baking, and all things domestic. Angie lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband and two great kids.
Linking up: 36th Avenue , Somewhat Simple, and Thirty Handmade Days
Kay G says
Hi, I just did this with my 11 year old son yesterday. He had claimed that none of his old shorts fit, they were too short. I was frustrated at the piles of t-shirts he never wears. Using similar methods, we went thru his whole wardrobe and got rid of too small/faded etc. clothing. Like your son, he still ended up with at least 16-18 t-shirts so need to buy any of those. Plus it turned out the shorts still fit. So today he is wearing some t-shirts and shorts that had been buried in his drawers — he found a whole new wardrobe in his own closet! I only need to buy him 1 new pair of khaki pants.
Bobbi says
I just went through the 24 mos. clothes I have for my daughter, the next size she will be in. I have been collecting things here and there. It’s a good thing I did because I need to stop buying more! She has enough, every season, long sleeve, short sleeve, pants, jeans, leggings, shorts, skirts, dresses, 2 swimsuits, plenty of pjs, sweatshirts, sweaters, socks, etc. Only thing we need will be underwear if she is ready for them by then!
Melody says
This is just what I needed to see today as I tackle my 4 yr old’s room this weekend. She hit another growth spurt and summer finally hit Germany. Thank goodness I’d thought ahead and bought summer stuff. Now I need to look at the fall wardrobe budget too. We don’t have built in closets here but we do have wardrobes which I’m seeing we are not using as efficiently as we could. I’m actually thinking of ditching her children’s wardrobe (keep her dresser for pajamas, separates and socks) and putting all her dresses onto a sturdy attractive & inexpensive garment rack. That way she can see everything and hopefully wear it. I know I’ve wasted money on her clothes because she gravitates towards certain outfits. Even at 4. I will have to look through your blog & Pinterest for ideas for this little summer project!
Karen White says
I did the same thing with my daughters wardrobe. It’s incredible how much stuff has been accumulated over the years once one actually takes the time to organise it. It saved me money too!
Anastasia says
Organizing, organizing, organizing!!! Organizing a wardrobe is the first step, you can also organize your shopping. Sometimes “nothing to wear” problem can be solved not by buying whole new wardrobe, but by buying some “detail” items, like a belt, scarf and so on. In order to do it you need monitor you wardrobe and plan your shopping. There is a great online service to do it http://www.quiqs.com