Before you go shopping for new school clothes or backpacks, take an afternoon to go through your kids closets and take an inventory. Here’s what you need to know to clear out the clutter and figure out what each child needs:
1. Start with the oldest/largest child and work your way down. This works best for figuring out what can be passed down to younger siblings.
2. Go through the first closet and separate things into three groups: Keep, Pass Down/Donate, or Trash. Those things that are still in good condition and still fit your child go in the keep stack; things in good condition that no longer fit go to the pass down/donate stack; things that are faded, worn or torn go to the trash.
3. Replace the “keepers” in the older child’s closet and jot down what’s needed to round out their back-to-school wardrobe. Remember: you don’t have to go out and buy a year’s worth of clothing at one time. Just get together a week’s worth of outfits for the type of weather your area will have for the first couple of months of school.
4. Move to the next child’s room and repeat step #2. Before you make a shopping list for this child, go “shopping” in the donate/pass down collection to fill as many needs as you can. After this, make a list of items still needed.
5. After all closets have been inventoried and cleaned out, you can take the donate pile to a local charitable organization and the worn out clothing to the trash.
6. Now your closets are clean and organized, and you’ll actually have room for the new clothes after you go shopping! Pat yourself on the back for a job well done, and know that you’ll be ready to go when the school bell rings again.
Try our Top to Bottom Cleaning Checklist to help maintain your clean home!
