My Daughter's Wardrobe Is Larger than Mine!!

I typically store my kids' clothes by size and season in boxes in the attic. Although I admit that the change of seasons is a huge ordeal with the closets. When that occurs, I rebox the stuff that I still like and think they will fit in again next year. Then I box the items I want to sell and donate the items that are worn or staned that I can not resell. The sell and keep items go back into the attic and the donate pile gets but in a Salvation Army bin.

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"or anything with logos (I'm not really into Disney Princess stuff, for example),"

I feel like I have to say something about this because of personal experiences...

Now from the little bit you said on the subject, I can't tell if that means that you don't allow your daughter to wear ANYTHING with logos, but that's what I'm getting from that statement and I've got to tell you - you're just going to do more damage in the long run.

Before you think I'm crazy, let me explain. When I was around 4 or 5, I started realizing that anytime I asked my dad for "character shoes" {shoes with Winnie The Pooh, or as you mentioned, Disney Princesses} he would absolutely refuse to buy them, or even just light up shoes. It wasn't a matter of price, he just refused to "spend money on their shameless advertising."

Maybe you think, "well there isn't anything wrong with that, I don't wish to spend my money on these character items." but what my dad didn't understand, and I'm guessing you don't either, is that the more you make your child feel bad for wanting something that is perfectly harmless & that they see their friends wearing, the more they are going to want it & bug you for it.

I've never understood parents that can't just come up with a happy medium. How about you let your daughter pick out, i don't know, 5 "logo" shirts and 5 "non-logo" shirts so that she gets to feel important & have a hand in choosing her clothes, and you don't have to completely eliminate perfectly nice clothing just because of some personal issue you have with it.

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We get bags & bags of clothes from our relatives and I am finding the same problem. No room! I took out all of the pants and long sleeved shirts from the dresser and put in shorts,tshirts & tanks along with the top drawer of pj's, socks & underwear. The totes keep stacking up in the basement from all 3 kids.

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I have a 6 drawer dresser that I keep in the basement. I Have it full of hand me downs. I do it by size. Largest on the bottom, smallest on top. Then, every season I go to the top, see what I want and will fit, other stuff I give to good will or pass on to friends. I don't bother washing until I am ready to use it.

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Stuff that doesn't fit her yet is in a plastic container in the basement. I go through it every once in a while. Shirts, dresses, skirts are hung in her closet and grouped together (skirts with skirts, dresses with dresses, long sleeved shirts and short sleeved shirts). Outfits are hung in the closet. I save those pant/shirt hangers you get with the clothes. Other stuff in her dresser. Top drawer has tights, leg warmers, socks & undies (organized), then other drawers are pjs, shorts & tanks, pants.

Every time there is a change in season I go through the closet and dresser and pull out things that don't fit. Go through the stuff that's too big and pull out what will fit and put it away.

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Do you have some storage space? Box up anything that's too big and put it aside for later. Then box up anything she can't wear in this weather. Then go through again and pick out the best of what's good for right now, and put those things in your daughter's closet. Too many clothes can be overwhelming (you know what your own closet can get like). Too many choices can make problems, but a closet stocked with a little variety will be happy for your daughter and for you.

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We're space-challenged, and time-challenged to boot, but at one point I got a bunch of stackable cube-drawers at Ikea for my son's room. One of them is the "too big drawer." Before we go clothes-shopping, we "shop" in this drawer. Said drawer isn't terribly well organized itself, but it's saved us from many an unnecessary purchase.

Oh, and great suggestion below on how not to lose socks!

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if it doesn't fit or is the wrong season it's in a plastic tote waiting for next year/season. pjs undies socks leggings tights and swimware is in the dresser. shorts/pants shirts dresses are hung up. i have two poles in the closets one below the other. works awesome. when the clothes get longer you may need toraise the top pole sothat the shirts dont touch the bottom one. then we have a closet maid type thing that usually goes on the door of a pantry and its on the closet door to put shoes on. if the doors slide put them on the bedroom door instead.

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I separate out all the clothing that she doesn't fit now and spacebag it. Then i take out 10 tops, 10 dresses and 20 bottoms and spacebag the rest. When something gets stained beyond repair, I toss it and hit the space bag for a new whatever.

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I, too, am lucky enough to be in the same boat. I go through all the clothes like you do. Then I buy bins or vacuum packs and put all clothes of the same size together and label the box or bag. I keep a bin in my daughter's closet of the next size she'll be into and one empty bin. As she grows out of things they get tossed into the empty bin and as she grows into things I take from the next size up bin. It gets a little nuts because she has a long torso so she's a size or 2 larger on top (for the length) than she is on the bottom. So, sometimes I have 2 bins of growing out of going. I can't believe what a task it is to manage her inventory! lol :) I guess it's a good problem to have :)

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I made these hangers with a label on them with the different sizes that I have. Umm the look of the hanger was kind of a rectangle with a cut out for where it hung on the pole. Odd to explain, but I then seperated them out that way.
Tip for you. Washing socks and not losing a single one! I used to safety pin them together, but then realized I could take a $1 (I can't spell the word so i'll use another one) bra washing bags. You know the ones made of netting. Seriously havent lost one. I don't fill it to max capacity, so I have a couple of them, but soo worth the $3!!

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I simply categorize them.
By size and type of clothing.
Pants, tops, skirts, shorts, pajamas.
Each in its own drawer.

Toss what does not fit or is stained or will NOT be worn at all.
No sense keeping what will not be worn. Even if it does fit.

I don't worry about what is a matched set or not.
Kids don't always wear matched sets. They just wear what they want.

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I read through your other replies and i think the lady that gave a number per outfit was the most helpful. I need to keep that in mind, since my daughter (6 ) would wear the same 3 outfits everyday.

so i guess i would say, If you have the space weed out what won't fit now and store it away until the change of season then go through it. What does fit her now, even if you have tons of super cute stuff, you still need to par down. Go through and make a limit say no more than 12 tshirts, 5 dresses etc. whether you think she is old enough to help in the decision or not is up to you. Like you said there will be plenty of time for her to choose what she wants when she is surrounded by her peers.

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I have 2 rods in each child's closet. The top one is a bit taller so that longer, tea length, church length dresses, and jeans/pants/sets can hang without hitting the bottom rod. The short stuff goes on the bottom. Tee's, skirts, shorts, etc....they are up high enough that they don't touch the floor.

I take everything out in the Spring and again in the Fall, sort through it, have tubs that are labeled for clothes not going back in her closet and fill them up from a central location. I sit in the middle of the room with a pile of clothes in front of me and pick up, if it is too small for the next season it goes in a donate box, give to younger sib box, give to this kid and another to go to a different kid, or a huge outdoor trash can.

For the Girl: I put all Summer stuff that she can probably wear the next Summer in the long flat tubs that have rollers on the bottom and go under the beds. I keep a few tees and pants, dresses, not totally Winter weight clothes that are good for hot Fall days but mostly everything else for warm weather is gone to storage under the bed or is gone out of the house.

When I am changing from Winter to Spring I tend to leave more clothes that are for colder weather because weather can change and be too cold for hot clothes so quickly. Some of these things can be layered so that if it warms up during the day she can take off a sweat shirt or a heavy top.

I also do the same with clothes that are given that are several sizes too big. We have a couple of boxes of clothes in the bottom of the boys closet that are clothes for both kids that are for a couple of years into the future. I still go through the box at the same time I go through other clothes but I do those boxes on a different day. That way I am not running the risk of mixing up the clothes and having way more stress.

It is pretty easy to keep up with things getting too little for either of them too. I keep an orange tub in the laundry area that those things go into when they come out of the dryer. If it is too small or not liked it goes in the tub. When I sort clothes that tub is separate so that I don't mix those clothes back in the general mix.

This does not work for my friend, she forgets that there are clothes stored and when she finds them they can be years out of size. You need to find the system that works for you.

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Clothes too big get sorted into plastic totes by size and/or season. I have 2 kids and each one usually has 2 totes in the basement in rotation. I put masking tape on the totes and label them (size 10 pants/long sleeves).

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What does not fit goes into a "space bag" and it goes into a storage bin, labled. Anything that is being "held on to" for sentimental reasons immediately goes into a shadow box and goes on display in his room or somewhere fitting in the house. We have a few of his first "Rocker" t shirts, all of his first sports jerseys, things like that. I like to keep the clothes that are for future use together so there is a space bag of size 8's & 9's but they are not mixed in. As well, I have clothes that are going to other friends/family that I just have not given yet and they are organized by kid they are inteded for.