My two girls are still pretty little, so their clothing size changes frequently. We could quickly be overloaded with clothes, so to keep it simple, I try to stick to the following rules for keeping clutter and excess to a minimum.
First off, choose a color scheme and stick to it. For Olivia, who is wearing size 6-9 months, I have chosen pastels. For Ellie, who is in 2T, I have gone with deep hues, like magenta, navy, persimmon and army green. Sticking to a color scheme makes fewer clothes go farther because they mix and match. Since leggings and tunics are pretty trendy right now, I invest in a few pairs of good leggins and then get several tunics, dresses, shirts or sweaters to go with them. This keeps their closets paired down because every item has many possible outfits it's a part of (read: money-saving!).
In accordance with this, don't hang on to any one piece of clothing that doesn't really go with anything else. And don't hang on to things you've been given that you don't really like. Don't feel guilty about donating or consigning something you know you won't use. (Somebody else may be able to get tons of use out of it.)
And save yourself future hassle and clutter by being selective about what you put into storage for future kids. Don't keep anything that was never worn. (If you didn't like it this past summer you are even less likely to want to use it two summers from now). Don't keep anything that is really worn out. Even second and third kids deserve a few new clothes to fill in the gaps that hand-me-downs leave, so if it's got holes or stains it can stand to be retired.
More next week on adult closets. Yay! I don't know about you, but I absolutely love living clutter-free. It gives me more time and brain space to enjoy the things that really matter.
