To struggle so much reorganising my DCs wardrobe?

[needsome]

I'm planning on sorting through all his things within the next couple of weeks in anticipation for him starting school in September.

He definitely has over 30 tops/tshirts, that's not including hoodies, jumpers, trousers/shorts and clothes he is yet to grow into that have been gifted or passed down to us. In addition we have quite a lot of nice collared shirts and trousers we have from past weddings and also some which have been gifted but not worn yet.

Realistically now that he is starting school and will be mostly living in his uniform mon-fri what should I be going on when deciding on what to keep and what to throw?

How many "nice" and "around the house" long sleeved tops is reasonable for an almost 5yo who is mostly in his school uniform? Same for trousers/jeans, t-shirts etc?

Every Time I go in I end up looking at a top and thinking "but it's so nice and it'd be a shame to get rid of it".
He also has a younger brother I can save some for but it will be a couple of years before he grows into the clothes.

Anyone probably everyone more organised than me who can give me some pointers?

I treat it like a military operation OP

I go through each drawer and then the wardrobe anything that is the size below DD is put into a black bag.

Everything else is then arranged and put back into drawers/wardrobe tidily - removing anything in the process which may fit but is too worn or stained to be used these go into a different black bag.

I then take the original black bag of clothes and empty. As per before anything that is worn out or stained goes in the bag for rubbish.

Anything that is okay and can get another wear goes back in the bag and handed into charity or passed down to my niece.

Some of the designer stuff my DD has been bought or gifted if still in good condition I sell on Ebay.

You don't need many clothes at all in term time (like maybe two play outfits and one smarter) but then you find you don't have enough for the hols.

Also will you change out of uniform after school or not?

We have one cupboard for school stuff kept separately then 4 separate small drawers for underwear, t-shirts/tops, bottoms, hoodies/scarves/dresses and other irregular items. Small drawers (Ikea) prevent hoarding and force regular clear out. We also have an open shelf for half worn not quite ready for the wash yet stuff to stop them being on the floor

I am really disorganised but this is one bit I've cracked

Re younger brother you need to store saved clothes in vacuum bags

Thanks.

We have 3 drawers.
Top has underwear, socks, pjs and swimming trunks/shorts.
Below is tops - packed to the brim and Marie Kondoed but still barely fits them all, then trousers and shorts underneath.
Stuff like obvious summer outfits/shorts get vacuum packed towards Autumn time.

There's also a rail in the wardrobe full of shirts, bathrobes, hoodies, coats, puddle suits and so on.

He will probably be changing into normal clothes after school but still don't know what to aim for quantity wise..

As said anything in younger size store for DS2. Perhaps store items that won't fit for a while aswell? As for amount, it's hard to judge as you never really know what your plans are through the hols or weekends unless booked in advance.
I went through my DC drawers the other day, sorted summer clothes out and put them at the front of his drawers for easier access. Warmer clothes I put at the back of the drawer. I then chucked anything that was quite stained or washed out. Finally I stored everything that was too small for DC2 who is due very soon! I've stored Everything from newborn to age 2 now so next DC hopefully won't need a thing bought clothes wise!

You just have to be completely ruthless. I do three piles: keep, bin, charity shop.

The bin stuff is unsalvageable- either stained or has holes in it, charity shop gets the nicer outgrown stuff and I put the rest away. Simple.

I did my dcs a few years when I was in the same situation & looked at it like packing for a holiday.

So I took all the t-shirt out of the drawer & picked out the 7 best ones & put them in the drawer & the rest in a black bag. Then the same with jumpers/hoodies & jeans picked out the best 4, black bag for the rest. Pj's 4 pairs, shorts 6 pairs, socks 10 pairs, underwear 10 pairs.

I was shocked at how full the black bag was! Because I was worried we wouldn't manage I put the black bag in the attic for about a month. It then went to the charity shop & the drawers are so much easier to deal with now. We've never run out of stuff & the kids put their own washing away because the drawers are not crammed full.

5-10 long sleeved every day
1-2 smart
2-4 jumpers/hoodies
2-3 pairs casual trousers

You'll need more for the summer due to the summer holidays.

I had a chest where I put outgrown clothes from DD1 ready for DD2.
Worked fine provided I remembered to check as they were in the chest for 3 years+ between the girls.

DD2 is 14 now and would still rather wear hand-downs than actually go shopping for new stuff. Win-win.

If you're not sure, go for the bare minimum, get rid of anything you're sure you want to get rid of, then store the rest. If you've underestimated what you need, you can raid the store.

I will be doing this in September when ds goes back to school, I do it then so I can put the summer stuff away and get Autumn / winter stuff ready. All outgrown clothes go to charity shop (I have to be ruthless because he gets very attached to some stuff). Any stained ripped stuff in the bin. Then I will pick
6 T shirts to keep for next summer (only if I’m convinced they will fit).
4 pairs shorts.
2 pairs swimming trunks
They will be packed away.

For autumn / winter I tend to allow for
3 pairs joggers
2 pairs jeans
1 pair smart chinos
3 long sleeve t shirts
3 sweatshirts
2 smart jumpers
1 smart shirt.

We don’t have space for any more than that.

I have a clear out at least twice a year in my DC's wardrobes - seasonal change etc. This is my method:

1. Take out everything that doesnt fit currently, pack the stuff that is too big into the top of the wardrobe/a box in the loft/whereever you have space. Get rid of the too small stuff (pass on to the next child and sort in the same way)

1. Remove all the winter clothes and pack separately - again top of wardrobe etc. You then have a current usable pile of clothes.

1. I then aim for 1 full weeks worth of clothes - whatever you deam that to be as different people have different ideas. But assume you have no time to wash from one weekend to the next what would then need.

1. I'd have 1-2 'best sets' depending on how often you use them, plus swimming kit or whatever other sports etc kit they use. They only need 1 bathrobe I think.

1. shoes - My kids have 1 pair of trainers, 1 pair of (school) shoes, a pair of sandals and a pair of 'crocs' and 1 pair of slippers. Oh and a pair of 'party shoes' if you have kids who like these things - mine dont!

1. Coats however I would not discard anything that does fit as coats get lost/damaged/left at school frequently!

In terms of stroage in my DS (5) room we have drawers for
underwear (in 4 boxes - panks, vests, socks and school socks),
Pj's,
shorts
swim/sports stuff and other bits like pac a mac etc
He then has a double railled wardrobe - school uniform on one, other stuff on the other.

Another way of organising (which my dm says is ott!) is I have coloured coat hangers - so in dd's wardrobe, uniform is on one colour, tops another, bottoms another then coats etc on another - that way I can see easily whether she has lots of tops etc.

you will be amazed how little you actually need - my DS started of with 47 tshirts across 3 sizes! (as we get given a fair amount of and me downs)

Good Luck!

If you are not sure what a weeks wear is - then dont iron/put away for a week and see what you end up with. I also find this sorts out what they do actually choose to wear against the stuff that just sits there!

We have this problem w DC3: lots of lovely cast-offs and hand-me-downs. Far too many for him to wear.
Mine is also in school uniform during the week.
I went through and sorted out sizes and rubbish first. That's easy. Put too-small stuff away for your younger one. Take rubbish to fabric recycling (or charity shop - they'll get money even for rags).

Then he still had too much in his current size. I then worked out which 7 outfits I liked best (7 tops 7 bottoms). That's always eno to see us through a week. If I were you I'd then put away maybe 5 sets in this current size for your younger one (your elder will wear out some; you'll be given/want to get a few; this will leave you plenty). Then pass on the rest, so that they can be loved and used.

For shoes we did:
1 school shoes
1 trainers
1 wellington boots
1 sandals
sometimes 1 party shoes

I only really went up from that one their feet stopped growing.

We have way too much stuff.

We are non uniform for school, so I've decided on;

7x T-shirt's; trousers; jumpers; shorts
10x underwear and socks
3x swimwear
2x thermals
2x nice outfits for best

Summer/winter storage, use your out of use suitcases. Put stuff you don't often need away high up on cupboard shelves or under beds. Same goes for hand me downs, make sure they are properly clean and dry and vacuum packed in age labelled bags.

Little kids clothes, hang up as much as possible and double rail space with trousers on the bottom and long sleeves on the top. If you have space for a skubb they are easier for kids to use than drawers, use pj shelf, shoe shelf and then insert boxes for t shirts/socks/underwear and limit number to what comfortably fits in the box - rotate use front to back or side to side.
skubb
second rail

Have a nice hook on the wardrobe or bedroom door or by a chair for tomorrow's clothes lay out.

I have found the trick is to do away with drawers as much as possible and be very ruthless about getting rid of stained/ripped/scratchy whatever not used clothes. Make sure you have plenty of good socks/underwear/uniform so you are never running out and doing last minute washing.

god it sounds like I'm super-mean w shoes. Mine just have one pair, tho I'm getting the younger two sandals for holidays.