Managing Kids' Clothes
- Ashley Qurollo
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
April 13, 2026
With a new little one and the change of seasons, I find myself sorting through a lot of kid’s clothes right now! As you well know, babies grow so fast, and clothing them is a constant influx of new outfits. Though my older kids don’t change quite as fast physically (thankfully!), I have been busy switching out winter and summer wardrobes and making sure that they have the right clothing for the warmer weather.
One change I have noticed in myself since adding to our tribe is that I find myself thinking more efficiently, perhaps out of desperation to keep up and to stay out of the chaos. As I juggle feeding a baby, getting back into homeschooling, and trying to maintain our home systems, I crave simplicity and efficiency. If I don’t keep clothing simple, we will have perpetual piles of clothes in our laundry room, and no one will be able to find an outfit for the day!
So I thought that I would bring you along on how I manage my kid’s clothes! It’s nothing earth-shattering, and I keep it really simple. I hope some ideas are a help and blessing to you.
Limited Wardrobes
For each child I keep about 5-10 mix and match play outfits: 5-6 tops and maybe about 4-5 bottoms. I have found that my children gravitate to about 3-4 favorite outfits anyways and wear those on repeat. So why keep extra clothes which they don’t need? I keep their favorites plus a few extras just in case.
Each child has about 4-5 church outfits. Honestly, if it was entirely up to me, each child would have about 2 church outfits. But many kind friends and family members have gifted our kids nice outfits, so my kids enjoy wearing what they have been given.
Storage
Each child has a designated space for clothing, both drawer space and hanging space for church clothes.
For my older children, each one has about 2-3 small drawers to fit items that don’t need to hang such as pajamas, underwear, t-shirts, pants, shorts, etc.
My oldest uses this plastic drawer system tucked into an antique armoire.
My middle child uses the bottom two drawers of this same antique armoire for play clothes.
Everything that I need for my newborn fits into a bottom drawer of my dresser.
For my newborn, I have a super high-tech system which I’m going to share with you. Hehe, I’m just kidding. I put baby’s current size in my dresser, and then all the next sizes I keep in a box under my bed. I put similar sizes in grocery bags and then put a sticky note on top with the size written for quick identification. As baby grows, I just grab the next bag of clothes.
Storing Off Season/Different Sizes
I keep off season/next size up clothing in plastic tubs in our attic. I like to use plastic garment bags (think giant Ziploc bags) to keep the different sizes separate. Since I don’t keep a massive amount of clothing for each size, I don’t need an entire plastic tub for each size. The garment bags are handy so that I don’t have to separate the clothes every time I get a tub down from the attic.
Putting Clothes Away
I try to include my kids as often as possible in the process of folding laundry. I’ve learned to relax and not fuss at them for “folded” laundry that looks more like a wadded lump of fabric than a neatly folded garment that looks like it came off of a department store shelf. It’s all about the process of my kids learning to work and being a part of the home keeping cycle.
I’ve also learned to relax and not fuss at my kids for the state of their drawers. If we had to give a “State of the Union” address for their drawers, it would be a dire one to say the least. But I’ve learned that it really doesn’t matter if all their clothes are or are not tucked neatly like file folders in their drawers. As long as their clothes are put away in drawers and the children can find their clothing, I’m quite happy.
Keeping Track of Clothing Needs
I keep a text document on my phone with my kids' clothing needs written out. I try to keep track of what they already have and what they need. This information helps me very quickly sort through bags of clothing that are given to us and also as we are out and about shopping.
Here's a screenshot of my list on my phone for one of my children.
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