Spring Cleaning: The Great Divide

Spring is in the air! We're moving the sweaters and jackets out to make room for capris and tank tops.

We love spring! But, we don't really love tackling those closets to get ready for the new season. Especially when it comes to kids clothes. I mean, do we sell those dresses? Do we donate those shorts? Do we throw away those pants? What exactly do we do with all that stuff that our little ones have outgrown?!

The owners of Kidz Klozet in Mobile handle this kind of thing all the time! And, they have some ideas to help us get through the closet change-overs every season.

First things first, we need to organize and separate the clothes. So, pull out everything that doesn't fit, pull out everything that's out of season. Then, it's time for The Great Divide.

THE GREAT DIVIDE
Monica McGhee with Kidz Klozet explains, "you have three different categories. You want to either make money at a consignment sale or you maybe want to donate them if it's not sellable. Or if they're not even sellable, you want to dump them,"

DUMP
As Monica said, your dump stack is basically all the stuff that's really just not in good shape. Things you don't think anyone else would wear - throw them away. Remember, some of our baby and kid clothes have other uses! Old t-shirts can make good rags.

DONATE
Then, look at the clothes with maybe a few stains, but overall still in pretty good shape. You can put those in your donate bin. And, one thing to consider, some of the thrift stores donate clothes to third-world countries or charities that need them. You may want to check out what happens to the clothes when you drop them off - you may have a preference where they end up!

DOLLARS
And, the clothes that are in good shape - and, the expensive stuff - those are the ones to consider consigning. You can sell those and get money back. When you get clothes ready to consign, make sure they're laundered, pressed and on hangers.

DOWN THE ROAD
One more group that may be taking up space in your kids' closets, those clothes you are passing down from big sister to little sister - or big brother to little brother - that don't fit yet. Put those in your down the road stack. Find a bin that fits under the bed and slide those things in that.

And, if you're like me, you may have some sentimental items - he wore that when he crawled or maybe it's a special birthday outfit - you want to hang onto those. So, put them in a separate part of the closet or maybe in a bin for safe-keeping.

If you want to shop, Kidz Klozet's next sale is Tuesday, April 26th (10:00am - 7:00pm) and Wednesday, April 27th (9:00am - 3:00pm) at the Daphne Civic Center, 2603 US Highway 98 in Daphne. For more information on Kidz Klozet, you can click here .