If you think it’s impossible to be a “minimalist” with four kids, I might have agreed with you years ago!

Those of you who follow us on Instagramhave seen how our family appears in the squares all color coordinated, or, non-color coordinated (I’ll explain that in just a bit!). We get a lot of questions about how we manage that, why, and what it’s like to do our shopping when it’s time for the kids to go back to school.

Let’s get into what we’re up to and it’s all going to make sense!

When you hear the term “minimalist,” do you think about strapping young men climbing mountains with all their earthly possessions in a single pack?!

That might be what’s tripping you up!

When we go shopping, we keep our focus on what we really “need.” It’s easy to get lost in the racks of options and honestly just believe you need one of everything and just max out your card on however many of the everything you can buy.

Thing is, when you do that, your kids are still going to have a small handful of favorites and the rest of their haul is just going to droop in the closet unworn. We really try to emphasize as a family how meaningful it is to only own what we need and to make sure we really like what we need!

It’s so helpful to really look at everything and get a sense for what your kids love to wear and what they’ve ignored. I keep seasonal stuff in containers and we look over everything to see what still feels good to wear and what needs to go!

When you unload the whole closet, you can see clearly, the items with tears or knicks you’ve been meaning to fix. If I haven’t fixed a tear in months, I’m not going to! There’s no point hanging on to a shirt your kid doesn’t want to wear. No one feels good in torn clothing.

I do a check with the kids for what no longer fits, too. If their younger sibling isn’t interested in the item his or her older sibling grew out of, I’m not going to force my kids to wear it!

Since we live in Northern California, I have a list for what my kids reliably need during each season and we usually do a Spring and Autumn shop. If you live somewhere colder than where we live, your kids might need a few more sweaters than ours do.

I keep a Google drive doc of the number of items each child currently has and needs. I only really need to enforce keeping specific numbers of items for the girls (the boys are a lot less picky and get by easily on what I’ve estimated for them). It's essentially my guide to a kids capsule wardrobe!

In case you’re interested, here’s what my back-to-school list for the girls’ looks like (there’s a whole different list for summer):

• 8 underwear
• 4 shorts
• 2 sweat pants
• 6 short sleeved shirts
• 4 long sleeved shirts
• 2 sweaters
• 2 hoodies
• 4 rompers/dresses
• 4 sets of pajamas
• 3 pairs of jeans (black/grey/blue)
• 2 pairs of leggings
  

• 8 underwear
• 4 shorts
• 2 sweatpants
• 6 short sleeved shirts
• 4 long sleeved shirts
• 2 sweaters
• 2 hoodies
• 4 sports shorts
• 4 sets of pajamas
• 3 pairs of jeans (black/grey/blue)
• 2 other pairs of pants
• 2 button up shirts

Whether you want to go minimalist or not, here’s one truth you can’t get around – it’s just not easy shopping with kids! Prepare your mind for the task at hand and just get out and do it!

It’s really helpful to take your kids with you at least once when getting clothes for going back-to-school. You want to make sure you know their new sizes – that way, you can sneak away without them and get the other things they might need all by yourself! I usually bring something I know fits them with me so that I can measure it against what I'm wanting to buy...we all know that sizes are not always reliable!

I try to pick out clothes that are easy to get on and off and clearly comfortable to wear. The best way to buy a bunch of clothes your kids don’t want to wear is to skip this important step...they MUST be able to get shoes on without my help ;)

The color scheme I’ve chosen for our family is just a personal preference… and it’s more practical than it looks!

I’ve worn black, gray, and white for years and it makes my life so much easier. How? I don’t have to separate my laundry. Everything goes into the wash together in 3-4 loads one day per week for our family of 6! It gets better! My kids can all dress themselves because everything they wear matches!

Now, if my kids really love something with color or sparkles on it, I’ll cringe for a moment, but, I’m not going to deny them something they love! We've recently added greens to our palette at the kids request! My typical routine is to give my kids options that go with the color scheme and they almost always enjoy picking among the things I choose for them. But if they see something and fall in love, I don't deny them. This happens at least once a shopping trip with my middle daughter! This year we even decided to give them complete free reign on their backpack choice so that they felt a little more freedom.

I’ve heard more comments than I can count expressing concern about the lack of color in my kids’ clothes. My kids live in a loving family, so, relax and get your kids all the color you like! You do you, friends! What I do works well for our family and we’re all enjoying more quality time together and less laundry or clothes picking time.

H&M is the cheapest and they have a great selection of long sleeved t-shirts for going back to school. We also really love Zara and Nordstrom Rack.