Children’s closets can be quite the mess. From all the clothes that don’t get re-hung to the piles of belongings that accumulate, you never know what is lurking behind the door. That’s why, whether you have toddlers or teenagers, to keep clutter under control, it’s wise to make a plan of attack. By implementing strategic storage solutions geared toward your household, you and your kids will have a better way to keep chaos under control.
To help you start, below are some top tips for how to manage the clutter in your children’s closets — grouped by age.
For the Nursery
If your home is like most, your bedroom closets weren’t exactly made with infant wardrobes in mind. A single rod may feel adequate for adult-sized clothing, but it’s fairly inefficient when the clothes are pint-sized. Rather than hanging baby clothes on that one rod and leaving the bulk of the closet unused, consider customizing the closet with baby-friendly storage.
Here are some ideas:
Another rod(s): Add a second (or third) horizontal rod to double hanging space, which would mean more room to organize by size, season or type.
Wall shelves: Another idea is to install one or a few wall shelves for keeping bins or containers of grouped accessories, clothes, toys or supplies.
Stacked storage: Wall-mounted or stacking drawers are another good option, offering easy-to-organize areas for types of clothes or other items.
Over-the-door organizers: Mounting organizers on the back of your closet door(s) can be a great place to hide necessities you want within reach.
For Your Growing Children’s Closets
Children who are big enough to get clothes and put them back will enjoy closets that make items accessible. Youngsters will likely get excited about these activities, and you’ll reap the benefits of having shared cleanup participation.
Consider these possibilities:
Reachable shelving, bins or hanging racks: From a row of cubbies that you designate for certain clothing groups to bins that hold groups of toys, look for ways to make reachable parts of the closet easy to use for your child.
A lower hanging rod: If a child can reach for a shirt or sweater without adult help, that task encourages independence. A lower hanging rod allows for easy access to remove and return outfits each day.
Higher shelving: While the higher parts of the closet are still perfect for storage, in children’s closets, you can save them for the lesser-used or special-occasion items. The key is to create low areas your child can reach to grab shoes, socks, pajamas and other essentials, and higher areas for everything else.
For the Teen’s Closet
As kids grow, so does their interest in clothing. Many teens obsess about what to wear, so much so that their closets are stuffed. To accommodate this collection without letting it overrule the whole room, here are some practical steps to take:
Create a doable laundry system: Give your teen a dedicated, in-room hamper for dirty clothes, and create a day of the week when that hamper always gets emptied. Ensuring there’s a place and system for dirty clothes can help keep messy piles from accumulating.
Invest in the closet style: Depending on your teen’s preference, take the door off the closet to showcase its contents in the room; hang curtains in the door’s place; and/or paint or wallpaper the inside of the closet to make it a showpiece. For some teens, caring for their personalized space will be incentive enough to be more organized.
Most children’s closets are filled with untapped potential — but, with smart storage solutions, you can reap the benefits of a more usable, organized space. Use the tips above as a starting point, and make the most of your children’s closets at home.
Author Bio
Tom Happ is President of Closet Works — based in Elmhurst, Illinois — which for 32 years has served Chicagoland with customized closet and storage solutions. With more than 100 employees, each solution is designed, fabricated and Installed to optimize the storage for every room within the home.
