Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
Are your kid’s closets out of control? Kids bedrooms are often messy and keeping them clean is a challenge for even the most seasoned mom. As busy mothers, it is forget that kids are not born with tidy tendencies. Organization is a learned skill! Check out these 5 hacks for a small closet that will help kids learn how to keep a clean environment!
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Organize
The first step of closet control is to establish an organization system in your child’s closet. Kids are always growing and have endless outfit options for all of their different activities. Without a formal organization system it is easy for things to be misplaced and jumbled. Getting a closet organizer will help create order in the craziness of your busy day.
There are a lot of organization options out there, so have fun with it! Try making the most of your space by setting up staggered hanging rods in the closet to store clothing that might be out of season or just a little big. The lower rod would be for clothing that your child would need to easily reach and store everyday clothing.
Create grab and go access for children by installing open shelving at a lower level. You can store things like shoes, hats, and sporting goods that your child might want to grab and put on themselves.
The Rock-A-Bye Parents blog suggests installing a wire hanger system like this one. These systems have components that can be moved around easily to grow with your child! If you want something more sturdy, Rubbermaid or Closetmaid that come pre-prepared for installation.
Don’t worry too much about picking the “right” system from all of these options. The differences between systems like Rubbermaid vs. Closetmaid are negligible– so choose based on preference!
Categorize
Once you have your infrastructure in place, it is time to categorize. This is the fun part! You can get your children involved by asking them to help you sort through their clothes.
Start by separating things by type. For example, you would create separate areas for things like underwear, socks, p.j.’s, t-shirts, shorts, etc. Make sure that you label where each item of clothing belongs. You can even use a picture of the item as a label to make it easy for younger kids.
Use the top of the closet (where kids can’t reach) as a place for clothes that are out of season or for special items that should be kept safe. Things like keepsakes, party clothes, or baby books are a perfect fit for this spot. You can make categorizing these items special if you take the time to explain to tell the story of each special item.
Going through this exercise with your child will not only make things tidy, but will also begin to teach the importance of organization and planning.
Regularly Filter
Any mother knows how quickly kids can grow. They might fit in baby clothes one week and grow three sizes the next! When your child is in this stage, make sure that they only have access to the clothes that they can actually wear that day.
This method will help teach your child organization and avoid frustrated tears by giving them as few options as possible.
Relocate Toys
Relocating your child’s toy storage will instantly give you more room to work with when organizing a closet. Keep the closet categorized for clothing to help maintain simplicity and cleanliness.. Items like stuffed animals, legos, barbies, etc. can be stored elsewhere.
Even if you don’t have much storage space, you can still find a way to creatively store toys separate from clothing! Check out the Once Crazy House blog for suggestions for creative toy storage solutions
Get Creative
You can always keep it simple by using storage cubes or get creative with a few of these resourceful solutions. For example, try making your own clothing dividers with cardboard from old shoeboxes. These dividers are essential in organizing effectively, and your kid will have fun making them with you! Get them involved by allowing them to choose their favorite color scheme to make their system their own.
You could also repurpose old bookshelves to work as storage in your closet space. You can keep the shelves as they are to act as a shoe rack, or even remove and rearrange to repurpose the unit to suit your storage needs.
Get funky with a decorative curtain. Removing the closet doors in your childs room will make it easier for them to access and help keep things organized. Instead of leaving the closet open, install a fun, colorful curtain in front of the door! The curtain will bring a bit of whimsy to the room and can even make the room seem bigger.
Conclusion
By making a few simple changes like installing an organization system, categorizing appropriately, filtering clothes, and relocating toys, you will be able to maintain a clean closet and clean house!
As always, don’t forget to get creative and have fun with it!
I hope you’ve found this article useful and enjoyable and that you’ve found some inspiration for your own bedroom. I’d love to hear how you get on, please leave any comments or your own tips below.
About the author
Nadya Jones is a blogger and an entrepreneur.
She is the co-founder of Allen Roth HQ, a blog about home design and improvements.
With her husband Brett, she writes tips and tricks they learned while renovating their house in Raleigh, North Carolina. Nadya handles the interior design. Brett implements her ideas in a cost-efficient way.
Follow her on Twitter and Pinterest.
Thank you for yet another great article.
This is always a daunting task, my little one chooses what he wants to wear and his ward rope gets rearranged daily. The idea of creating a lower hanging rail is something that would be effective in combatting the daily mess ups, I can’t believe that I did not think of it. Since my sons clothes is hung up on the mail railing which is way higher than he possibly could reach for the hangers, he tends to pull the clothes off the hanger from the bottom ends. After taking of multiple items he decides on using one of them and literally takes the rest of the clothes and stuffs them at the bottom.
I don’t always have time daily to set them back, so by weekend most of the clothes are at the bottom of the draw rather than in hangers. So that means I need to re-iron all and hang them up just to be pulled down in the following week. ☹ The struggle is real.