5 Tips to Organize a Kids Closet
5 Tips to Organize a Kids Closet
When kids head to their closet to grab what they need, the last thing they think about is leaving it like they found it. This is sometimes due to their innate instincts to destroy their bedroom and it is sometimes due to poor organization of the closet itself. While I can’t help you with the instincts, I can certainly help you with the organization part. Here are five cool tips to organize your kids closet in such a way that they might actually buy in and keep it that way:
Start With Nothing
The very first step is to clean out the closet down to the bare walls. Leave absolutely nothing inside and stack items by what they are as you pull them out. Having the closet empty to start will make the entire process much smoother and easier. Visualizing from an empty space is much easier and you will end up with much less wasted space. It also helps with the next step which is….
Purge as Much as Possible
Kids closets are magnets for nastiness and items that were never intended to be there. While the children are usually the guilty parties, we too sometimes use that space for items we want to store quickly. If it is not kid related, necessary and a part of the plan moving forward, get rid of it. You can throw it away, donate it or simply give it away, but eliminate what you can. Make sure your child is a part of the entire process so that they will understand what you are trying to accomplish. Even if it doesn’t stick right away, it will eventually if you stay persistent.
Maximize Your Space Vertically
When you look at your kids closet, imagine how you might be able to organize it vertically as well as across. Locate the dead space in the closet that is not being used and find a way to use it. For example, if you have wall space above the hanging clothes, use that space to hang hats, scarves or a nice shelf for storage. There are countless things you can do to maximize and organize a kids closet vertically. Peg boards, hooks, extra rods and shelves can make a huge difference….especially in places that were not being used at all before.
Make it Kid Functional
With kids, ease of use is key. If you have a kids closet that is put together neatly and the kid can access what they need, there is a decent chance you will be able to keep it that way. Getting them to buy in to the idea will require some simple steps. One thing to remember is to put all the things they use daily at their level. Use the higher spaces in the closet for rarely used items or items that you will have to help with anyway. Kid functional simply means that the child can reach and replace the items they use most often easily.
Use Labels to Encourage Maintenance
If you really want to make it easy, add labels to everything so that your kids will follow along. If they know where to put something they will generally do so. If they are not sure, they are much more likely to toss them in the corner or in the wrong area of the closet. Make the decision easy by labeling things with pictures or stickers and showing the child what to do several times. Eventually it will be habit and you will be on your way to a more organized kids closet!
If you are in need of better organization skills in general, then we have some things here that will be sure yo help you out! Check out our guide to Getting Organized! If you find that you are still having organization problems, then you might want to try this book on organizing inside and out!
