Kids are back in school and you have found your self with a ton of extra time, right? Ha! The moment those kids step foot in the school I started to organize kids closets. While they are home, I have to battle with them on why they need to keep that 3 sizes too small shirt hanging in their closet. When the kids aren’t around, they never notice it missing. So summer is rough for us because we go months without decluttering. Which is why I’m super excited to share what I’ve learned about how to organize kids closets.
I’d personally like to thank CleverMade for sponsoring this post and making my dream of an organized home closer in reach.
How many times have you stood in your closet staring at racks of clothing and saying “I have nothing to wear?” Judgement free zone. Too many. We have all been there. Now put yourself in your kids position. You are yelling at them to get ready for school and they are staring at racks and piles of clothing. The only difference, they haven’t been doing this for 30 years so its even harder for them and even more important to organize kids closets.
How to Organize Kids Closets
I am always trying to think of ways to make our lives less hectic and crazy. So I recently ditched the dresser and my goal was to organize kids closets to be a one stop shop. Yep, my child with clothing size substantially smaller than mine had a dresser that was a larger than mine. It was filled with clothing (and toys) in addition to a closet that was also packed. I wanted her to have more free space to do what she wanted in her room. And I wanted to make it easier for her to decide what to wear for the day.
Purge Purge Purge
Now this seems to be the hardest for most. For some reason I truly love it. My purging looks much different than the purging of my girls clothing. I make 4 piles.
- Kids Favorites: The things they truly love get put into a pile (this is typically the pile I dislike the most). But I feel like we need to be able to look into our closet and find clothing we truly love.
- Basics: These go with everything. Items of clothing that can be worn and styled to create unique looks.
- Statement Pieces: These are the things we wear for special occasions or want to wear when we are feeling sassy. They are typically great deals on splurge worthy things, or things we just loved because. Not a daily use thing but always good to have a few just in case.
- Purge: This is the stuff we have worn once. As my daughter always says “ill wear it for a picture, but thats it.” This is typically the stuff I love and they hate. The itchy things. The things gifted. These are the clothes that are last to be pulled to wear and only if everything else is wet in the washer. This gets donated or handed down.
Now technically I have a 5th pile. This is the pile of clothing that isn’t stained, in great condition and can be resold. This pile is currently massive because reselling clothing isn’t for the faint of heart. Whew
And these piles stay organized with my CleverMade Laundry Caddy – Collapsible Laundry Basket & Hamper. My daughters room is directly next to laundry room which makes her bed the laundry folding station. I am able to store these under the bed when not in use and then on laundry day or organzine day, I pull out hampers and fill them up and deliver to correct locations where I make kids put the clothing away.
Seasonal Audit of Clothing
Now I am not the type of mom that buys seasons in advance and hoards them in bins. I tried this with hand me downs and once found in a full bin of shoes we had grown out of and by the time they were discovered. I also don’t buy more than we need regardless of what a great prices it is. Let’s be honest here, that sale when you bought ten of the exact same jeans for the next ten years probably happens every 60 days.
I keep a running tally of the things we have and the things that fit and when we are close to growing out of something it is replaced. Most of the time, winter clothing can be worn for multiple years if you buy sizing correctly. So we do a quick try onto make sure it fits from last year.
Organize Next Seasons Clothing in Bins
Summer-Fall can be kind of crazy around here. The moment it begins to get chilly we bring out the fall clothes only for it to set a record high the next day. So in a perfect world we would have four seasonal bins that get rotated out but this is life.
CleverMade recently came out with a product that is perfect for this crazy transition. It has been making our life so much easier. The Stack & Store – Collapsible 44 Liter Soft Storage Box sits right on her shelf and contains her pants and tights. With the easy front opening she can grab them as needed. Then when we know we are in the clear from scorching weather, I will switch out The Stack & Store – Collapsible 44 Liter Soft Storage Box and put her shorts in the one her pants were in.
It can hold up to 25 lbs and can be stacked upwards. Best part, when not in use it folds down super thin and can be stored easily. Basically our lifeline right now. We use these all over (more to come on that in another blog post).
Another reason I like to keep clothing for different seasons close by and easily accessible is that when we travel I don’t want to have to go up in to the attic and bring down bins to have to go through them. Since they sit so nicely on the top shelf when not in use, I am able to pack quickly for those winter vacations.
Dresser/Drawers in a Closet
By removing the things that won’t be worn and organizing it so everything is visible getting dressed is so much easier. I’m waiting for the day millennials get blamed for this too, but after a few of my friends stated they keep small dressers in the closet I decided to ditch the dresser and have slowly been removing them in rooms since. (Remember this post).We still use drawers which is why I opted for a closet system that included drawers. In these drawers we have pajamas (4 pairs of seasonally appropriate), underwear and socks, play clothes like t-shirts and shorts, and dance clothes. And we stick to a one in one out kind of rule to keep drawers from getting packed and unorganized.
Non-Clothing Organization
My oldest is extremely particular about her things. She doesn’t like other people playing with her things especially if she isn’t around and so I also wanted to give her a place to keep her things so that they weren’t out in the open when friends came over. Using a CleverMade Laundry Caddy – Collapsible Laundry Basket & Hamper, that holds 2 Loads she is able to keep her stuffed animals in one place. And small bins on the shelves contain her toys and treasures. The best part is that she is able to carry the CleverMade Laundry Caddy – Collapsible Laundry Basket & Hamper around to other rooms and easily clean back up. So while I had big plans for this Laundry Caddy to I don’t know, contain dirty laundry, she had other plans. Don’t worry, laundry room is set up with a laundry caddy!
I try to organize kids closets 2-3 times a year. Obviously, its way easier if we do this versus letting it get out of control first. I find having less space to shove something makes staying organized easier too. You know how you tell your kids, less it more. Well I’m here to remind you of that as well.
How do you keep your kids closets organized? Share in a comment below!
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