How to organize your kid closets (or practically anything!)

I cannot believe how many people were interested in my silly project, closet organization. For me it is a fascinating subject. I was the little girl that made lists before going on vacation and enjoy a good home organization project. Nothing makes me happier or puts Mommy in a good mood than an organized home. AND with 4 kids home organization is a must for the house to run smoothly. I have spent countless hours scouring Pinterest and the best organizational sites and I am going to share MY tips with you. I hope this helps!!!

I can help you get your closets (and your life and home) organized too! 

• to start…take a good look at the space you have to work with
• clean first BEFORE you buy anything to organize. I like to only do one home organization job at a time (guilty of trying to do more than one project, getting overwhelmed and stopping). So if I am cleaning child A’s closet I will not go to any other part of the house to organize. It usually takes a good few hours so make sure you have time before you start “making a mess to clean a mess.”
• I usually find empty water bottles, gum wrappers, a candy stash and lots and lots of papers (remind kids are slops!!). They want to save everything. That doesn’t mean you need to!! My recommendation is to get a garbage bag and do this when they are not home. Actually get three garbage bags. One for trash, one for goodwill and one for a pass on bag. The trash is usually pretty easy. I am not emotionally attached to the papers in my kids closets. If it is crumbled up toss it! Writings and drawings sorry kids reading this I toss that too. Once your garbage is picked up than you can start making more piles. Remember you still haven’t bought anything yet. Don’t waste your time and buy prematurely. You will just waste time, money and get frustrated. 

I literally take almost everything out of the closet and start making piles. I usually do a pile for clothes my kids grew out of (Goodwill or pass on bags), laundry pile (yup, my kids are not perfect and I will usually find some dirty things not where they are supposed to be) and then I further sort by dresses, skirts, shirts, etc. I have very large closets in this house so I hang almost everything. If you are lucky to have large closets, I recommend hanging your items. I fold only pajamas, undies, socks (ok, duh, I know you can’t hang these but I want to help even the most beginner get organized), tights, leotards (yup I sort them by gymanstic/tumbling and dance) and bathing suits and cover ups.

Okay now you made a mess on the poor kid’s floor that is probably so overwhelming but don’t fear you can neatly make piles of what will go back inside!!

Now here is where you get to go shopping…first hangers! I know my hubby probably groaned his eyes when I purchased box after box (and a few more boxes) of the black velvet slimline hangers (hey you can buy them at Costco and they are on sale this month July 2015). Buy way more than you think because once you start hanging you will find you need more and more! If your not a Costco member I did see they have a website www.slimhangers.com

There is nothing more visually appealing to the eye than hangers all the same color and shape. I have seen movie star closets and wonder why they have the cheap dry cleaner hangers???

Speaking of hanging take a look at the space you have to work with. I had empty boxes (the blank walls of the closet) when we first moved in essentially. We built this house so it was a blank canvas. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money (well I wanted to but couldn’t when I had 4 kids closets to organize) so we (correction, hubby) went to Home Depot (at my begging, pleading and more begging) to install the white wire racks. They serve the purpose and work inexpensively. Then I bought double bar hanging rods from Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Once you have something to hang your clothes on then hang up everything with your new hangers, racks and rods and see what is left in your space. What do you have to put away or organize? I don’t actually have dressers in most of my kids rooms but I do have cubes. I am a huge cube fan. 

I got these white tall towers from the Container Store. They work fantastic. My only compliant is that you can see through the white mesh. So I am always working to keep them clean. Here is where I keep the following:

-socks

-undies

-tights

-leotards

(yes, I have lots of girls can you tell I haven’t listed boy items)

And then this is where you can get distracted...Don't stop at the closets. Once the kids closets look so good you will want to do your bathroom closets (you will not believe where I got these containers) The Dollar Tree. And the best part is that these items are only $1 each! They have held up for the last two years believe it or not so it is the best $50 I spent. 

Okay, back to the kids closets...I like to have a hanging sectioned “sweater” bag. I typically pick out (here is a time saving tip so pay attention) all the kids clothes on Sunday. I go from room to room to room and pick out everything they need for the day. If they have gym, I make sure they have socks and appropriate gym clothes. Let’s say they have dance that night then I will also get everything out for dance class and put it in the appropriate divided area. I cannot tell you how much time this has save me and helped me realize when items are missing or dirty. I have so many pairs of pjs I can even put pjs for them too in the section.

Now that you are learning my system you are probably realizing I plan everything ahead. The only time this backfires on me is when IL weather get’s confused (mother nature likes to play funny tricks on me and have an 80 degree randomly in October). 


And in case that happens I have their long pants, jeans, long sleeve shirts and everything else that still fits them when the weather changes up on the top of their closet ready in case I need it.

PS. Look at all the Dollar Tree organizers I found on their website that they are selling now: