Monday Madness-Kiddos closets

I am playing a little catch-up, so here is our MONDAY MADNESS post…KIDS’ CLOSETS.

There are a lot of different ways you can organize your children’s closets, but I have tried to make all of mine pretty similar to make our focus of staying organized easier.

Here’s how we do it:

STEP #1-HANGING-I hang all shirts and pants for anyone in our family over 6 years old.  At about six, I find that they can get ready for school, church, etc. much easier if they can see their options right in front of them, not stacked in a drawer.

When they are little, drawers seem to hold little shirts and pants quite nicely, but as they start to pair outfits together, the hangers are a great fit.

STEP #2-SHOE RACKS-I also make sure they all have shoe racks.  I like the one shown below, that has little shelves that can hold pairs great.  *Note: We do keep our current season shoes in the garage on shelves for easy convenience, so these racks in their closets hold slippers, church shoes and off-season shoes.

STEP #3-SHELF STORAGE-As you can see below, I also have shelves in their closets for misc. clothes that are off-season and don’t currently need to be hung, as well as, baskets that can hold all sorts of things.

STEP #4-BASKET STORAGE-I use baskets in their closets for quick storage of belts, memory items,books, etc.

Our children also have their laundry baskets, in or near, their closets for a place for dirty clothes, and a way to keep the clean and dirty separate.

STEP #5-HANGING ORDER-I also hang all clothes going the same direction, in short-sleeve to long-sleeve order, and I am a little OCD, so when I am helping with straightening a closet, I do put clothes in rainbow order.  (I realize that this is not NORMAL, so I don’t require it of my children or husband, but seem to find myself compelled to do it more than I would like to admit.)

The specific order of how I hang their clothes for all you fellow neat freaks with OCD is: tank tops (no sleeves), short-sleeve (lightest to darkest, like colors together), long-sleeved (same order as short sleeves), sweaters, sweatshirts (non-hooded first, then hooded), vests, jackets, dresses.  On the lower level I hang pants and skirts.  I like to hang jeans together, dress pants together and skirts together. 

STEP #6-DRESSER ITEMS-I usually use a dresser for items like undershirts, panties or underwear, socks, PJs, sweats and shorts.

I think by using both HANGING and FOLDING strategies, your kids will better be able to keep their clothes sorted and organized.

STEP #7-HOOK RACK-In each closet I also like to hang at least one hook rack, for hats, bags, and robes.  In little girl closets, these are great for little purses and belts as well.

STEP # 8-OVER-THE-DOOR-If your closets have a door, don’t forget the over-the-door organizer that you can put on the backside for shoes, hair-ties, belts, and other misc. items.

STEP #9-STORAGE BOXES-I also store two boxes in the top of the closet if I have room. *Note: If you don’t have room in each child’s closet, you can still have these handy organizers, but store them in the basement, garage, attic, etc. with LABELS of course showing what size the clothes are and who they are intended for next.

The two boxes hold #1:CLOTHES that are TOO SMALL and #2:CLOTHES that are TOO BIG.

The great thing about these two boxes is, when you have an item that a child has outgrown, it can immediately be taken out of “circulation” and put in the TOO SMALL box.  The other box can be labeled with the next size of clothes, so that they are handy to use when a child’s jeans get too short, or they need to more to the next size.

CLOSETS CAN BE OUR FRIENDS!

Take one closet STEP-BY-STEP, and remember to complete one all the way

BEFORE proceeding to the next one.

For tomorrow:

For TACKLE TUESDAY, we are still working on KIDS’ CLOSETS, because most people who have taken on this parenthood thing have more than one child.

For those of you with no children and quiet nights, take a look at the beginning of our journey and see what you may have missed doing or completing and choose one of those things to do for the next couple of days.

Have a great night!

~Laura