5 Super Helpful Closet Organization Tips for your Family

Happy Tuesday, friends! I hope your week is off to a great start! Get prepared for a few #reallife pictures in this post…A few months ago, I walked into Reagan’s room and felt so much anxiety because there was STUFF everywhere. I honestly didn’t know where to begin because the mess was so overwhelming to me. How did it get that bad? What happened? It seemed to go from messy to extreme chaos in a matter of weeks. My kids like to keep everything, so it is a daily battle to be organized and clutter free. Clutter stresses me out, so I really strive to keep the house as clutter free as I can. A little background info…We moved into our home a few years ago during the holidays and my main goal was to just get the house set up and livable. I’ll be honest, I didn’t put much effort into the closets, because it was such a big job just getting bedrooms finished and trying to also have a house decorated for Christmas! I wanted the kids to have normalcy after the chaos of moving, so my goal was bedrooms, living spaces and Christmas decor. Then a month later, we started our kitchen renovation and the closets just fell to the bottom of my list. Here we are a couple years later and they, along with the kids’ rooms had become a disaster!

I decided I had to hire someone to help to get us started on the road to organization (we still have a ways to go in this house! ha!) because truthfully, I just felt too overwhelmed to make it happen alone. After lots of referrals on Instagram, we decided to work with a local organizational consultant, Amy of Eco Modern Concierge. To start the process, we met at my house and I explained my goals and showed her the dreaded spaces that I needed help with. I also showed her inspiration pictures and a few days later she got to work and transformed these spaces! I’ll be honest with you all, I don’t think either closet is Pinterest-worthy by any means and sometimes I feel like that’s all people want to see these days, but the closets are functional for our family and that was our ultimate goal, so I am sharing them in all their functional glory!

Here is a before of Reagan’s closet…There was just stuff everywhere with no specific place. Ive realized that my kids need set spaces to put things away and that seems to make them stay a bit less cluttered.

Here is the after… The ultimate goal was places for the little toys, like littlest pet shops, etc! The higher shelves in her closet are empty because she can’t reach up there (even with a stool) and again, it’s all about functionality!

All the little toys that were on her bedroom floor and desk and dresser now have their own labeled spaces. This also helps her to know exactly where things are!

We moved all of her books into the closets as well. These were on her dresser, nightstand and desk and they added too much clutter! I really feel like this step was a huge move in helping to make the bedroom area a bit less cluttered. (Some of) The stuffed animals are housed in the closet as well. What is it with kids and stuffed animals? There are SOOOO many! Ha!

I recently switched all of my hangers to the velvet space saving hangers and decided to have Amy help me transition the kids’ clothes to these space saver hangers for kids, as well. It’s made a huge difference *Gotta love the one rouge Target hanger from a new outfit, wish Id seen that prior to these pictures, but hey #reallife over here!

All in all, I feel like the transformation of this closet was pretty big because it was just SO chaotic before. It has also helped to keep Reagan’s bedroom a tad less cluttered as well, now that all of her “things” have “homes.”

Next up is Teddy’s closet and I feel like it was even more of a disaster because he uses his shelves as a “dresser.” We need to get him a dresser made to match his bed, but the timing hasn’t worked out yet and actually him being able to see his clothing has seemed to help him a bit! That being said, his room was full of stuff and by stuff, I just mean random trinkets and figurines, balls, nerf guns, etc!

Here is the before…you can see, stuff is just everywhere, including clothes.

Here is the after and as you can see, we We had his clothing organized by t-shirts, shorts, school shorts, etc and then the closet was organized by school uniforms on one side and church and other clothes on the other side. It seems to help him be more organized in the getting dressed aspect as well! We added containers for all his little stuff, just like we did in Reagan’s room. This again, has helped him to know exactly where to put things! Again, we transitioned Teddy to the space saving hangers and it’s been a huge help in the space area!

5 Super Helpful Closet Organization Tips to Help your Kids

1. Use little containers, drawers or bins for separate items. Example: figurines, balls, nerf bullets, littlest pet shops, stuffed animals, etc. Everything should have a space where it lives when it’s not being used. This has been a huge help!

2. Label Everything! If your kids can read, label all the containers. This helps them to know exactly where to put things when they are finished playing with them. If your child can’t read, put a picture of the item on the bin, example: picture of a block for blocks and so forth. In hindsight, I wish I had started this when my kids were younger!

3. Make cleaning up and staying organized easily accessible for your children. Put bins and containers within their height, so that they can reach their items to play with them, but also so they can reach their items to put them away, when they’re finished!

4. Explain your new method of organization and what your expectations are. My kids are 9 and 7, so I can explain to them that they must put away their toys, games etc before starting a new game, toy, etc. And believe me, this is a constant battle and we are constantly reminding them to clean up after themselves, but eventually it’ll sink in to just clean up, prior to moving on to the next thing! They are human #tornados! Ha!

5. Purge. Every few months, I find myself craving a big purge, especially after a birthday or the holidays! If I find my kids’ rooms are becoming cluttered and messy again, I know it’s time to go through things and get rid of them! Donate, find friends to take things off your hands, etc! I find a good purge goes over way better when my kids aren’t home! As I said earlier, Reagan likes to keep EVERYTHING. Ha!

*Buy the CLEAR BOXES HERE

*Buy the SPACE SAVER HANGERS HERE

*Buy the COLORED DRAWERS HERE

*Buy SIMILAR PRINTABLE LABELS HERE

So, tell me, do you struggle with keeping your kids’ organized, too? It’s a constant battle here! Tell me, I’m not alone! Thanks again to Amy for working with me to help get these spaces organized. If you’re local and in need of organizational help, definitely reach out to her at Eco Modern Concierge here!! Sometimes, you just need another set of hands with these types of things! I sure did! Have a great day, you guys! XO!