You are probably getting ready for your kids to go back to school. It's great having them home, but we all know having that set routine (affiliate) each day really helps them and you. To help you get through your kids' room and make it more user-friendly for them, I put together this list to help you get rid of unwanted stuff in your kid's closet before school starts. But why do we need to do this before school starts?
I'm glad you asked. There are many benefits of organizing the kids closet. Below are just five of the most important ones.
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5 Benefits of organizing your kids' closet
- It's easier to get outfits together each morning. Setting aside clothes the night before helps make the morning a lot easier, especially when your kids are not morning people.
- It saves you money. No one wants to buy more uniforms and outfits unless necessary.
- The closet becomes brighter, and you can see everything. The more clothes in the closet, the darker the closet will appear. So, lightening it up with fewer clothes allows you to see the white wall behind, making it easier to retrieve anything. Adding lighting to the closet also makes it brighter.
- You empower your children and show them that organizing is useful and important. Organizing with your kids shows them the importance of tackling tasks now, rather than waiting to repair a disorganized space after the fact. =)
- It makes the closet easier to maintain. When a closet is organized, you can easily modify it as the child's hobbies and activities change with age.
Read some more benefits of organizing your kids' closet here.
Now that you are ready to eliminate the clutter, here are the 15 unique items you can clear out right now.
Get rid of these 15 items for a clutter-free kids' closet
- Clothing that is too small.
- Unused sports equipment and clothing.
- Memorabilia or keepsakes you want, but your kid doesn't want.
- Bins filled with stuff that doesn't belong to your kid.
- Shoes (affiliate) that were never worn or caused any pain to their feet.
- Bedding never used.
- Hats (affiliate) or caps not worn.
- Old college gear that hasn't been used.
- Home stuff that is not for your kids.
- School papers that can be tossed.
- Age-inappropriate books.
- Awards your kids don't care about.
- Luggage (affiliate) and bags not used.
- Belts (affiliate), ties, and scarves not worn or worn out.
- Toys that are too young for your child.
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After decluttering these items, you are ready to organize them again.
Organizing Your Kids Closet Tips:
Always get your kid involved. If they are five or younger, make it a game. Show them how to match colors together. Help them group items together.
Being sentimental is fine, but being overly sentimental is the issue. Make an effort to streamline the sentimental items. Decide on a quantity limit you can handle for an event. If your child plays a sport, you can choose to keep up to two of their awards. If your child is an artist, you can decide to keep only two pieces of artwork for each school year.
Use bins with labels (affiliate). Show pictures with the word if your kids are learning to read.
Move storage items to their level. If they are shorter, have bins and rods closer to their height.
Grip kid's hangers (affiliate) help keep kids' clothes on their hangers (affiliate), and kids can be independent. Kids' hangers are designed to be smaller than regular hangers (affiliate), allowing them to fit clothes more comfortably.
Utilize the space behind the closet doors if you need more space. "over-the-door (affiliate)" storage organizers work well for kids' closets.
I hope this post inspires you to get your kids' closets organized and ready for the new school year. Below are our other kids' organization posts to give you even more ideas.
Visit our other kid-organizing tips posts to help your child get organized.
Looking for some stuff to organize your kids' closet (Amazon Affiliate)? Check out these picks from Amazon (affiliate). (affiliate)
Below are the 'unique things to toss' series of posts. Feel free to check out all of them.
15 THINGS TO TOSS FOR A STRESS FREE PANTRY
15 THINGS TO TOSS FOR A STRESS FREE HOME OFFICE
And, 15 UNIQUE THINGS TO TOSS FOR A STRESS FREE KITCHEN
15 UNIQUE CLOSET ITEMS TO TOSS RIGHT NOW
And, 15 GARAGE ITEMS TO TOSS FOR A STRESS FREE PLACE
15 KEEPSAKE ITEMS TO TOSS FOR A STRESS-FREE HOME
15 UNIQUE BATHROOM THINGS TO TOSS RIGHT NOW FOR A STRESS FREE LIFE
Janet Schiesl says
I love your list of things to get rid of in a kid's closet. Kid's change so fast. It's easy to have it get out of control with items that no longer belong there.
Linda Samuels says
What an excellent list! I'm always amazed by how many things end up in closets that need to be donated, routed to another room, or discarded. Our stuff ends up collecting in closets and it's useful to periodically go through to edit and organize them. Your lists are terrific methods for doing this. On the "things to toss" list, #3 stood out. Often there is a struggle between the memorabilia or other items that the parent wants to keep, but the kid does not. It's important to honor their choices and not undermine their decision-making skills. If you ask your child if they want to keep or let go of something and then don't respect their response, it eats away at their self-esteem. It's also important to recognize that people have different degrees of ease (or not) with letting go.
Seana Turner says
I am surprised by how often I find #9 in kids' closets. I think when children are small, there clothing is small, and we tend to use their closets for overflow. However, as they grow and their storage needs expand, we often forget about things we stuck in their closets... it gets pushed further out of sight (and hence, out of mind). Practical tips and now is the right time to tackle this project.