Planning a child's closet can be tricky. For most people, raising a child is tiring enough, and after running around trying to keep up with them all day long, it can be exhausting to go through hundreds of tiny pieces of clothes and toys in an attempt to organize their closets. So, to make your life easier, here are 7 creative ways of organizing your kid's closet, which will be less tiring and more fun.
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1. Empty The Closet
If you have decided to organize your child's messy closet, the first step should be to empty it completely. Take out everything and make different piles for various types of clothing, accessories, toys, books, or anything else. This step lets you visualize exactly what will return to the closet space. It also lets you remove clothes your child may have outgrown (unless you want to keep them for another younger sibling or future sibling). We need to empty the closet because often we don't even know what is in there since it's been hidden at the back or under another huge pile of clothes. You may even find some items that don’t even belong in the closet, for example, your own clothes.
2. Go Small with bins in a kids closet
When organizing your kid's closet, use small-sized drawers or storage bins. This will make it easy for your child to find what they need when getting dressed. This benefits you because the faster they find what they need, the less of a mess there will be for you to clean up later. When keeping clothes in these small and shallow containers, make sure the piles of clothes are not too high. This way, your kids won't have to sift through large piles to get what they want.
Acrylic bins are great for small things.
Acrylic Countertop Stackable Drawers
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3. Labels are important in a kids closet
A fun way to involve your child in their closet's organization is to create a label (affiliate) for each drawer or each shelf of the closet. This will make it easy for the child to tidy their closet by themselves. If they are still learning how to read and write, this will make for a fun and educational activity. Label (affiliate) the types of clothes in each area and if multiple children are using the closet, then label (affiliate) shelves (affiliate) or boxes (affiliate) by ownership, for example, "Lilly's shirts" or "Dan's socks (affiliate)".
4. Hang It Up when organizing a kids closet
For clothes that cannot be folded, you can use children's hangers to retain shape. The hangers should be kept at a higher level as this is usually an area that the parents can reach, and the child doesn’t need to.
5. Color Coding in a kids closet
If several children share a closet, use colored bins or small boxes (affiliate) to label (affiliate) items in a closet. If a brother and sister share a larger closet, for example, all her belongings could be in yellow bins while he could be in green ones. A fun alternative is to paint shelves (affiliate) in their respective colors. This will also make it less time-consuming to put away clothes after they have been washed and generally when tidying up the closet.
6. Get Creative when organizing the Kids closet
No one wants a bland, boring, and plain closet, so why not get the kids involved as well and give their space a mini-makeover using their input? Below are some creative ways of organizing your kids closet suggestions to help you get inspired.
- Cardboard boxes (affiliate) containing accessories can be customized with paint in your child's favorite color.
- The back wall of the closet can be painted a fun color.
- The walls could have colorful self-adhesive wallpaper (affiliate) in any pattern the child chooses.
- You can use various upcycled containers to hold small items your child may need to organize. Tin cans, yogurt containers, and icing containers work great for this. Visit my affordable things you can use to organize a room post for more ideas.
When you involve the child in personalizing the closet, it's also a great idea to ask them to tell you how they want to organize it; they might just surprise you with some great ideas. The inside of the closet door can be a fun place for your child to get creative with some paint.
7. Double Rod System to organize a kids closet
When you have a walk-in closet with no shelves (affiliate) and only hanging space, try this great method. Install one rod at the adult height, which can only be used by you for hanging out-of-season clothes. Then install a second rod at a much lower height for the child to be able to reach his or her current clothes. Keep any toys and shoes (affiliate) on the floor space. Easy and clean!
Closet Hanging Rod, Width and Height Adjustable Closet Extender Hanging by STARTOSTAR
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When it comes to organizing your kid's closet, creativity is key (affiliate). Their closet is no different from yours and requires the same basic principles when going through it. At least a few times a year, you should organize your kids closets. This will keep it from overflowing, and getting the children involved in the process will make them more likely to want to keep it tidy and clean. I hope these creative ways of organizing your kids closet tips help you get inspired to do the decluttering and organizing.
Originally written in 2016 by Korie Cantor, a writer who writes about living and lifestyle. She possesses a great sense of style and loves to share her thoughts about fashion and its latest trends.
Update in 2024: Sabrina (owner of this blog) updated this post with more details and suggestions.
Visit our other kid organization posts!
Please note these are affiliate links through Amazon (affiliate), and at no additional cost to you, I will earn affiliate fees if you decide to make a purchase.
Jeannette Paladino says
These are tips that adults can use, too, for organizing our closets -- and suitcases. In the book called "The Intelligent Woman Traveler," the author recommends "divide and conquer." By that she meant divide your items by category into different bags or containers in your suitcase. Then you'll have like items all in one place so that when you open your suitcase everything doesn't fall out in one big mess. I've followed that advice ever since and it really works well.
Sushmita says
Hello Sabrina,
At the moment I don't have kids, but that doesn't mean the excellent tips you shared are of not use to me!
Sabrina says
That's right! We can all use these great creative tips. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
William Rusho says
Wonderful tips. I like about making a rod lower to the ground for kids. Too many products are designed for regular adults and not for kids. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Krystyna Lagowski says
These are great tips for organizing all kinds of closets, not just for kids! I love the colour coding concept - you could use that to differentiate between seasonal clothing, or to organize accessories. The double rod idea is terrific too, maybe for skirts/pants and tops? I may just actually get my closet in order!
Jeri says
I love the double rob idea and have seen it put into practice a few times. I've never had to organize a kid's closet, but in college I cleaned the house I lived in exchange for cheaper rent. After doing laundry, I would then hang my "landlord's" clothes up. She had so many clothes the wooden rod actually broke after I'd been living there for a while. I guess that's one definite indicator it's time to clean out the closet 😉
RoseMary Griffith says
Love Ken's closet. I have a younger sister who was like that growing up--wait, she's still like that. HA HA! Passed this along to friends with kids. You might have figured out I'm already pretty neurotic about these things. Double rod, shoe bag, containers...
Marquita Herald says
All great tip Sabrina but the double rod really caught my attention! Definitely have to give that one a try. Thanks!
Phoenicia says
Useful tips as per usual on how to manage children's belongings.
My children accumulate drawer fulls of paper, art and wardrobes full of clothes. I have to declutter on a regular basis otherwise it all becomes overwhelming.
Sarah Soboleski says
I love the double rod system. If you want kids to put their clothes away they have to be able to access and reach the hangers! And I saw in a magazine recently these neat peel and stick wall decals, like apples and polka dots in fun colors. Might be easier and cleaner than painting inside the closet.
Doreen Pendgracs says
Your tips will work for all of us, Sabrina, even those of us without children. My husband has started labelling the drawers in his portable shelving units and it's really helped him stay organized.
Janet Barclay says
Many of these great tips would work well for adults too!
Erica says
I like the idea of the double rod system in the closet. That is a really smart way to handle out of season clothes. As a kid, I remember helping to build shelves in my walk-in closet when we moved into a new home. I was 8 years old and it was fun to get to take part. But alas, it was also always a mess once I moved in there.
Seana Turner says
I love the idea of having a fun paint color inside, or something creative and fun. Kids don't usually get excited about closets unless they are a place to play! Maintenance, of course, is pretty important with children... and this is one case where less really is more. Most children don't care about extensive wardrobes:)
Ken Dowell says
Yikes! I won't go near my son's closet. Not knowing what is in there? You got that right. But I can't imagine motivating my 12-year-old to label the stuff in his closet. I'll just give him a hundred labels that say "junk."
Gingi Freeman says
This is a GREAT post.. today is my daughter's third birthday, and I am already nervous about bringing home MORE toys.. am planning a mega closet overhaul tomorrow!!
Donna Janke says
Good tips for organizing a child's closet. Involving the child is a good idea to give them ownership. Depending on the age of the child, they may lose patience with the entire process so timing their involvement at key points may be necessary. Labels and colour can make putting away fun.