Organization in the kids closet

**kittykatstrong** · 12-30-2008, 10:00 PM

I have 2 DD (2 and 4) they both share a room and closet. There toys and clothes are everywhere.

I would love to have them be able to help clean up and have the 4yr old sometimes get her own clothes.

What does everyone do to keep there kids room clean?

Thanks

**Debbie-cat** · 12-30-2008, 10:20 PM

Well although my DS is 18, his room is still a mess. I was very proud of him today though as he told me he was going to organize his closet so he could fit more stuff in there! He has been working on it for about 3 hours now and it is beginning to look awesome! This is a kid who didn't know what color the carpet in his bedroom was.

**AmyBoz** · 12-31-2008, 08:29 AM

For my kids closets, I have hanging shelves that I have labeled M-F and on Sunday night, we fill each "shelf" with their clothes for that day of the week. Then, they go right to that "shelf" and grab their clothes in the morning. I do this for my 7 and 4 year old. My 2 year old, well, I still take care of that for him.

My 2 and 4 year old boys share a bedroom as well and I understand your concern about neatness. Bins, bins, and more bins are my answer. I get those plastic bins with drawers and label them with big words and pictures so that the 4 year old can begin to read the drawer that says "Trucks" and my 2 year old can see the picture of the truck on the drawer and he knows where to put his trucks when we do clean-up.

One laundry basket for everyone, but they know that when they take their clothes off, that's where they go...it's on the floor of the closet.

**geckoace** · 12-31-2008, 01:54 PM

i use those wire cubes with one bin in each labeled for my DS5 &DD<1. he has to put away toys EVERY nite, unless he has erected some elaborate train layout or megablock structure then the structure can stand but the supporting pieces have to be put away. i limit the amount of toys and regularly get rid if stuff he really only plays with a few things

his closet is wide and shallow it has the fabric hanging shelves with undies, socks, etc ... then he has a double hanging rail for his clothes ( tough string and a thick dowel) there are shelves in between with piggy banks dehumidifier, linens etc then is DD side she has one rail for clothes then wire cubes for foldable stuff.

**HandyMom** · 03-14-2009, 03:32 AM

Toys go on a bookshelf or in under-the-bed-drawers. To expand the closet hanging space, I added a tension shower rod underneath the existing closet rod to hang clothes. It fit just right in my DD's closet but it might not fit yours. When the extra rod got too heavy, we took some small blocks of wood and nailed them to the walls to work as a brace so the rod ends would not slip down. Still, there are so many clothes stuffed in there and there is just enough room for shoes to line up beneath the two rods of hanging clothes. HTH

**2ndGenGranola** · 03-14-2009, 04:19 AM

We purchased some plastic drawers and sorted toys by type into the drawers. I then went online and printed out pictures of the toys (Tinkertoys, train, little people...whatever) I then used either tape or clear sticky shelf paper to stick it on the front of the drawer.

**elphie** · 03-14-2009, 09:46 AM

We still haven't found the best way to organize toys... so we are just scaling WAY back. We filled to large boxes with all the kids toys and put them in the laundry room. They can get out anything they want to play with and when they are finished they must find a place to put it away in their room (my kids are older so you would prob have to help your dd out with finding the best place to put away). At the end of the month whatever is left in the box is leaving this house; less toys = less mess. I tried getting them to purge one item per day (as I explained in another thread) and they were bringing me barbie clothes for their one item

This is working much better and dh and I are still doing one item per day.

As for her being able to get her own clothes, when my kids were small I bought clips to attach to all of the hangers that are used to hold pants and skirts on the hangers and then I hung up all of their clothes as outfits. I would rotate which shirt I hung with the pants that matched several things and I also taught them that denim matches everything so any shirt without pants/skirt on the hanger with it could be worn with their blue jeans. As they got older I had them help me do the pairings on laundry day until they got the hang of it and figured out how to match outfits.

**monkeywrangler71** · 03-14-2009, 10:44 AM

Is it a walk-in closet or a regular closet? What are you keeping the clothes and toys in now? Pictures would be helpful if you can post some of the closet and the stuff you would like to fit into it.

It's hard to come up with an organizing solution that meets your individual needs without a clearer idea of what you have to work with.

**rasilla** · 03-16-2009, 04:52 PM

Here is a link to a picture of my closet. It is taken as-is so it has some "organized clutter". I use a bin system that does not require folding and even my toddlers can put their clothes away. This closet contains three kids clothes and has a few bins on an upper shelf that holds hand-me-downs (not pictured). I hope it gives you some inspiration. I love the open bin system so the kids can put their own stuff away.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3457/...bb2ce6ea_b.jpg

**MomToTwoBoys** · 03-17-2009, 01:30 PM

You can get the large Rubbermaid containers with lids and have them put the toys in those. I only kept one box of toys per child in the room, but both of my kids have their own bedroom. If it's a space issue, you could have the bins slide under their bed. If the bin is too large to fit under the bed, you could put them against one wall in their room and stack the bins when they go to bed at night.

I designate dresser drawers for the kids' clothing. One drawer is strictly undergarments/pajamas, another is shirts and sweatshirts, another is pants and jeans, then you can have one drawer for their off-season stuff (like swimming trunks, shorts, etc). Make up a small placard for each drawer and show them what's in the drawers via pictures.

HTH

**mombottoo** · 03-17-2009, 04:11 PM

When my kids were little we used separate bins for different toys...blocks, matchbox cars, and so on. I also put kid sized shelves in their closets and we hung their closet rod down where they could reach it...

**kittykatstrong** · 04-12-2009, 01:58 AM

Sorry it has taken so long to get my pics up. My camera has been giving me pains.

.

The clothes on the top shelf are 5t and to big for my oldest so everytime I find something it gets thrown up there. I think its not that I dont have the room for all their clothes(even though they have more clothes then I do), but that I dont know how to use what I have.

The pink thing on the other side of my youngest hangs from the rod and has three shelves, the bottom is a hamper.

Thank you all for the feedback, having only one bin for each kid is such a great idea. We have them all on one wall but when they want to take something out and cant find it all the toys go on the floor.

We do need to purge some of their toys and sring is a great time to do that.

**reginaastralis** · 04-12-2009, 07:59 PM

I've noticed that Pull Up boxes are pretty sturdy. My four year old currently only needs them at night, so a box last us about 3 months. However, as soon as I buy a box of them, I empty the box, cut off the lid and cover with brown paper. I let Juliette color/decorate these boxes, and then use them to seperate her toys in. Since she's had a hand in the process, I've found she's been more apt to help with it.

With her clothes that are too big, I've found that Walmart sells a really good plastic storage bin. I don't know the brand name or anything, but I've found that the kind who's lid snaps on are the best. I buy them in clear plastic only, so I can see what's stored in them. I have a LOT of bigger clothes for Juliette, so I have them separated by type and size. I have so many boxes, they are stored in our laundry room as well. With this much clothing, I go through them about every three months ... just to make sure that some of the stuff isn't getting to be the right size.