The ABCs of Kids’ Closet Organization

The Closet Catastrophe

Let's start by acknowledging the magnitude of the challenge at hand: Kids and organization don't always mix well. From drawers that get dumped out with reckless abandon to closets treated as personal landfills, children have an impressive ability to make even the most organized spaces descend into utter disarray at an alarming pace. Overstuffed shelves overflow onto floors, clothes and belongings are scattered haphazardly, and a general state of mayhem tends to reign supreme in many kids' closets. It's enough to make any parent feel utterly defeated and resigned to closet bedlam. But don't surrender just yet! With some smart, kid-friendly strategies, you can wrestle that closet calamity into a remarkably tidy shape.

Step 1: The Great Closet Cleanout

The very first step in getting that closet organized is hitting it with a top-to-bottom overhaul and aggressive decluttering. Go through every single clothing item, toy, accessory, and possession crammed into that space. Have your child try on anything that appears too snug, and ruthlessly bag up any garments, shoes, or gear that no longer fits to make room for donations to local charities and shelters. While you're at it, be just as merciless in tossing or recycling any damaged, stained, broken, or truly worn-out goods. I know this take-no-prisoners closet purge can sting, but creating a true blank slate is crucial for finally reining in the closet chaos.

Step 2: Giving Every Item a Closet Home

With the closet newly cleared out and only current, usable items remaining, it's time to sort all the clothing, toys, accessories, and other belongings into easy-to-maintain categories—shirts, pants, dresses, shoes, sports gear, stuffed animals, action figures, and any other logical groupings. Having a dedicated, unmistakable "home" for each type of possession makes it infinitely easier to stay organized going forward. Use kid-friendly storage bins, shelving units, hanging rods, over-the-door organizers, and other closet solutions to carve out clearly defined spaces and zones for your freshly sorted categories.

Step 3: Making Organization Fun for Them 

Let's face it, kids are much more likely to embrace - and consistently stick to - an organization system if they had a hand in creating it themselves. Get them actively involved in not just categorizing items, but in conceptualizing and physically setting up the closet's new organizational flow. Use clear plastic bins they can easily see through and have them help add fun printed labels with words and pictures for identifying zones. Let them choose colorful bins or shelves to delineate different areas of the closet. When kids feel ownership over the process and solutions, they'll be way more enthusiastic about maintaining an organized closet space.

Step 4: Consider Color Coordination

Organizing hanging clothes by color is a popular choice for many reasons. As Small Stuff Counts explains, organizing by color saves time, reduces overwhelm, and is visually pleasing-–all factors that benefit children, too. Colors are a way to differentiate clothes that can be understood even by kids too young to read labels, so it’s easy for them to find the blue shirt they want just by going to the blue section. While a jumble of colors can be distracting to a child, individual groupings of colors are less jarring and easier to focus on. And children are likely to appreciate opening the closet to a rainbow or another color order that pleases them. Color coordination can also help prevent you from buying your child duplicate items, colors they already have in abundance, or colors they don’t like.

Step 5: Developing Positive Closet Habits

Of course, even the most brilliant organizational overhaul won't make a lasting difference without also developing consistent good closet habits. Work on instituting regular "tidy times", whether nightly, first thing each morning, or on weekends, where your child is responsible for putting away their clothes, toys, and other belongings in their proper designated spots. Implement super simple rules like hanging up any clean clothes that have been worn for less than 8 hours. Use positive reinforcement and celebrate small wins, rather than obsess over absolute perfection. Slow and steady habit-building through praise and encouragement is what matters.

Step 6: Grow and Evolve With Your Child

Finally, remember that just as kids quickly outgrow their clothes, toys, and belongings, they'll also eventually outgrow any single closet organization system you implement, no matter how brilliant. What works wonderfully for an early elementary student likely won't suit their needs by the time they're pre-teens craving independence and space for their changing interests. Check in periodically and be willing to adapt storage solutions, zoning strategies, and even maintenance rules and habits as your child's needs, belongings, and maturity levels change. Staying flexible and evolving the system over time is key to sustained long-term organization.

Conclusion

Getting a handle on kids' closet chaos and instilling the habits of organization doesn't have to be a constant uphill battle. By doing a heavy-duty initial closet purge, creating intuitive zones for categorizing belongings, actively involving kids in the organization process, keeping systems simple, establishing consistent routines, and evolving as your child grows, you can transform even the most overwhelming disaster zone into an impressively tidy, well-maintained closet space. With some diligence and the right approach, I’ve seen former closet calamities turn into organizational success stories.

Don't Let Closet Chaos Defeat You - Schedule a Free Design Session

Ready to finally conquer closet clutter and teach your kids the lifelong skills of organization? The first step is easy—schedule a free design consultation with the experts at Dream Garage & Closets.

Source

• https://smallstuffcounts.com/how-to-organize-your-closet-by-color-like-a-pro/