Tame Those Toys Thursday/All About Closet Storage

Alright, so hopefully you have read the first Tame Those Toys Thursday and you have a good idea of where to start in the decluttering your kids’ bedroom process.

So, now the room is empty and you are starting with a blank slate. Before you throw all your kids’ clothes, shoes, toys, desk supplies and whatever else back in, you need to evaluate the space.

Look at the placement of the furniture. Is it positioned in such a way where it gives your child enough space in their room? Think about some different ways you could rearange the furniture. I like to draw it out, but that’s just me. I’d rather draw it out then move the furniture a hundred times.

Side note: To make moving furniture a piece of cake, I highly recomend these: Master Mighty Mighty Movers® Nonstick 5″ Diameter Furniture Sliders. It literally makes your furniture glide across the floor. It saves your furniture, your floor and your back. That way, everyone’s happy!

After you have played with the furniture placement, it’s time to tackle the storage issue. Look around the room. What is in their room that can be or is used as storage? Look in the closet. Is there one hanging rod and that’s it? Starting with a well organized closet is the perfect place to start when organizing a kid’s room. So that’s where we will start today and then next Thursday we will containerize the rest of the room.

The Closet

Let’s look at several different examples of closet storage. We will start with the east on your budget ideas and then move our way on up.

Budget Friendly:

Let’s say all your child’s closet has is a rod. If you want your kiddo to learn to hang up his/her own clothes, then it’s a good idea to make sure they can reach them. This first storage item is one of my favorites. I’ll show several options.

Extra Closet Rod – Closet Doubler – (Chrome)

Adjustable Closet Doubler

Space Expander – (White)

Using an expander is an easy way to add extra hanging space in your child’s closet. You can also put the items you want them to be able to reach on the lower rod.

The next item for our budget friendly closet is a place for their shoes.

You can purchase several different items to handle the shoe issue. The most inexpensive route is if you have a couple of cinder blocks and a board laying around. Or even two blocks of wood and a board. Hey, you never know what you will find until you look around. Set the board on the two cinder blocks and you’ve got shoe storage.

Here are a few other options:

Stackable Expandable Shoe Rack There was only one review on this shoe rack and the customer was disappointed because she said that instead of getting the two shoe racks that are pictured,she only received one. In order to have the two levels you would have to buy two of them. Also this rack may not be the best for little shoes for obvious reason…they would fall right through.

Stacking Wood Shoe Shelves

Canvas Over-door 24 Pocket Organizer

If your child does not have enough space in their room for a dresser or you would really like to get one out of there to free up more space, here are some alternatives to a dresser that can be used in the closet.

KIDS DAILY ACTIVITY ORGANIZER – 6 SHELF HANGING CLOSET – This doesn’t replace the dresser, but it sure is a good way to make those school mornings go smoother. Unless ofcourse your child changes their mind at the last minute every morning like mine did. Oy.

6 SHELF HANGING SWEATER CLOSET & CLOTHING ORGANIZER – This is perfect for sweaters, pajamas and other items that are not hung.

Hanging 8 Shelf Organizer For Dummies

- These would be really cute in the closet. And instead of using them for toys, think outside of the box and use them for undies, socks and belts! (Just click on the picture to see more information.)

Now on to middle of the road budget.

You could use the same expander rods as in the budget friendly ideas. Here are some shoe storage items that are a little pricier:

Shoe Cubby – Stackable – (White) 15 Pair Shoe Cubby

Shoe Rack- Solid Wood, 3 Shelf, 9″D x 22″W x 22″H

Here are some sweater/shoe combos:

Whitney Design 01822-3 Hanging Canvas Shoe and Sweater Bag

CLOSET ORGANIZER 2 PACK-PINK. Brand New – High Quality!

Here are some wire drawers that work great in a closet and are a good alternative to a big dresser:

Wire 4-Drawer Wide Storage Tower

Wire 7-Drawer Wide Storage Tower

ClosetMaid Four Drawer Basket Kit, White #6201

And now on to the all-in-one closet systems that are a little more spendy.

Baby Closet Organizer

Rubbermaid Configurations 4- to 8-Foot Deluxe Custom Closet Kit #3H8900

Easy Track Closet 4-to-8-Foot Expandable Tower Closet Organizer #RB1460

Closet Organizer – Freeslide Laminate Tower Kit – (White)

Standard Wood Closet System- Red Mahogany

Easy Track Closet 4-to-8-Foot Expandable Tower Closet Organizer, Cherry #RB1460-C

Well that about does it for our Thursday. There were so many more closet ideas that I wanted to show you, but those will have to wait for another day. I hope this gives you a good start to helping your kids get organized.