4 Tips for Organizing a Kid’s Closet

When my daughter’s room was featured on Apartment Therapy’s Before & After series, someone commented about how insane it was to have a closet with no hangers.

Earlier, on the blog, I had quickly mentioned my reason for not having hangers in her closet, but I thought I would share a bit more of the details behind my daughter’s closet makeover and why I think designing for children requires taking each child’s personality and routine into mind. I’m sharing some of the questions I ask myself when designing a space for a child:

1. What are the pain points of the space?

Figure out what isn’t working in the space. When I looked in my daughter’s closet, it was clear she was not using hangers, she was piling her clothes on a bin or throwing them inside of the closet. She was also throwing her shoes and backpack in the closet after school creating a drop zone. I was constantly rehanging her clothes and trying to pair her shoes.

2. What does the child like or dislike about the space?

Your child uses the space the most, ask them questions. When I asked my daughter about her closet, she said she didn’t like hanging her clothes up, she didn’t like taking them off the hangers and she didn’t like how high all of her clothing felt when they were on hangers.

3. How does the child use the space?

When I planned my daughter’s closet design I planned it around her putting her clothes away, putting her backpack away and being able to find the things she will need easily. I didn’t plan the layout for what would make sense for me, or for how I would want to organize it, because she is the one that needs to feel ease in her space not me.

4. How can the child be a part of the design process?

Get your kids involved. Although I picked the final closet layout, I did ask my daughter to give her input about the storage containers I chose and if she liked the items I was choosing for her closet. I found the more involved she was the more invested she was to use the items later.

Overall, having folded clothing with no hangers may seem insane to some, but for this stage in my daughters life it’s the layout that works best for her. As she decides that hangers are going to be needed, I can take all of the shelf covers off and she will have plenty of space to hang her clothes.