Canvas Prints
It has been a year since we moved to our present house and although I have not really caught up with all the decorating projects I had in mind when we moved in, I love that it has become the cozy, warm and minimalist space that I wanted it to be. You can read about the simple, budget tips I used to decorate my house.
I hate clutter more than anything and go through the Sort, Trash or Keep cycle almost every month for all our stuff. Organizing Kids’ clothes is difficult because kids’ closets are always a clutter attracting area. The clutter is mostly because kids are in their growing years and while there is always some stuff that they have outgrown, there is also a lot of stuff that they are growing into or just about fits them. When we moved in last year I spent a little extra time to make sure that my daughter’s closet keeps clutter free and organized as much as it can.
I am happy to say that even after a year there is not a lot of maintenance that needs to be done in her closet to make it look organized. I spend about half an hour every month to assess and organize her closet and it looks spic and span.
This is how her closet looks from outside
Before I show you more detailed pictures there are a few points and tips I would like to share first.
Buying Clothes– Honestly I don’t spend a LOT of money on Samaira’s clothes since she is in her growing years and her size changes every month or so and I hate to waste money on clothes that will be redundant in a while. Another reason is that we have a very loving extended family and she keeps getting clothes as gifts from her grandparents, uncles, aunts and lot of other relatives. But most of all, I want to lead an intentional and purposeful life and hoarding a lot of clothes or any stuff is never a priority for us. Having fewer but good quality clothes is more important for me.
Brands– I am not a Brand Loyalist and while I love cute and pretty clothes, my major concern is to buy clothes that have good quality fabric, colors don’t run and fit well. Whether they are branded or not hardly makes a difference.
Storing Clothes– Since we live in a two climate area like Delhi, we need clothes according to the weather. So there are sun dresses, shorts, sphagetti tops etc. for hot summers, full sleeved tees and shirts, pants, leggings, light cardigans etc. for spring, autumn and finally heavy woolens, jackets, coats etc for winter. As a rule I have only the clothes for that particular season in the closet, the other clothes are stored in a suitcase and kept in the loft above the closet. Once the season starts changing I just have to take the current clothes ( but before that I donate or throw the clothes which won’t fit Samaira next year) and swap them with clothes in the loft. You can also read how to store winter clothes here.
Storage accessories– Honestly I don’t have a lot of storage accessories for Samaira’s closet because she has limited clothes and therefore it is easy to fold them and store. The one thing I splurged on was the cloth rod system in her closet (In fact it is there in all our closets). All the dresses which need to be hanged are hung on it, and since it is so high I get a lot of space under the clothes for storage. The rod comes completely down with its handle and makes it easy to take out clothes.
The Closet
Now, as promised here are the detailed pictures of the closet.
So this is the top shelf of the closet. I have lined the bottom of all shelves with contact paper in cute patterns. So instead of the boring newspapers, you get pretty princesses and rabbits peeking out of the closet. The inside of the closet is white in color and that makes it look bigger and cleaner.
So the left hand side of the rod system has all of Samaira’s party dresses hung size wise and the right hand side has her casual dresses. The bottom left hand side has pants, jeans and dressy tees. Middle of the shelf has casual ethnic wear like suits and the right hand side has school uniform.
This is how the cloth rod looks when pulled completely down. It is super easy to organize and take out clothes, at the same time it is not possible for Samaira to pull this down so the clothes remain super safe.
The second shelf in the closet has night suits on the left and just behind them are her shorts and skirts. The right side has her tees to wear at home, behind that are her leggings and pants for home. As I said we don’t horde a lot of clothes but I keep changing her clothes every two months. One reason I am able to keep a limit on clothes is because Samaira is a super neat child and she hardly ever gets food stains, juice spills or colors on her clothes. (*Touchwood*)
The other side of the second shelf has the only baskets I use for storage. The orange basket in the front has her school kit which has her Identity card, belt, tie and Socks. This small little basket saves so much time in the morning because everything needed for her school is there. Once she is back from the school she keeps everything in the basket and we are saved from any chaos in the morning. The yellow basket has her undershirts and underpants.
The pink cloth basket has her swim suits, some fun costumes, belts, scarves etc.
What’s not there in the closet
Her heavy ethnic clothes like lehengas and suits are stored in a bed box in a saree bag.
Like I mentioned all her winter stuff is stored in boxes and kept in the loft above the closet.
Her shoes are in the bottom drawer of the closet (Sorry I forgot to click a picture)
All her accessories are stored in the advitiya hair accessory organizer that I have reviewed before.
What I want to change in the closet
Hangers – In the beginning I had all fabric hangers for her cute clothes but now some plastic ones have crept in. So I am going to change all her hangers to the fabric ones and in the same color too.
Pretty Baskets – Although I am happy with the baskets I am using currently, I am looking for some pretty and matching baskets for organization. Any ideas?
If you have a baby or an infant, I am sure you will have lot more stuff to store like diapers, more clothes, booties, caps etc. If you are short on space you can use my magic way of folding and storing clothes. As the kids grow they will need less clothes but probably they will accumulate other stuff.
So this was a tour of my daughter’s closet, nothing fancy or flamboyant. Just simple, easy and practical method of organizing. This is a small closet devoid of any expensive organizing tools but it works for us. Here is one last look at the closet.
What are your tips and tricks for organizing kids’ closets? Do you want to share pictures of your kids’ closets with us? We will love to feature them on the blog so send them to me at swapna(at)themomviews(dot)com.
