To be a parent is to embrace a life of constant change. Your lifestyle changes. Your home changes. Your bank account changes. And, most importantly, you baby changes and in the blink of an eye they grow out of clothing, shoes, toys, books, furniture, cribs… And, you may ask yourself - is can anything last for more than a few months or even years? The answer is yes – closets.
Many clients ask us to help them organize their baby’s room and often that includes designing or re-designing closets that can grow along with their children and accommodate their ever-changing needs. If this sounds familiar, read on for some of our best tips for creating a closet that will last through the ages.
1. Stacking on the Shelves: Add a lot of shelving to house all of the diaper supplies and folded clothing. Make sure that the shelves are fully adjustable shelving to allow maximum flexibility. And, when it comes to organizing shelves consider adding some bins to help contain smaller items and keep the space clutter-free.
2. Make it a Double…Rod: Babies have very little need for hanging space since most of their clothing can be folded and it easily fits in drawers and in bins on shelving. By the toddler years, it is typically helpful to have one low hanging rod to hang items and make things more accessible for little hands. Then, over time you can create more hanging space with a double rod by just removing some shelving and adding an additional upper bar.
3. Digging Drawers: Drawers in a closet may seem like a luxury but it can be worth the investment as it can replace the need for a dresser down the road. This can free up space in the bedroom for different furniture configurations, toy storage and school desks as they get older. When deciding on the drawer sizes, add at least 2-3 four-inch drawers for smaller items and then a few deeper drawers to house bigger items. If you aren’t sure how deep you need them try folding some items and measuring them so you can be sure of the actual depth needed.
4. Shelves to Spare: Be sure to include a few extra shelves near the floor for shoes. This will free up floor space, help keep the closet tidy and maybe even allow some extra room for a freestanding laundry hamper to fit larger toys that don’t fit into smaller bins.
5. Hook it Up: Hooks are a great way to clear floors as they can be used for almost everything from school backpacks and helmets to sports uniforms and robes. If space allows, consider adding two rows (a low one and high one) to maximize space and to let your little one help hang up things up too.
Hopefully, these tips are helpful when it comes to designing your next closet…now, if only it was as easy to teach our little ones to put their items away in their closets.
Happy Organizing!
For examples of some of our closet designs, click here.