Creating an Organized Kids Closet

Over the past several months, Sean and I have been slowly working on completing a shared bedroom and closet for our boys.  Today I’m sharing the closet portion of this project.

We decided that the best space for their new room was our fourth bedroom and were so thankful to be able to work on the space slowly without either of them needing to use or sleep in it. This room had been our “storage room” since we purchased our house and we quickly found the closet to be a home for our Christmas tree along with many items not being used. Y’all, I’m talking…can’t even walk into the closet because the stuff is stacked so high. The project started with removing everything from the entire room. This was the perfect time to purge things that hadn’t been used in a long time, were broken and still hadn’t been repaired, as well as things that I didn’t necessarily love enough to buy again now, if given the choice. It was so refreshing when the closet was finally cleared.

Since we knew this closet would be shared, we wanted to come up with a layout that would allow both of the boys equal and plenty of storage. We were shocked at how large the space actually was after removing the four builder basic shelves and rods. Sean sat on the floor with his pencil and paper and sketched out a few different ideas. We had already decided that we wanted to utilize every bit of space vertically to maximize storage and organization options. My eyes lit up when he sketched in a ton of cubbies that could hold standard sized cube bins to organize clothes, accessories and even toys. One of my requests was to incorporate shoe storage into the shelving as well. After tossing around a few options, we had a plan and he was off to Home Depot. Before installing shelving, Sean installed shiplap over the main wall of the closet to add a special touch and tie the closet in with the rest of the bedroom. He spent several hours over the next few weekends measuring, cutting and piecing MDF together to bring his sketches to life. Sean is always excited when he gets to break out his nail gun. The closet and room combined used nearly 1,000 nails.

After the shelving was nailed in place, wood filler was applied to edges of the MDF that had been cut and nail holes and imperfections were filled. We allowed the wood filler to fully dry overnight and sanded. Sanding was followed by thoroughly vacuuming and wiping the entire closet down with a microfiber cloth to catch any dust left behind. Sean used our Graco paint sprayer to give the closet a coat of primer and 2 coats of Benjamin Moore Simply White.

We purchased wooden closet rods, cut them to size and painted them black to add a little contrast. Each of the boys received an upper and lower rod to define a space for tops and bottoms to hang. The moment Sean completed the shiplap wall, I knew I wanted a special piece of art to hang in the center. After looking at pieces I loved, Sean and I both decided that it would be much more budget friendly to create our own piece due to the size we had in mind. I found this frame on sale and felt like it was a perfect match for a space that would be thoroughly explored by tiny and curious hands. This frame is sturdy and large but my favorite part Is that it uses a plastic material rather than glass to cover your photo. This was very appealing to me knowing we weren’t risking sharp pieces of glass everywhere in the event that the frame was hit or pulled from the wall. Sean printed a simple inspirational quote we both love at Office Max and we had the perfect piece to add to the shiplap wall.

We also added four of these adorable hooks below the frame to designate a spot for hanging outfits to be worn the next day. Our mornings seem to go a little smoother when we wake up prepared with clothing and supplies laid out and ready to go.

The white wooden kids hangers add a special touch to the closet and inspire me to keep clothing facing the same direction and to take the time to hang pieces after doing laundry.

The buffalo check bins were purchased from Pottery Barn kids. These are the perfect collapsible bins for hiding small items like socks, undies, baseball caps, belts, swimsuits, and even small toys.

Originally,  I had pictured a simple but fun light fixture for the closet. During demo, we realized that our home builder did not center the closet light and the majority of fixtures that would fit in the small area would not be easily visible. Most importantly, I wanted a light that was bright and gave off a crisp, clean light. Sean found these LED Edison bulbs while browsing Amazon and they are amazing. These bulbs are crystal clear, a fun shape and provide the perfect amount of light. We love them so much we replaced the bulbs in our entire house with them.

One of the top priorities while we designed this kid friendly space was safety. As a boy mom, I’m fully aware of the fun exploration adventures these two little guys have…and while I want them to have fun, I also want them safe. One of our favorite baby proofing products we have found are these amazing and affordable door locks.

It’s a simple, effective way to keep little ones out of rooms or closets that may pose a danger to them. While there’s definitely not any dangerous items in their new closet, we installed one on the door for two reasons:

1. This will help the closet stay organized. My boys have special demo skills. Really! I’m not joking, if you need a demo crew… these are your tots! It seemed logical to block off this space to avoid re-hanging every piece of clothing and organizing each bin multiple times a week. I’d much rather use that time to snuggle and play with them.

2. Cubbies pretty much scream “climb me” to little people. I can almost envision them climbing up them and not being able to get back down safely. Probably not an issue for older kids but I want to sleep soundly knowing my little loves are safe.