Looking for some helpful toddler closet organization tips. These seven simple tips and tricks will help keep your toddler’s closet clean as a whistle without stressing out you or your child.
Life as a parent is chaotic. It’s stressful, it’s often loud, and it’s always messy.
You do not need the extra stress of digging through piles in a small closet trying to find your 3-year-olds favorite stuffed animal as you’re already late trying to get your other kid to soccer practice on time.
Keeping your child’s room organized can seem like an impossible task.
But, organization doesn’t have to be a lost cause.
We’re here to give you 7 simple tips and tricks that will help you keep your toddler’s closet tidy and clutter-free.
Having an organized kids’ closet can make life so much easier, so let’s get started streamlining those closets of yours — it’ll be worth it in the end, promise!
This post is all about toddler closet organization tips to maximize your storage space.
Toddler Closet Organization Ideas
1) Organize your kids clothes by type
The first step is to sort items and organize the clothes in your toddler’s closet by type of clothing.
For example, put all the dresses together, all the rompers together, all the sweatshirts together, etc. You get the point.
Organizing your kids’ closets this way makes it super easy to find exactly what you’re looking for when you need it.
You may notice with this closet pictured, we also removed the bi-fold closet doors.
My daughter’s room is pretty small so removing the doors was one of the easiest ways to add a little square footage to her room.
Removing the doors also eliminated my anxiety about pinched fingers, and it keeps me motivated to keep the closet looking tidy since there aren’t any doors to hide anything.
[RELATED: The Best Nursery Storage Ideas For Small Spaces]
2) Keep only a small selection of clothes in your toddler’s closet
This might seem like a no-brainer but if you’re like me and make impulsive clothes-buying decisions, the number of clothes in your kid’s closet can accumulate quickly.
Take stock of what’s in the closet periodically and if it’s starting to look cluttered, follow these tidy tips to get your closet space back in order.
Tidy Tips
- Remove any clothing items that no longer fit and put the small items in storage (Donate the clothes you don’t love but are still in good condition and store the others in a Rubbermaid container for the next kid).
- Remove any clothing items that are no longer in season and put them in storage or the back of the closet.
- Are there any clothes you NEVER use? Maybe that shirt Great Aunt Betty got you and it’s just not your style? Don’t feel bad about donating it if it’s not your absolute favorite. It’s better being used by someone who needs it than taking up space in your nursery closet.
[RELATED: 7 Brilliant Space-Saving Ideas For Your Nursery]
3) Use a shelving unit on your closet floor
The cube shelf we have at the bottom of our closet is from Walmart.
I already had it to use in my daughter’s first nursery, so I wanted to reuse it. But I personally would not recommend this particular organizer.
It has been OKAY, but it’s starting to fall apart and is not the most sturdy.
The shelving we mounted at the top of the closet is the Threshold Cube Organizer from Target and it is MUCH better quality.
Cube organizers are AMAZING for taking advantage of wasted space and keeping an organized kids closet.
These closet organizers are a great way to be able to display some books and toys on the open shelves but also tuck away some items in cute storage baskets.
In this closet, we used cube organizers on the bottom and top of the closet to maximize our storage space.
To add the shelf at the top of the closet, we removed the existing shelf and mounted the cube organizer to the wall with some L-Brackets.
4) Keep storage bins to one category
Below are images of four of the storage bins we have in our cube organizer.
The best way to keep these bins organized is to make sure each one has its own category.
This way you know exactly what’s in each box and aren’t stuck wasting time, digging through all of them to find what you need.
You can see below that we have a box for diapers and wipes, a box for sheets & towels, and a box for extra hangers.
All three of those boxes are kept up on the top shelf because I don’t want my 2-year-old messing around with those items.
We use the cubes on the bottom as toy storage to store toys that aren’t especially pretty and don’t really have a good place elsewhere. Don’t worry if all the boxes aren’t full. Just stick to your categories.
Trust me, you will regret it if you overfill your boxes.
If you’re looking for some storage bin ideas, check out my post here on some of the cutest bins and baskets you can find for your kids’ rooms.
5) Imagine your child’s closet is a display at a store
It’s time to put on your professional organizer hat.
This is one of my favorite toddler closet organization tips because sometimes it can just be hard to know where to start.
My suggestion is to think if your toddler’s closet was a display in a store, how would you set it up?
This is a good mindset to have when you’re trying to figure out how to set up the closet in an attractive way.
Of course, especially with younger children, it’s not going to stay perfect but if you’re following these tips, it should be relatively quick and easy to tidy up and reorganize
The tidy tips below will help give you some ideas to style your closet shelves.
Of course, it’s your closet so do what works best for you and fits your aesthetic. There’s not one right or wrong way to do this.
Tidy Tips
- Pick some of your favorite and most beautiful books to display prominently.
- Put books of similar size together on the shelf.
- Find books with similar themes (i.e. science, space, animal, etc.) and keep those together on the shelf.
- Find books with similar colors and store those together. I’ve seen some really cool shelves where people put their books in rainbow order. I’m not quite that dedicated and wouldn’t be able to maintain it, but if you are it really is so stunning and creative!
- To add to the aesthetic, find one of your kid’s favorite stuffed animals or other toys that matches the theme of your books and display that with the books on the shelf.
- Experiment with storing books both vertically and horizontally to add interest and dimension.
[RELATED: 16 Nursery Bookshelf Ideas That Will Make Your Baby’s Room Look Adorable]
6) Don’t overfill your storage bins or shelves
Your kids probably have a lot of stuff so this tip can be hard but it’s arguably one of the most important.
Similar to overloading the closet with clothes, if you overfill your shelves and cubes with books, toys, etc., it will inevitably look cluttered.
Stick to the display mindset, keep similar items together, think honestly about what you truly need, and don’t be afraid to store or donate extra toys/books if there’s just too much to fit.
I keep extra books in a Rubbermaid container in our basement and then try to rotate the books for holidays or every month or two to give my little one a new selection to choose from.
7) Re-tidy the closet at least twice per year
Put it on your calendar for spring and fall to take a quick inventory of your closet and spend 20-30 minutes reorganizing.
If you keep on top of this, it should not take nearly as long as the first time
You have kids so there’s no way it’s going to stay perfect all the time and it’s easy to just throw things out of order when you’re in a hurry so it’s helpful to check in once in a while and do a quick reorganization.
This will prevent the closet from getting out of control and turning into an overwhelming task you’re dreading.
I think spring and fall are the best times of year for this since you may also be rotating the clothing at these times to accommodate for different weather.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do I keep my toddler’s closet organized?
Keeping a toddler’s closet organized can be quite a challenge! And, with a young child like that, it’s never going to be perfect.
But, there are some things you can do to set your closet up for success.
First, it’s important to keep track of clothing sizes and styles.
Take everything out of the closet and sort it into piles according to type, size, and season.
Get rid of anything that is stained, too small, or doesn’t fit anymore. This helps to ensure only the clothing items your child actually wears and needs are in the closet which in turn helps to keep it organized.
It’s also easier to keep your toddler’s closet organized if you use closet rod or shelf dividers for different sections like shirts, pants, and dresses.
You also want to make sure everything has a place – assign specific areas in their closet for each item they own (i.e., socks in one corner and toys in another).
Label each section so that it’s easy to find what you’re looking for quickly and everything gets put back in the proper place.
Teach your child where those places are so they can help put things away when needed. Of course, do not expect great accuracy on this from a small child.
Finally, consider using storage boxes to store out-of-season baby clothes such as winter coats or bathing suits during summer months when they won’t be needed – this will help minimize clutter while still keeping those items within easy reach when they’re needed again! I prefer to use clear containers so I can see what items are in each bin.
With these simple tips, keeping your toddler’s closet organized will become much easier!
What are some of the best storage solutions for a toddler closet?
One of my favorite storage solutions for a toddler closet is using bins and baskets.
Bins and baskets allow you to organize small items like socks or accessories while also keeping them out of sight.
They can look really stylish in your closet too!
Choose different shapes, sizes, and colors of bins to match your room design so that everything has its own designated space.
You could even label each bin with a name or picture so your child knows exactly where their things belong.
Using hanging rods is another great storage solution for a toddler closet since they create more vertical space in which to store items.
You could also consider using small hooks on the wall near the hanging rod or door hangers in order to hang hats and other accessories that don’t fit into drawers or shelves.
Finally, adding organizers within drawers is also a great solution for toddler closet organization.
Small organizers such as dividers or cubbies can be used to separate smaller items such as burp cloths or hair accessories so they remain neat and organized when not in use.