Simple Shelving

Tame Closet Chaos with These Helpful Shelving Tips

Are your kids excited about their new school clothes but dread putting them away in that messy closet? The stress of that mess can leave them feeling deflated. Don’t let that happen, I have the solution! Recently, I went school clothes shopping with my sister and niece. I was so excited to buy my niece a few stylin’ threads to add to her already growing new wardrobe. But when we brought them home, I opened her closet door and I was literally struck in the face by a tumbling Scrabble game! Pieces of the game were strewn all over her room. I was mortified by the disarray. There were books, games, and bookbags mixed in with jeans, sweaters and dresses. Everything was amuck.

My sister and I decided it was time to get her closet under control before we mingled in any of the new clothes. After spending a small fortune on clothes, however, there wasn’t much left in the budget for a major closet facelift. But getting organized doesn’t require a huge budget. You can add space by cleaning up clutter and using inexpensive shelf dividers and bins. We at mDesign have the perfect products for the job so I decided to show my sister how to get the job done, even on her shoestring budget.

For closets, shelf dividers and bins create boundaries by properly “zoning” like items, thus, keeping them neat and orderly and reducing closet chaos. Believe me, as a parent, you want kids to have ordered lives, and by lives, I mean closets. An organized closet can seriously reduce outfit drama on school day mornings, and nobody wants to deal with that, am I right? So, if you invest in nothing else, make sure to invest in these two items.

Beyond shelf dividers and bins, another great asset to any closet is the free-standing portable closet. If your budget allows, a free-standing closet is great for that unused space at the bottom of your closet. Investing in a portable storage unit, is money well spent because it is versatile. They can be used either vertically, stacked one atop the other, or separately, side by side, depending on the need.

To maximize closet space in your clothes closet, it is smart to remove any item that is not a garment and move into another storage area. This may prompt a closet conversion. It sounds time consuming, but in the end, it will yield much more retail real estate for you. For example, you can add more usable closet space by converting an abandoned linen closet or coat closet into additional storage.

I promise you can get this all done in one day, and here’s how:

What You Will Need

• Tape measure
• Shelf dividers, check whether you have solid or wire shelves and pick the appropriate type.
• Storage bins, both clear and colored. Both fabric and plastic bins will work.
• Baskets
  
• Stackable, portable closet unit
  

Step 1: Clean Out Your Clothing Closet

First, start by removing everything from your clothing closets.

Anything that is NOT clothing, put to the side. Next, measure the length of your closet shelf space. Depending on if you are working with children’s clothing or adult clothing, you will need to determine how many shelf dividers to place across the top shelf of your clothing closet.

Fold items neatly. This is a MUST! Don’t be tempted to just throw things up there once the dividers are in. Once the dividers are affixed to the shelf, start stacking like garments together: sweaters, t-shirts, hoodies, etc. Don’t go more than 4 or 5 garments high, and don’t stack garments higher than the divider or you’ll likely have an avalanche of clothing one day!

Step 2: Clean Out a Linen or Coat Closet

Convert a linen or coat closet to a toy/game closet, note that if you convert a coat closet you will need to add wood or metal shelving first. Repurposing a closet will create new space for you to group like-items together and get them off the floor and neatly stored. Begin by putting video games together, then sort board games by size and type. Decide if you want to store them vertically or horizontally, then use shelf dividers to keep them in place. For video games, use clear plastic bins or shelf dividers to keep titles viewable and keep them from sliding.

On another shelf, arrange books either horizontally or vertically depending on the size. mDESIGN TIP: you usually can get more books on a shelf if you store them vertically. Utilize the shelf dividers for your books as well to maintain neatness. To provide even more storage, if the closet shelves are deep, you can stack bins behind the books. Put items that roll or are odd shaped, cards, dice, balls, and collectibles into clear or colored bins, then label them. Since they will be stored behind the books, be sure to only put non-essential items in these bins.

For a more decorative look, put magazines and coloring books in woven baskets. They are both beautiful and functional when harnessing slippery covers

Step 3: Keep Them Organized

Now that you created two separate “zones” for all your items, remember to keep them organized. Once a month do a closet check and straighten books, games, etc. Keeping on top of your closets is the best way to avoid a major disaster down the road.

Joyce Colovas is a content writer at mDesign
and an avid lover of all things fun and fabulous!

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