Yes, I know we are right in the middle of our fantastic Interviewing the Incredibles series, but I just couldn’t wait to share my latest project! I mean, with all this great information and inspiration from the superheroes of organization and diy, you wouldn’t believe all the things getting done in my house. Plus, one of the upcoming “Incredibles” being featured, Jen from IHeart Organizing, is also sharing my latest project! Eeep! I’m so honored! Her blog is to drool for!!
Well, there may not be skeletons in my little one’s closet, but everything else sure is in there! Remember when you were little and cleaning your room was difficult? You would stow that item you had no idea what to do with, and inevitably your mom would check the closet or under the bed, and then you were in trouble and still stuck with those items you didn’t know what to do with! It didn’t seem fair. Was that only my childhood?
Here are a my organizing tips and budget friendly decor fixes…
Assembling For The Perfect Layout
From the very outset it is important to plan your closet layout according to your child’s particular needs. Make a checklist of items your child needs to store in their closet, and draw a rough draft of where you want shelving to go. Make sure that you allocate upper shelves for out-of-season storage, or items you are willing to be responsible for, and make everything else within your child’s reach or plan to purchase a small step stool.
Keep your costs down when purchasing a closet system by choosing the non name-brand hardware, hang tracks, and standards…these parts tend to be universal. Then if you like a particular brands shelves, rods, and brackets you can opt to purchase those separately to fit on your track and standard.
It’s All In The Details…I also use these hanging tags on her dresser…which is why you’ll find extra categories on the label printouts.
Purse Hangers: Rather than spending money on purse holding hooks, I picked up some cheap (but pretty) shower curtain hooks at a Goodwill thrift store and simply bent the end tab to face the side. The trick is to find the cheap hooks you can bend by hand… anything else will be too sturdy! At $3 for a bag full of hooks, thrifty can’t be beat. I used the rest of these hooks in my entryway closet to store purses…I absolutely love them!
Scarves & Shawls
During the winter months I keep frequently used scarves organized in the entryway closet. Less used scarves, shawls, and fancy neck wraps are kept neatly in this wooden crate. You can find small wooden boxes at your local fabric or craft store and give it a coat of paint, or like me, just scour the thrift stores for little wooden crates. I found this little guy for $1. Extra hats or other miscellaneous out-of-season items could also be kept here.
Canvas Bins
I love canvas bins! Label your bins using a little piece of the paint chip you used to make clothing tags, it adds a pop of color consistent with the rest of your design. Canvas bins make for great storage, I think they are attractive, and the best part…after a little couponing they are just my kind of price! *wink*
I purchased medium canvas bins at JoAnn Fabrics for $3 each, after using their rare and coveted 50% coupons on each item. JoAnn frequently provides 25%-30%coupons through the Sunday papers, but if you are on their mailing list they send much better coupons including the occasional percentage off sale items…plus they accept competitor coupons! Woop!
Watches & Accessories
Often we assemble our closet system for every shelf and bar to line up perfectly… sometimes imperfection is the name of the game for maximum storage! I cut my clothing rods to over lap the shelf just a little. It makes a great place to hang extra hair clips, and watches. My family doesn’t do jewelry, but I imagine for those who have other wrist wear, this would be a good place to hang them, just in reach and on display.
Shoe Storage
Were you wondering why I had some shoes up high and some down below? Because my kids are TALENTED at losing shoes. Nothing is more frustrating than rushing around in the moments before you are due to leave for an appointment trying to find “the other foot”. NOTHING!!! So I separate to keep it simple for the kids. Rather than a huge messy pile of shoes that magically disappear when you need them, store out-of-season, and special occasion shoes up high and out of reach. Keep only the shoes used regularly during that season within easy reach near the floor. Rather than spending extra money to expand the closet system to accommodate shoes, I saved massively using an inexpensive laminate shoe shelf for the floor.
Belts & Hair Accessories
The most economical hooks I could find were these $3 hooks created for hanging keys. Whatever you decide to use, be sure to find an item with small enough hooks to accommodate a child’s belt buckle size. I hung this hook set just below the light switch to the side wall of the closet within easy reach of little ones. My middle munchkin stores her belts, hair clips and bands here.
Plastic Drawers
I admit it, I was loathe to use a couple hideous plastic drawers, but I really needed to focus on the practical solution for helping my child stay organized, and smaller drawers that my kid can’t possibly destroy seemed to be the best solution. So plastic it is! It was also the best budget solution at $7 each at Walmart on sale. Well who say’s you have to sacrifice style for function? I created a few drawer printouts to hide my child’s messy drawer contents, label the drawers for easy separation, and give her closet a little design.
Drawer Printables
As always, I’m happy to make my drawer covers available to you as well. Simply print onto 8.5 x 11 full sheet labels, then cut to size and adhere. There are other more permanent methods, such as printing onto cardstock, and slipping it in from the inside of the drawer. Some use mod podge, others adhere using a spray glue…I opt to keep it simple and changeable by using labels. Flexible is better being that it is a child’s room, and the drawers will not always be used for this purpose as I will most likely “grow” her room design with her. I have included two other designs I created while trying to get to my final choice. They are label-less, so you can use a label maker, or download in Word and create a label over top before printing. Enjoy!
Pink Chevron Drawer Printable
- Pink Chevrons – Blank
- Pink Chevrons – Shorts
- Pink Chevrons – Stockings
- Pink Chevrons – Panties
- Pink Chevrons – Socks
- Pink Chevrons – Winter Wear
- Pink Chevrons – Swim Wear
Like This? You’ll Love These!
Create a beautiful and practical space with these ideas for using wall hooks for storage and design | 30+ Closet Organization Ideas | How to store clothes hangers for more space |
here from i heart organizing too! Where do you find the chevron packaging labels?
Thanks for sharing!
http://www.blessedbeginningsbaby.com
Welcome! Thanks for the question. You can purchase a blank 8 1/2 x 11 packaging label at any office supply store, I found mine at Staples… and of course you simply click on the links above to print the design onto the label! 😉 Enjoy!
here from i heart organizing too…looks great!
I love this where did you get those plastic hooks that you hung the plastic rod on …..I was looking for something like that for the wire shelves in my own daughters closet
The closet rod support bracket is a part of the ClosetMaid brand. You can find them at Home Depot in the wire shelving section.
Good luck with your daughters closet! Girly spaces are lots of fun.
This closet and all the labels are awesome!! I just showed my husband and told him we HAVE to work on a closet like this for our daughter. New follower here. 🙂
http://www.nadanadalimonada.com
Great Organizational ideas!
minettesmaze.blogspot.com
We just moved across the country into a smaller (rental) home. My daughter just turned 16 and is very girly. The purse hooks are ingenious. We have some left over shabby chic ones that will look *divine* (she has to share a bathroom with a brother now-and he’s not crazy about the bling bling!) What did you use to adhere the drawer covers? I have a few other places that I want to do this idea! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you, it’s my pleasure to share! I print the drawer labels onto 8.5 x 11 packaging labels, then just peel the back off and adhere to the front of the drawer! 😉
*gasp* super smart! Thanks!
This has given me some great ideas for two of my girls who share a room and closet. They are little and can’t put clothes away yet without help but this gets me thinking for how they can “grow” into it! Thanks for sharing!
love this closet!! please keep posting!
Saw your closet over at I Heart Organizing this morning! That’s awesome — Jen’s blog is one of my favorites. The tags are very cute!
Thank you!
Yes, IHeart Organizing is very very swoon worthy! 😀 I consider it such an honor as she is one of my fav’s as well!
I love your closet and the cute labels. I would like to add a few other labels for my daughter’s closet, but have the font match the ones you shared. Do you remember the name of the font you used? Thanks! Thanks for sharing so many other great ideas on your blog!
Thank you Nikki!
The font is called Gasoline Alley NF. I used Avery.com label design and print to create the labels using that particular available font. Hope that helps!