Many parents pride themselves on seeing their kids in nice clothes. Some even make it a duty to purchase a new piece monthly. However, before you realize it, your kids’ closet has turned into a mini kiddies clothing store.
And you have to deal with organizing your kid’s clothes as often as possible. In this article, you will learn fool-proof tips to make this tasking activity stress-free.
Why Do Your Kids’ Clothes Get Disorganized Easily?
Wondering why you always have to deal with arranging your kids’ clothes time and again? Here are 4 reasons:
The number of clothing items
Decluttering a closet filled with identical pieces in search of a shirt laying at the very bottom can be drained before you even start, not to talk of the amount of time it would consume.
Likewise, a closet full of clothes. It is often easier to give in to the urge to toss clothes over whenever you need to select a piece for your child, especially when the closet is filled to the brim with clothes.
Much more tempting is the desire to postpone the rearrangement. As such, a closet filled with clothes gets more disorganized than one with fewer garments.
The size of the closet
Dealing with a small closet makes arranging your kid’s clothes stressful, but much worse is when you need to pick a shirt.
Usually, the size of a closet determines how well you can avoid toppling clothes during a search and how firm your kid’s clothes would stand when arranged.
The sameness of items of clothing
You or your kid tend to disorganize the closet when the shirt you need has 5 other identical pieces. The sameness of clothing pieces could be confusing.
It could have you spending extra minutes than necessary to pick the right clothing piece. To avoid that, arrange clothing items with similar colors and similar patterns together for ease during a search.
Kids love to play dress-up
Yes, it’s fun to watch your kids play dress-up. It sure must have brought back some memories, but what about the mess they make of their clothes after?
While it is good to allow your kids to play dress-up as it helps improve emotional and social skills, you’d have to deal with rearranging a wardrobe that looks like a hurricane had hit it afterward.
Kids often turn their closets into a playhouse
Playing hide-and-seek games in the closet for kids isn’t uncommon. Kids like to turn their wardrobe into one of their hideouts or play with their clothes’ cabinets.
This is why many parents put fancy locks on the cabinets or closets. No one wants to go through the hassle of rearranging a heap of clothes every time you begin to wonder how come they have so many clothes.
Want To Organize Your Kids’ Clothes But Don’t Know How To Start? Follow These 4 Tips.
Get creative with the clothing arrangement
As mentioned earlier, you likely get a well-arranged closet cluttered and messy if what you need is not gracefully seated at the very top of the fold, and you are in a rush.
When your kid has a lot of clothing items, searching for a particular piece of cloth feels like a treasure hunt.
But when you become more creative with arranging your kid’s garments, finding clothes would be easier, and you won’t scatter what you had painstakingly folded earlier.
You can choose to set by color or clothing type. These methods make it easier to navigate your way through the closet.
Lock the wardrobe often
As much as you want your kid to have fun, the aftermath shouldn’t leave you with a new set of tasks.
On that note, if your kid loves to play in the wardrobe, or finds it fun to bring all the clothes out of the drawers, then it’s high time you got a fancy lock to block their access.
If they are a little mature, you could tell them to stop playing in the wardrobe instead.
Get involved as they prepare for their dress-up plays
This activity always scatters the clothing arrangement.
As a parent, you must be prepared for this moment and be involved in it. Getting involved as they prepare for their dress-up plays means that you should take over the search for the desired clothes in their stead.
This way, they wouldn’t have to toss some clothes over to reach others. Instead, you would help them select the costumes and maintain orderliness while at it.
Teach them to maintain orderliness
Children learn by imitation and instruction. When you intentionally inculcate the habit of orderliness in them, they will imbibe the habit, even if slowly.
You could teach them how to select their clothes without cluttering the wardrobe. Doing this helps your child bond with you, besides maintaining orderliness.
It gets you involved in your child’s playtime, allows you to understand why they want to dress up as whoever they choose, and you can deliberately use that moment to teach them how to keep their closet organized.
Using A Small Closet? Here Are 5 Ways To Organize Your Kids’ Clothes.
If you have a small closet or your kid’s clothes are “surprisingly” multiplying and there seem to be little to no space for the clothes to fit in, here are some handy tips on organizing their garments:
Sort out out-of-season wears
To ensure that every space in the closet is maximized, separate the clothes that aren’t needed at the moment, like those thick woolly jackets and pants that are suitable for winter, and move them into a trunk to give room for other in-season clothes.
Fold and stack clothes vertically
Whether the closet was designed with or without drawers, you can still have your kid’s clothes neatly stacked, especially when the rod is filled with hanging clothes.
To create enough space for other garments, you could double-fold your kid’s clothes and arrange them vertically. This way, the stacked clothes won’t fall off or roll out quickly, even when picking a clothing item.
Create another hanger rod
Depending on the width of your closet, you can add an extra hanger rod in the wardrobe to have more-than-enough space to hang your kids’ clothes.
It isn’t advisable to overburden the hanger’s rod in the closet with too many clothes. Besides weakening the rod, stacking so much on a hanger’s rod makes it challenging to find clothes.
Instead, an extra rod can be included inside or beside the closet for ease of selection. Do you wish to create a double rod closet for your kid?
Invest in a shoe rack
As stated earlier, you could utilize the bottom of the wardrobe, especially when there are no drawers, to stack your kid’s clothes. So, where do the shoes go? Straight on a shoe rack!
Getting a shoe rack would reduce how cluttered your kid’s closet would be and give the shoes a room of their own, making the closet more appealing.
Get an underwear bag
Giving small clothing pieces a home does the trick many times. Surely you must have invested quite some money in undergarments.
If your kid’s underwear is like a zillion, it’s high time you put them in a separate place, such as an underwear bag. This creates more space in your kid’s closets to have their clothes nicely organized.
How To Organize Different Clothing Items Your Kids Have
T-Shirt:
- Place your T-shirt on a flat surface.
- Fold the shirt such that the sides point towards the center while the sleeves point in opposite directions.
- Fold the shirt’s collar back to the bottom hem to form a rectangle.
- Fold the shirt in half again.
- You could choose to roll the shirt into a cylindrical shape.
- Place the folded or rolled T-shirt upright or face down.
OR
- Place your t-shirt on a flat surface.
- Turn your shirt up to a quarter part.
- Fold the arms until the armpit line aligns with the edge of the neckline.
- Then, fold each part together in half.
- Place the pocket end to the other side and begin to roll the t-shirt up.
- The next thing to do is to turn the pocket edge inside out.
Towel:
- Lay your towel on a flat surface.
- Fold it twice till it looks like a long rectangle.
- The next step is to discover the midpoint and fold each edge over to the midpoint.
- Once you’ve done that, you will notice a pocket edge. Tuck one end into the pocket edge and your kid’s towel is firmly secured. Need a visual representation?
Underwear:
- Spread your kid’s underpants on a flat surface.
- Fold the top twice.
- Turn it to the other side, then fold each side together.
- Take the very end, roll it up, and tuck it into the pocket edge. For a detailed visual guide, watch this video
Pants:
- Fold the pants together and lay them on a flat surface.
- Raise one leg and align it into a k-shape.
- Once you’ve done that, begin to roll from the top till the end of the other leg while the k-shaped leg folds out.
- Tuck the rolled body into the insides of the unfolded leg.
Sweater:
- Lay your sweater face down on a flat surface.
- Fold each side to the center of the material and place the sleeves down neatly on both sides.
- Then, the next step is to fold your kid’s sweater into thirds, twice. To test its stability, let it stand vertically.
Summary
As a parent, you would constantly organize your kid’s clothes. Keeping their closet tidy and nicely arranged means more than ticking an activity off your list of chores.
it also teaches your kid the value of orderliness. If you follow the details here, such as why your kid’s closet quickly gets disorganized, tips for conserving space even in a small closet, and helpful DIY hacks, organizing your kid’s closet wouldn’t be an annoying chore.
Jessica Oliver is a fashion enthusiast with more than ten years of experience in the industry. She previously managed her own clothing store in New York before becoming a mother of three. With a passion for sustainability and a desire to share clothing care and recycling tips.