In these cold winter months, I can’t help but dream of warmer days. But you know what spring means…SPRING CLEANING!!! Where better to start but a place that never seems to stay clean…your kids’ bedrooms!

Yes, a child’s bedroom is supposed to be a place they can call their own, a domain they control. A place with everything they like and (theoretically) nothing they don’t like. But the reality of your child’s bedroom is that it is still within YOUR house, and for most people, that means you’d like to keep it somewhat tidy.

So how do you allow children to have some independence when it comes to their own bedrooms, but still keep the chaos under control? Let’s take a look.

Start With Their Closets

A child’s closet is the perfect place to store everything from their clothes to their toys to their hobbies. The potential truly is endless. But if you don’t come up with a way to organize all of those different things, it ends up just being a jumbled mess and only adds to the unruliness you are trying to overcome.

Determine Their Purpose

First things first, figure out what is going to go in your child’s closet. Clothes are one of the most obvious choices because even if your child has a dresser, there will usually be clothes that can’t be folded and have to be hung up. Plus, things like coats or sweaters don’t fold well. Take a look at the amount of stuff that needs to go into the closet and how much room it’s going to take up, and then come up with the best way of storing it.

For example, can you simply hang everything, or do you need more shelving in their closet? Can you stack bins on the bottom or use one of these closet organizers. Not only are they super inexpensive, but they really maximize your space.

Consider Accessibility

Organize your kids’ closets in a way that makes sense for how they will use it. Have the things they need to get to daily front and center (or if you have small children, in a place they can reach), and the things that just need a resting place above or below in bins that take a little sorting when you need to get something they don’t use often.

SIDE NOTE: If you have small children, this can be a great way to establish their daily routines. I use these three-drawer plastic bins to store little pants, socks, pjs, etc. and set them on the floor of my son’s closet. Then, not only does it maximize space in his room, but I can prompt him multiple times a day to “go get your pjs on,” or “go get a pair of socks on” and those things are within his reach. You can also use this trick if you want to keep certain things out of your child’s hands. For example, my son has a lot of fragile baby things that I don’t want him to be able to get to. So, I put those in bins in the top of his closet where he can’t reach.

Organize By Size

If you’re organizing your child’s closets, I’m assuming they’re too young to do it themselves, which means they’re probably in the range of growing out of clothes approximately every other week. This tip makes that process easier.

First of all, I don’t have time to go through my kids’ closets more than probably a couple times a year, if that. So when I do take the time to organize them, I add in the next several months of clothes to keep me covered until I get another chance to organize it.

For example, I just reorganized my 4 month old’s room. He’s a little small, according to his clothing sizes, so a lot of what he wears now is 3 month clothing. But logically, he will not fit that for long, so instead of just stocking 3 month clothes, I stock his dresser with 3 month, 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. That way, instead of buying myself a month before he grows out of all his clothes, I bought myself at least 3.

Another great part about organizing their clothing by size is that you can see whether you need to go shopping. If you putt out all of the 6 month clothing you have for them and find that you don’t have much, you may need to purchase more and you can do that before you get stuck without anything for them to wear.

Toys

Now a closet can be a great place to store toys, but I really only use the closet for toys I’m trying to put away or keep away for awhile. For those of us who recycle our kids’ toys, or in other words, but some of them away for a while only to be discovered later, instead of buying new toys, this is a great method. Those super high shelve go mainly unnoticed in a kid’s closet and you can use opaque bins so that your children can’t see through them. This not only saves you money, but they get excited again every time they find an old friend.

Kids Closets Aren’t Just for Kids

This one really only applies for small children who can’t access all parts of their closet. I have two small boys and I use both of their closets for extra space for things we need to store. They both have a lot of storage space at the top of their closets with shelves that I stack clear, plastic bins, with labels of course, and store all kids of stuff. From computer cords, to wrapping paper and tissue paper, to Christmas decorations. As long as they can’t get to it and don’t need the space, go for it!

Here’s what our closets look like:

No, they’re not perfectly clean, but they are organized. We use bins at the bottom to store clothing we aren’t using right now and the clothes we are using are hung up and easy to access. We also use three-drawer bins to separate what would go in a dresser: sweat clothes, pants, socks, pjs, etc. We also use an open face dresser we found at a yardsale with baskets to organize smaller things and lined up shoes on the bottom.

We also use the tops of the these closets for additional storage. They aren’t pictured here because they are still a work in progress, but it’s a great place to use shoebox-sized bins and stack and label them accordingly. Store anything from computer cords to tissue paper and you don’t have to worry about small children getting into them. The top of the closet is also a great place to store extra pillows and blankets you can’t fit in your linen closet.

The point is to have a place for everything, and everything will have a place. How do you organize your kids’ closets?

For more articles on making momming easier, check out Healthy Moms.