With the end of summer approaching, many people are beginning to plan for back to school time. While this means different things to different people, for many it means things like buying school supplies, getting fall and winter clothes out of storage closets, cleaning the garage and organizing home storage areas.
If your back to school to-do list includes organizing the storage areas of your home, then you're probably looking for ideas for your storage needs. Different areas require different systems, not only because of what will be placed there, but because of space restrictions as well. So let's take a look at good ideas for one of the most messy storage areas in any parent's home - the children's closets.
Toy Storage Drawers
During the rush that is so common on school day mornings, one area that needs to be well organized is children's closets. A great way to organize even the smallest of closets is by arranging it so that your child can take care of his or her clothes on their own. A short, freestanding dresser that they can reach can be used to organize clothes. To make organizing easier, help your child cut pictures out of magazines of what goes in each drawer, and then tape them to the outside of that drawer.
To keep shoes in one place, and thus avoid the morning scramble for missing shoes, buy a large basket, and either keep it in the closet, or right outside. Then, teach your child to put his or her shoes in the basket as soon as they walk in the door. This idea can be used for shelving systems as well. Buy sets of baskets or totes that are all different colors, and then store different things in each one.
For example, you can install shelving systems in larger closets, right next to the dresser. Then you can store hats and gloves in one basket, hair brushes and ribbons in another, belts in the third, etc. This idea can also be used to organize your child's toys, with solid wood shelving systems along one wall rather than in the closet. Then, cars go in one basket, legos go in another basket, musical toys go in a third basket, etc.
Keeping your child's room and closet well organized can reduce the stress of school day morning. And teaching your kids to keep their closets and rooms organized by themselves can greatly reduce your stress year round!