WFMW - Cheap Kids Closet Organizer

WfmwbannerWelcome to this week’s Works for Me Wednesday tip at Little Jack’s Corner! 

I grew up with small closets… you know, the kind that is about 6 feet wide, 2 feet deep, with one lonely bar hanging about 3/4ths of the way up?

I hated them then, and I still hate them now.  Once upon a time, I declared that when I “got my own place” my closets would be the huge walk in type.

That was before marriage, interest rates, and money management kicked in.

Now I not only have “my own place”, but I have 3 nice smalllll closets to go with it.  So what did I do?  I set about figuring how to maximize my space.  Not only have I effectively organized the (small) closet my husband and I share (and we have a tushy load of clothes), but I have also organized my baby’s closet.  The way I maximize my space allows me not to have to “change out” clothes seasonally - there’s plenty of room to store all of our clothes.

How I Did It

Now, for anyone who has ever had one of these small, wide closets, you should realize that clothes hanging side to side, in the normal fashion, is not the best use of space.  Furthermore, using only one bar when much of our clothing on hang down a few feet is wasting even more space.

The Solution?

Instead of running the long generic bar from one side to the other, install a short bar and run it from front to back.  For most small closets you can do this 4 times.  Two bars will be placed on the right - the first one just below the generic long bar (enough to give hangers clearance) and then another about halfway down.  Then repeat on the left side.

This effectively quadruples the available space for hanging shirts!  Plus you then still have the middle section to hang long dresses on the generic side to side bar.  And since you will now be viewing your shirts from the front (instead of the shoulder edge), you can hang them closer together and just “thumb” through them when you need one.  Needless to say, hanging clothes closer together gives you more room as well.

Bonus - if you don’t need the top shelves of your closet and would rather have hanging space, remove the shelves, install one more long generic side to side bar near the top of the closet and add two more front-to-back bars on each side.  That’s how we have our master closet.

Doing it Cheaply and Prettily

I am a firm believer that organization doesn’t have to cost much if you are able to think outside the box.  I also believe though that in order to keep up the habits of good organization, your storage and closets need to be aesthetically pleasing.

Formerly, I would have my dad, a contract fence installer, install one of his left over fence poles (cut down to size) in the closets for me.  And bam…free storage made easy. 

But it was ugly!  And every time I would peek in my closet, the look of the thick pole would annoy me.  Even painting it didn’t help in my eyes.

I needed a better, more aesthetically way to do it myself - from easy sizing to easy installation.  Finally I discovered the solution!

Shower rods.

Yep.  Shower rods.   And I don’t mean the long rods-that-go-over-the-tub-shower-combo.  At Walmart (and I’m sure at many other places too) you can find short little 20-46 inch expandable / retractable shower tension mounted rods designed to hang curtains over actual shower stalls.  The ones I found come in cream or bright white.  And they only cost $4.96 each.

Perfect!  

I now have 5 shower-turned-closet rods in different areas of my home.  They worked wonders for my son’s closet, especially with all of his cute baby clothes that needed storage.  Plus, when he gets older he’ll be able to reach the lower rods easily!

 

And if you’re wondering if they can really hold weight, I have one rod in my uber :) organized front living room closet with all of our heavy winter coats hanging on it.  Just be sure the tension mount is tight enough (it’s just a simple twist and lock type of mechanism).

So there you have it… cheap, easy, and aesthetically pleasing closet organization for kids rooms, parents rooms or any room in the house! :)

For more great Works for Me Wednesday tips from the blogosphere, head over to Rocks in My Dryer.