I’ve been really excited to share this with you! (despite my “stellar” photography skills) I’m pretty proud of my daughter’s nursery closet. It’s very functional and tidy! And easy to find what I need.
When I was getting our nursery ready for our little one, I researched and researched how to organize all that tiny stuff. I watched videos on YouTube, read multiple blogs, and noticed the typical ways parents organized their newborn’s closet: either 1) install a closet organization system, 2) slide a dresser into the closet (cute idea!), or 3) purchase some hanging organizers.
Hanging organizers made the most sense to me. I didn’t want to spend the money on a closet organization system for a baby’s needs, when a toddler or small child may have different needs. And sliding a dresser into the closet didn’t make sense in our shallow closet.
I wanted some pretty hanging organizers in a print, and I found these adorable toile patterned ones from IKEA. There were 7 compartments, as well as little pouches on the outside. I purchased 2 hanging organizers, as well as 2 sets of matching collapsable drawers. I also found a set of 2 large lidded storage containers. In total, it cost me $75.
I am IN LOVE with these hanging organizers! I love having the closet doors open so I can look at them! 🙂
So, here’s an overall look at my daughter’s closet. It’s functional, and looks tidy (most of the time).
So let me talk you through how I have everything organized in the closet. Below is a side-by-side look at the 2 hanging organizers. The left organizer is full of the collapsable drawers. It stores most of my daughter’s clothes. The right side holds spare clothes dividers (you’ll see that in a second), sun hats, sleep blankets, sweaters, and swaddle/receiving blankets.
You may think the drawers are small, but it ensures we can’t go overboard on clothes 🙂
Here are a few pictures of close up detail! The hanging organizers have 3 little pouches on the exterior. At first, I had NO idea what to use them for. But then I discovered that they were the perfect size for little shoes. One other little pouch is dedicated to Target bags for travel laundry bags.
And then, the labels! I made the labels myself, cutting out squares of cardstock and using a lattice-style paper punch I already had to add the cut detail. Then I cut some brown ribbon that I happened to have on hand to tie little bows. Easy! And free 🙂 I have some spare labels and ribbons stashed in an empty storage drawer.
We have hanging space for clothes in between the 2 hanging organizers, as well as to the left and right of the organizers. In the center, between the organizers, hang current dresses/outfits that we use on a regular basis.
In the below picture, I have close up shots of the other hanging spaces. To the left of the hanging organizers are the puffy fancy dresses that need more hanging space. We also keep spare hangers on that side. To the right of the hanging organizers are where we keep clothes our daughter has yet to grow into. This was KEY in the beginning. We got lots of clothes as gifts and, thankfully, received clothes in multiple sizes. I purchased these clothes dividers on Amazon for $5.00!
My favorite organizing moment in this entire closet is that picture on the right of the blue dress. In the beginning, my husband had a hard time finding clothes to dress our daughter. He had her in floral on floral one day 🙂 I needed to find a way to keep all outfit components together so it would be easier for him. I ran out to Target and found these child hangers and individual pant clips. I just stuck one pant clip on a hanger, which was perfect to hang a pair of baby pants, tights or diaper cover. Then over top was the matching shirt, dress, sweater, etc. So all my husband had to do was grab one hanger, and all the outfit items were together. Genius!
On to floor storage. I don’t like much on the floor of the closet so that I can clean easier. But it was essential to have a few things sitting on the floor.
On the left side, just sticking out, is the pack-n-play. We use it often, so it doesn’t make sense putting it in long term storage in the attic.
Then we have a small teal laundry basket that we use as a hamper. Pretty cheap and cheerful! There are certainly prettier, cuter hampers out there, but I wanted one that could double as a hamper and laundry basket. Target currently isn’t selling this basket, but keep your eyes peeled when the college, back-to-school items pop up.
I have one of the IKEA lidded storage containers on the floor as well. I use this one for clothes that our daughter has outgrown. Which brings me to the large bins! I’ve just gone through the IKEA storage container and removed all the 0-3 month and 3-6 month clothes our daughter had outgrown and am starting to sort and store for the long term. Those bins are temporary (thank goodness).
Finally, the top shelf. It doesn’t hold much right now, and most of it is “what are we going to do with it?” items. And it’s not all that exciting. On the left side is a IKEA lidded storage container with afghans we received as gifts. I also have a few keepsake items. Can you see her humidifier?
On the right side of the top shelf is a box full of first aide type items. I need to purchase a large clear tote or some clear drawers to store these items. But that’s to come! And in the far back corner is a stack of my husband’s old Hardy Boys book collection. They’ll eventually come out when our daughter is a little older!
And that’s the little tour! Hopefully there were some helpful tips for you! I really don’t think that when you’re prepping a nursery closet that you need to put in a high-end custom closet, or need to fill it with expensive bits and bobs. To be honest, what the baby needs in the first year may be completely different after that first year, so flexible storage is key!
If I had more moolah, I’d by some more IKEA lidded storage containers to stash the top shelf items and spare hangers. That would make everything look cleaner, and shoot! Prettier to look at 🙂 Good luck organizing your nursery closet! It’s such fun!
