Our Best Tips for Organizing With Kids (Inside Shea McGee’s Kids’ Closets)
We've had the honor of organizing so many spaces in Shea and Syd McGee's home, from the laundry room to the craft room to the pantry to the primary closet and bathroom. Today I'm excited to share one more: the kids' closets.
There's something so special about organizing spaces for kids. It's not just about creating a beautiful room, it's about setting kids up with systems they can actually understand, use, and eventually maintain on their own. In Shea's home, we had the opportunity to design closets that are as functional for little hands as they are beautiful to look at. Here's exactly how we did it, plus some of my favorite tips for organizing with kids at any age.
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Designing Kids' Closets That Are Both Beautiful and Functional
Shea's kids have generous closets with plenty of hanging space, shelving for books, and room for baskets and toys to be displayed rather than hidden away. Our job was to take advantage of all of that space intentionally, creating closets that feel calm and organized while still being fun and kid-friendly.
Maximizing Hanging Space
With so much hanging space available, we made sure clothing was easy for each child to see, choose from, and put back. Categorizing by type and color (something we do in every closet we organize, kids included) makes it simple for even young children to start recognizing where things belong.
Velvet Hangers for a Cohesive Look
We used kids’ velvet hangers throughout the kids' closets. They're sized appropriately for smaller clothing, thin enough to maximize hanging space, and create that same cohesive, clutter-free line we love using in adult closets. Consistent hangers might be a small detail, but they make a big visual impact and are an easy win in any closet transformation. Velvet hangers are great for tank tops and anything with straps you don’t want sliding off, but they can sometimes be challenging for kids. If you don’t love velvet hangers, we also use plastic kids’ hangers that are easier to slide clothes on and off of.
Shelving for Books and Display
Open shelving gave us the perfect opportunity to display favorite books and toys rather than tucking everything away behind closed doors. Kids are so much more likely to engage with what they can see, and displaying a curated selection (rather than everything they own) keeps the space feeling calm instead of overwhelming.
Keeping the Floor Clear
One of our favorite design principles in any closet, but especially in a kid's closet, is keeping the floor as clear as possible. In Shea's kids' closets, we only kept the floor for the occasional large toy or a woven basket that made sense to live there. An open floor makes the whole room feel bigger, keeps tripping hazards to a minimum, and makes daily maintenance so much easier for both kids and parents.
The Nursery Dresser: Function Meets Beauty
One of my favorite parts of this project was the nursery dresser. It is a gorgeous piece of furniture and does double duty as both a clothing storage piece and a diaper changing station. I love pieces of furniture that can grow with a home and family. This dresser will last far longer than the diaper changing era ever will (thank goodness).
Baby Bow Organization
The top drawers are filled with the sweetest collection of baby head bows, kept tidy using deep acrylic drawer organizers and drawer dividers. Bows can be one of those categories that quietly take over a drawer, so giving each size and style its own defined section makes it so much easier to grab exactly what you need without digging.
File Folded Clothing
Below the bow drawers, we file folded baby clothing so every outfit is visible at a glance. File folding is one of our go-to techniques in almost every closet and dresser we organize, and it's especially helpful with baby clothes since sizes and seasons change so quickly. When organizing baby clothes, we go beyond organizing by type and color and also organize by size so that as babies grow it is easy to move up to the next size.
Pro tip: Because babies grow so fast, my number one tip is to keep 2 bins in your baby’s closet. One bin for clothing in the next size up. If you purchase or receive something for your baby that doesn’t quite fit them yet, keep it in the bin and it will be easy to find as soon as that next stage comes. The second must-have bin in every baby’s closet is for baby clothing the baby has grown out of. If you plan to keep baby clothes for the future or donate them, having a convenient location to place clothing grown out of creates an easy to maintain system. When the bin is full, then a trip to the donation center or a more permanent bin with a label can be made and put in storage.
A Functional (and Beautiful) Changing Station
On top of the dresser next to the changing basket we used an acrylic organizer to keep wipes and diapers stocked and within reach. Everything about this setup was designed with real-life diaper changes in mind: fast, functional, and still beautiful enough to fit the aesthetic of the rest of the nursery. We love that the trash bin was placed right next to the dresser, so diaper disposal is quick and easy without ever having to leave the changing station.
Our Best Tips for Organizing With Kids
Organizing a child's space is a little different than organizing an adult space, and we've learned so much over the years about what actually works.
Here are some of our favorite principles for organizing with kids, no matter their age:
Organize With Them, Not Just For Them
Whenever possible, involve your kids in the process. Let them help decide what stays and what gets donated, and talk them through where things live and why. Kids who are part of creating a system are so much more likely to understand it and want to maintain it.
Teach Organization as a Life Skill, Not a One-Time Project
The goal isn't a perfectly organized closet for one day, it's teaching kids the skill of staying organized for a lifetime. Reset a space with them regularly (we love a seasonal clothing swap or a quick toy edit every few months) so they continue to practice the process as they grow.
Teach the outcomes of an organized space. If you create a system for selecting school outfits a week at a time, discuss regularly how nice it is to not have to make decisions about what to wear each morning when they are feeling tired and rushed.
Design Systems That Match Their Age and Abilities
A toddler and a ten-year-old need very different systems. For younger kids, focus on open bins, picture labels, and low shelves they can reach on their own. For older kids, you can introduce more categories, written labels, and a little more responsibility for maintaining the space themselves.
Get creative with your kids. Do you have a child who likes to change her clothes 7 times a day? I did… so for a season, all of her clothing was organized up high and out of reach. Once she could prove to me that she would put things back, we created a system that she was committed to maintaining.
Make It Easy to Succeed
The simpler the system, the more likely a child is to actually follow it. If putting something away requires more than one or two steps, it probably won't stick. Open bins instead of lidded ones, hooks instead of hangers for younger kids, and clear categories all set children up to succeed independently.
Celebrate Their Independence
When a child can get dressed, put away their own toys, or find their own shoes without needing help, celebrate it! Independence in their own space builds real confidence, and it's one of the most rewarding parts of organizing a child's room.
Another way to celebrate is to have rewards for maintaining a tidy room is to create a room they love even more. If I know my kids want a bean bag chair or a new poster, we discuss what expectations there are or habits that can be improved and what improvement to their room they get to choose as an incentive. It has been a fun way to get my kids even more invested in their personal space.
Organizing Shea McGee's kids' closets was such a joy, and it's a great reminder that kid spaces deserve just as much intentional design as any other room in the home. When a closet is set up with a child's age and independence in mind, it becomes so much more than a place to store clothes, it becomes a space where kids can learn, grow, and take real ownership of their own belongings.
If you're ready to create a kids' closet (or any space) that grows with your family, we would love to help. Ready to reset your kids' spaces? Schedule a free consultation with our team today.
Jen is the founder of Reset Your Nest, a Professional Home Organizing Business in Utah (servicing Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden, Alpine, Highland, Mapleton, and St. George). She loves creating order and systems out of chaos and is known for bringing a beautiful aesthetic as well as easy to maintain function to any space. She shares her tips and tricks on Instagram @reset_your_nest.
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