DIY Nursery Closet Organization

One of the things I love about our new house is the closet spaces!  Both bedrooms have 2 door closets like this, plus we have a walk-in closet in the master, and large closet in what will be my office, and a small closet in the bonus room.  Before I even knew what house we would end up buying I knew that I wanted to take some effort to create a very organized and functional closet in the nursery.  Babies come with quite a bit of STUFF – from diapers, wipes, lotions, blankets, bibs, burp cloths, CLOTHES, accessories, toys, and equipment.  But I was determined that all that STUFF was not going to take over my house or even the nursery.  I love organization – but sometimes lack the necessary system or spaces to make it happen.  So I pinned and searched for closet organization ideas and knew exactly how I hoped to accomplish an organized nursery on a very small budget.

This is what I started with – I had been working on unpacking all the boxes of things I had been stocking up on while I was pregnant – diapers I had been buying for super cheap (never have paid over $5 a package), wipes, and bins of clothes organized into sizes.  I moved an IKEA unit into the closet that I had used in our playroom/guest room at our old house – but this BHG unit from Walmart would work too.  That was my first step – creating cubby/shelving in the closet for smaller items.  This would help to create a “built in look and function” without actually changing up the entire closet.

Then I knew I wanted to add additional hanging shelves – baby and kids clothes are small and just having one hanging rack up high wastes so much space in the bottom of the closet.  So the day before my due date (we moved 3 weeks before our baby was born), I tackled getting this closet all set up!    I purchased another Rubbermaid shelf and the necessary brackets and end pieces from Lowe’s – they were the only ones that carried this particular Rubbermaid wire shelf that has the continuous hanging bar.  I had Lowe’s cut the wire shelf to the length I needed – they will do that for free right in the shelving aisle.  I figured out where I wanted to hang the lower shelf and marked and installed the hardware making sure it was all level. 

Snap the shelf into those back brackets…

and then install the bars and the end bracket.

The part of the wire shelf that is up against the cubicle unit I just capped off with these shelf end covers – so nothing is actually screwed into the cubicle shelving unit.

So the closet went from this…

To this!  Already so much more storage and function!  The shelving unit also needs to be secured to the wall with anti-tip hardware (IKEA units actually come with this hardware or you can pick it up at the hardware store) I haven’t yet but its on the to do list to do soon to this shelf along with several other pieces of furniture throughout the house – before she starts pulling up on things!

And then I could finally unpack and hang up all the bins of clothes that I had been buying up at yard sales and consignment sales while I was pregnant! I utilized extra wood bins to put my stash of diapers all organized by sizes and wipes up on the top shelf.    Originally I used the 4 “sections” of the closet and had NB and 0-3 months in the top left, 3-6 mos in the top right, 6-9 months in the bottom left, and 9-12 months in the bottom right.

But 7 months later she has outgrown all the NB and most of the 0-6 months clothes so I have continued to adapt this closet to fit her needs.   The top left now has all the jackets and sweaters and coats she is fitting in and can wear for this cold season, the top right has winter dresses, outfits, jumpers, new outfits that she can currently wear, the bottom left has spring/summer outfits, and the bottom right has summer/fall dresses up to 18 mos that she will grow into.  I found that for especially for dresses I needed to go more by the length and size of the actual item vs. what the tag says so I go through every month or so and pull out new things from the “size up section” regardless of the tag size that she can probably fit into now. 

The cubby shelves hold shoes, extra bath/lotion items, blankets, burp clothes, and bibs.   And the larger drawer in the floor holds larger blankets, and extra crib sheets.  Other random bins on the wire shelves hold memorabilia like hospital items, her first outfit, cards and such I am keeping as keepsakes…

Oh those little bitty shoes!   The little inserts inside the cubbies I ordered online from the BHG Walmart selection – they fit just fine in an IKEA unit.

The wire baskets came from Dollar General of all places!  I got one filled with goodies as a baby gift and purchased the second one.

I keep all her pajamas, onesies and pant sets, socks and tights, hats, etc. in a dresser on the other side of the room.    And this closet can continue to grow with her… I can imagine as her clothes get longer/bigger this current set up will work up until maybe age 5.  Then I could remove one of lower shelves to accommodate longer items.  And if I need more toy/book/art storage I can put in another square 4 cubby unit or 3 drawer unit on one of the sides to add even more storage – so many ways to customize this closet!  As far as I what I spent to do this one – I already had the cubby unit (but it is less than $40-45 at either IKEA or Walmart), I purchased the extra wire shelves and accessories for around $20 at Lowe’s, and the inserts for the cubbies for under $15. 

I just love this cute little closet!  And all these cute little baby clothes!

Now if mommy and daddy’s closet was only this organized and neat (and our clothes this cute!). 

How do you organize your kids closets?  I would love pictures or tips for as they get older what has worked for you!