Closet Organization {Before and After}

       This closet was a mess. Unless a closet is built for little ones, it is so hard NOT to waste a whole bunch of space. And with the prospect of the little guy moving into that room in the next couple of months, that space became prime real estate. I KNEW I could use it better.

So, with my design, and my husband's know-how, we created a perfectly use-able, organized space, with places for shoes, clothes, blankets, out-of-season clothes, the whole bit. Let me show you around.

My favorite thing is these bins. They are canvas and have a sturdy wire frame AND a handy little vinyl pocket to put a label so my kids (and my husband) know where everything goes. (Found them at The Container Store)

I simply took a picture of a few of the items that belong in that particular basket, re-sized them to the pocket size in Photoshop, added text with picnik.com and printed them on card stock.

The main goal here was to manage BOTH kids clothes in ONE closet. That was simply not happening with the way it was before. but this way, Kai has his own bar and a shelf (or two) for his shoes and maybe some clothes or toys. This arrangement added so much space that we actually can't even fill it all up yet! But I'm sure that will change.

See those baskets on the top shelf? This was a system I started years ago when Emmie was only a wee little thing. she kept getting hand-me-downs from friends and family, which was GREAT, but most of them were a size bigger or a season later, so I needed to figure out a way to manage the influx of clothes. Not to mention, I needed an easy place to put all of the clothes that she was so quickly growing out of as well. So I bought her two baskets: one for clothes that she had grown out of and one for clothes that were the next size or season up. When the first basket gets full, I take it up to the attic and put it in it's appropriate Rubbermaid tub (we're...uh...obviously not done having kids yet, so I save ALL of their clothes...). When I find a great deal on end of season clothes, I buy a size bigger for the next year and stick it in the second basket. This is a fool-proof way to keep the clutter off the clothes racks and dresser.

One more look:

Hope you enjoyed the tour! Feeling inspired?? Motivated?? Go conquer a closet!! It feels marvelous! :)

Sharing the love at some of the following:
Monday:
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Keeping it Simple-- Motivate Me Mondays
Skip to my Lou-- Made by You Mondays
Sew Can Do-- Craftastic Monday 
C.R.A.F.T-- Making Monday Marvelous
Tuesday:
Sugar Bee-- Take a Look Tuesday
Today's Creative Blog-- Get Your Craft On!
Creative Itch-- Sew Cute Tuesday
Tip Junkie-- Tip Me Tuesday
Wednesday:
Sew Much Ado-- We Did It Wednesday!
Blue Cricket Designs-- Show and Tell
Someday Crafts -- Whatever Goes Wednesday
Show off Your Stuff -- Fireflies and Jellybeans
Friday: 
Simply Designing
Kojo Friday Fun Finds 
Fingerprints on the Fridge-- Feature Yourself Friday 
Tatertots and Jello-- Weekend Wrap-up
Weekend:
The Girl Creative-- Just Something I Whipped Up
Under the Table and Dreaming-- Sunday Showcase