My First Big Girl Closet!

If you follow Fashion Fix on Facebook, or check out the website often, you already know that I had my youngest client yet!  It was incredibly fun, and she was too cute to even handle.  What makes working with a lady this young so different from working with a lady of age, is that there was a lot more teaching to be done.  You could say we spent the afternoon doing a closet workshop!  I started by having her show me how everything was organized, what clothes she wore the most, how she put away her laundry, etc.  My favorite part was when she showed me how her dresser drawers were kept and she said, "...it's okay they're messy, that's how I make everything fit." 

So what are the steps to cleaning up a child's closet?

1. Mom, you gotta go!  I have seen countless children's closets with mom's extra stuff stored in them.  If you want your son or daughter to take ownership and responsibility for their room; it's gotta be their room.  Which means you can not commandeer their space.  Handbags and dresses went back into the master bedroom.

2. Create intentional storage.  I know that kids have hand-me-downs that don't quite fit yet, and costumes from Halloween past, but don't just leave them a mess in the corner.  At minimum, $5 plastic bins will do the trick.

3. Categorize their clothes.  This will help them put away laundry with ease and get dressed quicker in the morning.  Why, because they can find everything!  Oh, and give them a step stool to reach if they are not yet tall enough.

4. Thin out the dresser.  More clothes should be hanging than you think.  When the drawers are too full and piles are folded too high there is no way it's going to stay organized.  Dressers should be for play/grubby clothes, socks, undies and pajamas.

5. Give them some help.  Even as adults keeping socks and underwear organized is a trick.  Get some drawer dividers to keep everything in it's place.

6. Toys belong with toys, and books belong with books.  We had to spend some time cleaning up her bookshelf so we could put away what had piled up on top of the dresser.  You gotta do it, when things have their place they are more likely to get put away there.


What does the child learn?

1. How to put away laundry.
2. How to clean up their room.
3. How to get dressed independently.

Why is this a good investment?

1. You can stop buying bulk Advil.  You won't have such a headache when you walk into your child's room, it won't be so messy.
2. You can read more of your Oprah/InStyle/Lucky magazine.  You won't have to spend so much time putting away your son or daughter's laundry, they can do it them selves now!
 3. You can enjoy your morning coffee.  These tikes will be able to get dressed with out screaming "Mom...where's my _____!" every 5 seconds.
4. Your kids don't always listen to you.  It's a fun fact that when some messages come from someone else they are miraculously heard ;)


Fashion Fix offers closet re-organization for children ages 6 - 12, for more information email lindsey@fashionfixmn.com.  Rates vary from traditional closet re-organization.


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