Project Little Miss | Organized Play Closet

You might assume since we’ve only been in this house a short time, the closet situation would be pretty well under control…after all, how bad can it get in a few months, right!? Yeah, um, wrong. In the hustle and exhaustion of moving, we never properly set-up and organized most of the closets. It was more of a ‘shove it in there and we’ll deal with it later!’ mentality.

Over time, it became easy to pretend the mess wasn’t there, because it was tucked behind closed doors. In fact, we still have unpacked boxes in almost every closet!

Little Miss’s closet was mostly unpacked, but never organized. And as you know with kid’s spaces, if there’s no system in place, it becomes a hot-mess after a single day of use! You know it’s bad when even your kid is begging for an overhaul, so after an emotional (I’ll get to that) afternoon, we turned her disaster zone closet into a tidy, fun space for both play and storage.

Let’s start with the embarrassing Befores #nojudgement #wereallfriendshereright #holdme

Okay, maybe not the worst ever, but definitely not user-friendly for my creative, imaginative, budding artist! The best thing this closet’s future had going for it, was my daughter’s desire to have it organized, and her excitement to turn it into a space she could both play in, and keep all her favorite things within reach.

First step was to empty the closets, and sort into Keep, Donate and Trash piles. If you’ve ever tried to donate any toys or books your kids have outgrown, you know the hysteria and tears that come with it! You can tell by her body language that she was a little overwhelmed and defeated at that point. But I gently reminded her organizing projects always get worse before they get better, and cranked up the dance music. Then snuck stuff out behind her back. #kidding #oramI

I realized if I let her make decisions based on what she wanted, then it would be a space she’d likely treasure, and maintain! #goals So I sidelined my desires to make it a ‘blogworthy’ space, and let her steer the project….only piping in with suggestions of how to efficiently utilize the full space.

Fashion isn’t high on her list of priorities, so she only needs a small area to actually store her clothes. We decided to take advantage of the wide door openings, and split the closet into storage and play spaces, but without changing the structure so it could easily transition as she grows, and her needs for the closet change.

She’s been a blogger’s daughter long enough, so of course her first idea was to cover the back wall of the ‘play side’ with a graphic paper. No surprise she went with flamingos (it was a reader favorite when I shared my organized gift wrap and craft station!).

Then I helped her hang the elements from her previous Art Center on the back wall, and Voila! New secret Art Center! Next, she set up all her baby doll gear in the empty floor space. She’s able to play with them in the closet, or pull them out when she wants to use the Art Station. And I can close the doors when it gets a little tossed!

The right side of the closet is dedicated to clothes and more toy and art supply storage.

She said she wrote the labels in pencil just in case she wanted to switch them up! Which is music to this mama’s ears, because that means she plans on using the system!

After the dramatic afternoon, I was thrilled to see her happy and smiling again! I know over time, there will be fewer toys and more clothes, so I’m savoring the moments I find her playing in this closet.

You can find all the pics, details, and tips of this project over at iHeart Organizing…I shared it with my darling friend Jen awhile back, but forgot to post it here. #oops #badblogger But I’m happy to report, the closet is still almost this organized, and just as fun! On to the next item on our list!