Nursery Closet Organization from a Mom of Four

Out with the old and in with the new year!  Which means if you have a baby you might be on the nursery closet organization train!  Whether you have an established nursery, or you are prepping a nursery for a baby on the way, hopefully these organization tips in my post help you get the room feeling organized and ready to go! 

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Decluttering Before you Start

If you have been around my blog long enough, you’ll know that every year around this time I do a declutter challenge! This is my 3rd year doing it and I love the feeling of having my home organized and purged of all the unnecessary items that collect throughout the months. 

 In honor of the challenge, I’ll focus on providing you with some organization tips for your baby’s nursery and closet space.  We’ll look at the best way to organize all of your baby’s things and utilize the storage space you have for an organized dream rather than organized chaos.

Nursery Organization

Have you ever noticed that baby gear just seems to accumulate?  From the moment you find out you are expecting to add a new baby to the family, it seems that baby items appear out of nowhere, from burp cloths to baby socks to baby clothes (hey even extra diapers, you’ve got to buy those while they are on sale!).  

Baby showers are a great way to get all of your baby essentials, but before you know it, your baby’s closet is exploding and you can’t close the closet door.  With the exception of professional organizers, who has the time or patience to handle this mess? With a few products and important tips, you can not only have an organized baby room closet, but also can maximize unused space.

Set Yourself Up For Success

First things first, you need to be set up for success.  You can’t expect to dump all of your new baby’s clothes into dresser drawers and hang random cute outfits up without any rhyme or reason.  

You need to have some organization or method to the madness in order to succeed and have a useful space.  A great idea is to spend some quality time with your significant other and tackle this project together.  If you are like me and way too much of a control freak, be prepared to spend some time alone.

If you are starting from a place as a new parent, you may not have as many items as seasoned parents.  Don’t worry before you know it you’ll be wondering how in the world you have so much stuff and where your floor went too! The best part about being a first time parent is that you get to start from scratch and create your own organized system that will never be out of place.  Right? Right.

Keep in mind that whether you are a first time parent or seasoned parent, you’ll want this space to be not only organized but easily accessible for your child.  While you may be starting the initial design as a baby nursery closet, one day, that baby will grow into a toddler and want to dress themselves as a pirate or princess. Keep that in mind while organizing and placing your items in the designated space.

Organize By Size & Season

Before you start placing items in the closet, consider decluttering the space.  You’ll want to get the items you have to display and use into a manageable amount.  That means, that while your best friend may have gifted you a tub of 3T clothes, that doesn’t mean you need to have those items out if you still have a 3 month old.  

Go through your baby’s clothes, shoes, and accessories and organize them by size (0-3 months, 3-6 months, and so on).  You may take this a step further and organize your baby clothing by season.  When you have a new baby, you’ll find that they don’t stay in those early sizes for long.  As they grow and get closer to 12 months old, they will be staying in that size for longer.  You may have multiple seasons in the same size that require some organization.  

Utilize Storage Bins

Clear storage bins will be your best friend.   You can generally find these on Amazon, Target, or the Dollar Store. I repeat, buy these plastic bins in bulk.  Take the sizes (and seasons) that you are currently not using and place the items into these storage containers.  

Make sure you label the bins clearly.  For sizes that are not in the distant future, I tend to keep those in storage and out of the closet. I do, however, keep the next size up nearby and available for easy access.  You’ll also want some type of plastic bin or wire baskets in the closet for when your child outgrows a piece of clothing and it is no longer the right size. 

This small bin is an easy way to collect items that no longer fit.  Your third use of storage containers (told you to buy in bulk) is for those items you plan to either store for siblings or if you plan to donate or sell.  These need to be separate so you don’t accidentally give away your baby’s 1st birthday outfit.  

Now that you’ve got an idea of how to organize your items, let’s talk about actually setting up the closet.

Nursery Closet Organization and Display

There are so many different ways to set up your baby’s closet.  The amount of space you have may dictate how you go about setting up and organizing your little one’s closet.   For example, a small nursery closet may not be able to accommodate displaying different sizes of clothing, whereas a larger closet can and would benefit from closet dividers that clearly label the size of the clothing.  

For those with smaller closets, storage bins are key to keeping the clutter at bay and changing out clothes with changes in size and season. 

Use Your Dresser Strategically

Another key note is that some baby’s nurseries are large enough to accommodate a dresser in addition to a closet, while other nurseries would benefit from no dresser or a dresser strategically placed in the closet to maximize a small space.  

Dressers are a great option to utilize to not only store items like extra crib sheets, diapers, and burp clothes, but can also serve as a changing table by placing a changing pad on top of the dresser.  Drawer dividers and drawer organizers can be used for smaller items like socks and burp clothes.  Pajamas are a great option to place in dresser drawers for little ones. 

 This allows them to easily access it while still keeping the clothing in an organized fashion.  Goldie loves getting her own PJs out as a big toddler helper.  For those who don’t have the option of a dresser, a rolling cart is a great idea to help organize diaper changing and feeding supplies.  

Maximize Unused Space

When it comes to nursery closet organization – If you want to maximize a small closet, look at the unused space.  Children’s clothing is much smaller than adult clothes and can therefore be hung up in a closet by placing a hanging rod both above and below your typical hanging space.  Keep in mind that the closet rod towards the bottom of the closet will be more easily accessible to young kids as they grow.  

This can be  great for their independence (not so great for keeping it tidy).  By utilizing this vertical space you can double the amount of hanging space an adult closet would otherwise have.  While we are on the subject of hanging space, a great idea is to keep your hangers all the same color for a more seamless look.  By keeping the closet accessories one color and material, you’ll have a more cohesive and uniform look.

Another way to get extra space out of your closet is to look at the inside walls of the closet as well as using door organizers for door storage. You can find some great options to use on the back of the door to hang accessories, as well as shoes, wipes, diapers, pacifiers, hair accessories, and other small items. 

The inside of the closet wall is a great way to display a little girl’s bow collection or hat collection.  These smaller items can often be easily lost otherwise and having a designated spot is the perfect use of that small space.

Shelving Units

Another great way to use a lot of space in the closet is to install a shelving unit or closet drawers.  We used the Boaxel system from IKEA in Ave’s closet and I loved it so much I decided to put it into our other closets in our home.  By installing extra storage space you are creating more opportunities for placing items in their designated homes.  

It is key that every item has a designated spot otherwise, you’ll just end up with clutter on the floor and things stuffed into drawers.  The best part about this is you don’t have to pay an extreme amount of money to make a functional closet.  Instead, you can add a few closet shelves or even just a top shelf to create that extra space for all of those little things.  

Even putting in an extra shelf above and below your hanging rod allows you to place several small baskets to store those items and create an organized closet.  Small baskets are not only useful in closets, but can also be great in the nursery to hold odds and ends such as shoes, blankets, burp cloths, etc.  

I also recommend keeping these baskets once your baby outgrows diapers and burp cloths and instead use it for organizing all of their toys.  Legos may look small but add up in a hurry.

DIY Nursery Closet Organization

One thing I am passionate about is getting creative with organization – I used a planter to organize diapers in my youngest daughter’s room.  It was a great way to add a ‘diaper caddy’ without actually having one. 

I also added a DIY Ladder for my youngest son in his nursery to store random items.  Using these creative ideas makes adding storage fit well with decor, which is a huge bonus and saves money over all. 

Favorite Nursery Closet Organization Items

To help you get started organizing, I thought I’d share with you a few of my favorite closet organization items that make my closet functional.  Some of these items I shared in my previous post on organizing your kid’s closet but added some of my favorites for a nursery too.

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Shop Nursery Organization Favorites

1. Large Plastic Totes – These clear plastic totes are useful for storing clothes that are awaiting to be worn and clothes your little one has outgrown.  We use these in bulk!
2. Rope Storage Baskets – These rope storage baskets are great for storing shoes, toys, diapers, etc.
3. Rolling Cart – A rolling cart is a great option to have for those with smaller spaces who may not be able to have a full size dresser.  See how I used one here.
4. Velvet Hangers – These are great for saving space, and the fun color is just an added bonus.  I mean who doesn’t love a pop of color?
5. Peg board organizer – This  would be great for holding small accessories, and adds wall decor as an added bonus.  I love finding ways to organize while adding decor and this fits that ticket. 
6. Over the door organizer – This is amazing for diapers, wipes, and other small items.  
7. Gold wall mounted organizer – This is great for all those little girl bows.  I actually just put these in my closet for accessories for myself, and it can even hang pants and such.  
8. Shelf dividers  – these are great for keeping your space tidy!  
9. Wooden baby closet dividers – this is especially helpful in the earlier months and before baby arrives. 
10. Storage cubes –  these are great for storing extra linens!
11. Stackable containers  – these are perfect for smaller toy storage and little accessories. 
12. Custom closet system – this is a great option for a great closet but for a fraction of the price
13. Basket labels – you can write on these with a dry erase marker and hang over the sides of baskets. This is a great option since you need so many different labels for things in the first year!
14. Multipurpose Furniture – items that pull double duty are great space savers – this is an basket that could also be a side table. Check out this post with decorative storage items from Amazon for more ideas too!
15. Drawer organization – those tiny items can easily get misplaced!

Other Post’s You’ll Love

Nursery Shelf Decor Ideas | Nursery Decor Ideas | Amazon Girls Nursery Finds  |  Amazon Boys Nursery Finds  |  Kids Closet tips and Tricks

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I hope this post gave you some great ideas on nursery closet organization.  I know it can seem daunting at first when you are faced with a mountain of baby gear.  Take the time now to organize and you’ll have a functional space that your little one can grow into for years to come.  If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments, and follow me on Instagram @arinsolange and Tik Tok for more home, decor, and DIY.  If you don’t see what you need, make sure you check out my Amazon Storefront for more great organization items! Happy Organizing!