A few weeks ago through Amazon.com I got these amazing bins. Well, I call them bins. The actual name is "Kids Daily Activity Organizer - 6 Shelf Hanging Closet." (Yeah, it's easier to say "bins.")
So, anyway, as I was brainstorming ways to make the coming school year go smoother (i.e., no morning meltdowns over breakfast, clothes and watching TV before the bus), I found these online. I thought, what a great idea! Pick out each kids' entire week of clothing on Sunday so there are no cries of "I don't have any socks!" when I yell, "Get your shoes on, the bus is coming in 2 minutes!"
Of course, there's one slight problem with this system, at least for us. Unfortunatley, I don't live in a nice, new 5-bedroom home (ok, I was going to say mansion, but I didn't!) where each child has their own walk-in closet that has room for 4 seasons of clothing, coats, toys and a storage system like this. In fact, we live in an old 3-bedroom house built 100 years ago when a closet just had to be big enough to hold 5 hooks along the back wall. Seriously, that's what our closets had. So, now they have bars that are about 12" long-the length of the closet, but the closets are only about 15" deep; they're just barely deep enough for a hanger.
So, what to do? I love the system but lack the space.
My brainstorm, which I put into place today, makes the most of the space we have. About a year ago I had gotten myself a garmet rack. My intention was to put it up in the basement next to the washer/dryer to hang clothes. But, I never got around to it and it was still in the box sitting in the basement.
So, after helping my daughter clean her bedroom, she helped me put together the rack. (Then DH came and finshed the job because, man, those things are hard to snap together tight!)
The rack, which is now on wheels, holds 2 of the shelf organizers - one for my daughter and one for my son, who share a bedroom. The rack now blocks a spare door in their bedroom that isn't used (But the rack is on wheels and is very easy and lightweight to turn in case of an emergency that we'd need to use the door.)
It's a little high up for them to reach, so I might get some of those plastic chains you can put on hangers to lower them. But not only do both shelves fit, but my daughter's dresses can also hang between them instead of on a hook on the back of their door (freeing up that space for the future.)
Now my son's room will be a little more difficult. He doesn't have room in his tiny closet, and there's no real space for a rack. So I convinced my husband that if we put a hook in his ceiling, we can hang the shelves in an empty corner that's always been wasted space. For that I will need to get some of those plastic chains or he can't possibly reach it.
10 days til school starts, and we're getting organized for a good start to the new year!
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