Parenting Pointers: Design Functional Closets for Back to School Success

Whether your kids are e-learning this fall, or heading back to a physical classroom, having an organized closet with a view to school success is important for every student, from grade 1 to college.

There are some easy ways to optimize a closet so that not only clothes are at the ready, but supplies and other necessities too.

For school aged kids at home

Assuming you went through their bags before school ended for the year to pull out that half eaten lunch, the next step is to inventory everything your kids have already, that they would use for / at school:

• Knapsacks and bags;
• Lunch boxes and water bottles;
• School supplies like paper, binders, pencils, folders, cases and computers;
• Hats, caps, uniforms and school clothes.

Once you know what you have, what is in good shape or fits for another year and what needs to be tossed, you’ve got a solid starting point long before you do any shopping for new items.

Set up joint spaces for proper storage of school items

• Whether it’s the entry hall closet or the mudroom, clearing space and organizing where things will go when the kids come home everyday is key. Everything needs its own home so that you and they always know where to find things:
  • Have a hook for backpacks and baskets for hats, scarves, mittens and so on. The bag goes on the hook, jackets get hung up and other items in baskets or bins: one for each kid. 
• Have a place for lunch boxes, bags and water bottles, ideally in the kitchen, so that they get emptied and sorted for the next day. The kitchen is also a great place for a command centre, with cubby holes or baskets for each child to place items that require parental attention: forms, artwork and otherwise!
• If your kids are on after school sports teams, you need to factor in space for equipment bags as well as a way of ensuring that dirty uniforms or outfits go to the laundry. Placing a laundry basket in the mud room can facilitate that: they get home and drop items directly into it, as a matter of habit.
• Use a shelf in a linen closet or den for school supplies: all the extra pencils, paper, glue sticks and so on are in one spot, neat, tidy and easy to find! It also makes it easier to assess every once in a while whether you need to stock up on more.

Set up bedroom closets for easy mornings

With very little kids, it’s easy to pick out their clothes for them and set them out. Not so much as they get older! A well organized closet, with pieces placed on hangers as complete outfits, can make things a little smoother during the morning rush. It’s just grab and put on!

Even with older kids, the ideal is to have clothes picked out, lunches packed and knapsacks filled with completed homework the night before, but at the very least, if everything is in its right place, it’s not hard to find what is needed. Routines, like putting completed homework directly back into the backpack rather than leaving it on a table or desk, take time to establish but they do make life a lot easier.

Keeping bedroom closet space tidy is easier if you make sure you go through the closets seasonally to remove anything that no longer fits and to put away out of season clothes. The summer halter tops don’t need to be in with the autumn sweaters, and it just makes more to go through for the kids to find that perfect outfit.

Make sure to have lots of hangers, hooks and storage shelves in closets for all those extra accessories!

For college kids living on campus

The nicest thing a parent can do is get their college aged kids off on the right foot, in their dorm rooms. Typically, a dorm room allows about 100 - 250 sq feet per student, including closet space. With those kinds of close quarters, it’s important to maximize the use of closet space:

• Using stackable, see through plastic bins are perfect for all the small sundries that your college student will keep: schools supplies and snackables are easy to find and store with this kind of organization! Plus it will help keep any bugs at bay, if all the food is put away.
• Another option is plastic drawer units that can fit into the closet, for smaller items like underwear and socks.
• Hanging sweater organizers are great for more than sweaters, particularly if the closet ends up being nothing more than a square, with a rod and a door!
• A rolling file cart for papers is ideal: it can be rolled under a desk or into the closet, when it isn’t needed. 
• A back of the door shoe rack will make keeping either shoes or other small items handy and yet out of the way. The clear plastic kind are great for school supplies and other small sundries, including shampoo and soap.
• Easy to remove hooks add a lot of function without altering the space, to keep hats, scarves and handbags off the floor.
• Add a little lighting in the closet so it's easy to see everything.

Back to school is an exciting time, and it’s also the perfect time to start good habits that will make all the difference for the rest of the year. Get sorted and you’ll find the everyday hullaballoo of homework, classes, sports teams and more, will be a lot easier to manage!

Bio:

Marty Basher is the design expert with Modular Closets, https://www.modularclosets.com. Marty regularly contributes on topics of home design, organization, improvement and more, helping homeowners get the most out of the spaces in their home. Modular Closets are high-quality and easy-to-design closet systems made in the USA you can order, assemble and install yourself, in no time at all. Using closet modules (closet pieces you can mix & match to design your own modular closet), homeowners everywhere are empowered to achieve a true custom closet look- for nearly 40% less than standard custom closets.