I've talked about our family closet before, but thought I would give you a closer look, and for some of you this may be your first look.
I got the inspiration for this one day when I was folding and putting away laundry. I was wanting to involve my girls in the laundry process a bit more, but our set up at the time was not child friendly. They couldn't reach their hanging clothes, nor could they reach the top shelves we had in their closet. I felt like every time I walked into their room I was picking up and hanging up clothes.
It occurred to me that creating a family closet would make putting laundry away (and collecting dirty laundry) much easier and would allow them the opportunity to help. Another added bonus meant clearing out more of my own clothes and creating space for them.
We've had this set up for more than 6 months now, and it's still working wonderfully.
One side of the closet has a two rods for hanging clothes. One high and one low. I have claimed the left top side for myself. I have a couple baskets on the top shelf for pajamas and swimming suits. I also keep one purse and one box of winter shoes up there. I keep my exercising clothes and t-shirts on the shelf under my hanging shirts.
The left bottom side (underneath my hanging shirts) is for my daughters. Older daughter is on the left, younger daughter is on the right. The drawers you see act as my dresser and this is where I keep underwear, socks, tights, etc.
I love that I don't have to go hunting for dirty laundry. I love that my girls can help me put laundry away. I also love that sharing spaces helps us keep the size of our wardrobes in check.
Moving on to the right side...this is my husband's corner. The hanging shelves serve as his dresser. We haven't had a real dresser in years and have been using these makeshift ones for a long time. It's nice to have everything we need to get dressed in one spot.
In the corner, I have a small amount of space for my dresses and skirts. We also have this built in shelving unit that we all share. The top shelf is mine, the next two are my husbands, and the bottom three are my daughters. We use baskets to store their underwear and another set of baskets on the bottom for their socks.
I love that I don't have to go hunting for dirty laundry. I love that my girls can help me put laundry away. I also love that sharing spaces helps us keep the size of our wardrobes in check.
That's a really great idea! Thanks for sharing the photos. I should've done something similar when we were in our former house that had a huge walk-in closet in the master bedroom. Do you plan on continuing this as they get older (their clothes get bigger)?
ReplyDeleteWOW! This is awesome. I wish I had a big enough closet to do this. What do you do with the empty closets in the rest of your house?! :)
ReplyDeleteWe don't have dressers either, except for one in our guest room. With me being in a wheelchair, it just makes sense to leave wider "aisles" throughout the house. We have good sized closets & we utilize the hanging organizers like you have instead. It works for us!
ReplyDeleteI think these family closets are a really good idea! Could I build our house all over again, I think I would go for a family closet too. We have a walk-in closet next to the master bedroom, but I don't want to share that one with the children because there is no separate entrance and they would mess up the bedroom. What I did one day, was give away all my different clothes hangers and buy inexpensive hangers at Ikea for all the closets in the house. They all look so neat now.
ReplyDeleteKathy...I think we'll do this as long as we live in this house. We don't plan on staying here forever. As long as it works, we'll keep this system. We've had a couple funny Sunday mornings when we are all in the closet getting ready.
ReplyDeleteThe Learned Lady...My girls share a room and their closet is NOT empty. Instead, they have their dress up clothes hanging up and the rest is filled with toys.