Nursery Closet Organization: 5 Simple Tips for a Pretty and Functional Closet
Last year, I decided to turn a closet in our playroom/guestroom into a closet office for myself. It was a space that I tackled in last year's $100 Room Challenge. I completely transformed the closet into a functional office in just one month for just $100! I was over the moon to have a spot for all my crafting supplies and a little office to call my own, but life had other plans for me and this space.
Later that year, my husband and I found out that we were expecting a baby girl! We were over joyed with the news and quickly started planning the nursery space, which meant that I would have to repurpose the closet office I had just created into the perfect closet space for our baby girl as we would be turning the room into a nursery.
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Before I show you what I did, let's take a look at what the closet originally looked like:
A boring wire shelf closet was transformed into a closet office for just $100:
And now, I've transformed that same space into a pretty and functional closet for our baby girl with just these simple 5 steps:
TAKE EVERYTHING OUT
The first step to every closet organization project should start with emptying out the closet. Not only does this allow you to clean the inside, but also lets you get a feel of what you want to keep and what you want to work with. Once I emptied the entire closet and gave it a good cleaning, I realized that I wanted to keep the table and shelves in place. Not only will I be able to use the old desk as a changing table but I would also be able to use the shelving on the sides to help keep everything that baby needs organized. The only thing that I had to add to this closet was a clothes rod which was an easy fix with a Home Depot trip. After it was installed, the closet office was quickly transformed back into a closet.
MAKE IT PRETTY
By adding decorative cloth baskets that I purchased from Walmart a few years ago, not only does it help me keep everything that baby needs together, but also helps add color to the closet. I also decided that I wanted a big mirror in here so that it would help bounce off light from the window right across from it. I simply reused a mirror I already owned and painted it gold with my favorite Rub N' Buff gold leaf. On the shelves, I reused some of the cloth baskets that we had used in my sons room at one time but he had since outgrown them, so I've repurposed them to keep all off baby girls bows, shoes, diapers, wipes, etc.
MAXIMIZE FUNCTIONALITY
Since I already had a desk in this closet, it worked out perfectly that I could turn it into a changing table. Using the closet space allowed me to maximize space in the nursery without making it feel cramped. The shelving on the sides allow me to keep all of the baby necessities at hand while we are changing diapers and getting her dressed. We also had invested in a baby scale that I liked to use with our first child when I was breast feeding just so this first time mama could get some piece of mind that the baby was eating enough. This long table allows me to fit both the changing table and the baby scale in one spot.
There's an old nightstand that used to belong to my husband that we had planned on using as a side table but ended up being a little too big for now so we've used it as additional storage in the closet for now. We can always reuse the nightstand for either kids room as they grow.
LABEL, LABEL, LABEL
You may think that I've gone a little crazy with the labeling, but if I'm going to have people helping me when our baby girl arrives, I want to make sure that everything stays organized. By taking the time to label where everything goes, it should make it fairly easy to keep all her clothes and items organized. We've been blessed to have so much clothes already, so I want to make sure that we are able to use everything that's been given to her. By taking the time to organize her clothes by size, it will allow me to see what have and need.
GET CREATIVE WITH LIGHTING
Painting the closet a dark blue meant that I was going to need to think about lighting if I ever wanted to find anything in there! When I used this space as my office, I had a table lamp that I could use, but I didn't want to anything that would take up space on the changing table so I decided to remove. I resolved my lighting issue by installing two of these lighted light switches. They are just bright enough to be able to clearly see in there without making it too bright for baby.
Happy Organizing!
