One organized closet

Our unborn child is probably the most spoiled person ever.  Or maybe I am.  Either way, we were surprised with a second baby shower this past weekend and our little boy now has a ton of stuff.

Upon arriving home from the shower I had the most urgent need to organize.  The amount of baby gear and clothes was overwhelming, and it was all in a pile in our nursery.  I was twitching so I knew it was time to get the nursery closet organized.  (Remember, we were starting with a completely blank slate thanks to our recent construction.)

Like any good closet organizer, I first divided up all the goods based on size and category.  The whole nursery floor was just covered.

Once I had a general idea of all of the categories of stuff, I set off for Lowe’s to pick up the closet organization system that I had in mind.

I had previously used this Rubbermaid Homefree closet system in our walk-in, so I knew it was just what I needed.  I love the system because it is super flexible and I can actually install it on my own.  Let’s be honest, I have no idea what kind of functionality this closet will need in a few months and years, so the fact that I can customize it over and over again using the same basic shelves and rods is fantastic.

Plus, everything you need comes in this one manageable box that even a pregnant lady can lift (okay, I loaded it into the cart and car, but Chris carried it upstairs once I was home).

The closet system is quite easy to install, but you need some time and patience for the first few steps.  I’m a total geek, so I actually collected all of the tools I needed before I got started.

With my trusty studfinder in hand, I found and marked studs across the wall, attached the top rail, and then installed the vertical rails.  I did all of this on my own, but it would probably go a lot faster if you had a second pair of hands.  Chris was busy painting trim in another room upstairs, so I can’t complain.

After about 1.5 hours of work, this is what I had accomplished:

I know it doesn’t look like much, but it goes really quickly from here.  Before I knew it I had shelves and rods all installed and filled!

There are all kinds of cool accessories that work with this closet system, like shelves, bins, baskets and shoe holders, but I held off in investing in those items at this point until I see how the closet actually functions on a day-to-day basis with our little guy.   I’m sure I’ll be adding more elements to the closet in the future.

And, I know the jogging stroller and car seat wont be staying in the closet for long, but I love that they fit in there for now!

Right now I am using the green bins and the little drawers to hold some of the tiny baby items, like socks and hats.

I have all of our various blankets and swaddles in the yellow bins and big white basket.

And all of the clothes are hung according to size.  I haven’t removed tags or washed most things yet, but it really helped me to organize things in this way so that I can see what items/sizes we have and determine what we still need.   Plus, many wise friends have advised keeping tags on (especially the newborn sized clothes) until you are sure the baby will actually fit into them or wear them.

How cute are those clothes!?

I felt so relieved to have the closet put together and all of the items stowed away.  It still amazes us how much gear is required for this one little baby!

Anyone out there have nursery closet organizing advice?  Do you think I’ll actually be hanging these clothes in a few months?

P.S.   I am writing with my own opinions about this closet system product and I was not encouraged or compensated in any way by Rubbermaid to say nice things. I happen to really like this closet system and it has proven itself to work well in our home!