How to Keep Children’s Clothes Organized (and off the floor)

Do your kids hang their clothes on the floor? Here’s how to keep them organized and put away.

Welcome to Day 8 of the 30 Day Decluttering Challenge.

This week I am sharing ways that I’ve applied the principles of decluttering in my own house. So far, we’ve seen my closet, the playroom, and how we handle electronic devices. Today I am going to show you how we solved a “clothing on the floor” problem in my youngest daughter’s room. 

I have written before about the whirlwind that is my youngest child. Her room is often quite messy due to her whirlwind nature. Then she gets really distracted while trying to clean it up.

Here is a photo from this past January:

Scary, huh?

I will say that her room has not gotten that messy since. Mostly because I introduced the Mommy Clean Checklist and because I remind her to use it almost every day. It has made a huge difference.

Organizing the playroom has also helped. The toys live in there now, and don’t get brought out to other parts of the house as often because the girls are happy to play in the clean and organized playroom. It’s truly amazing.

But I have noticed that there is another problem that happens in my youngest daughter’s room.

When she gets ready in the morning, she goes through her drawers and closet true to her whirlwind nature. She flings shirts and pants all around in search for the one thing that she wants to wear, and she doesn’t think to put them back into her drawers when she finds her favorite outfit.

It’s frustrating to send her off to school and then to go upstairs to find her entire wardrobe on the floor. And when she comes home from school and I ask her to clean it up, she is too tired and cranky and complains loudly about having to do it (afternoon is not her best time of day). She will make a small effort, but usually she gives up after a bit and either I do it, or it is left for the next day.

I really try hard not to clean up my children’s messes for them. But sometimes it feels like there is no other choice!

Before I show you what I made to help my daughter with this problem, here are some things that will help.


How to keep kids’ clothes organized


  1. Sort through clothing often. Retire anything that doesn’t fit. I like to do this while I’m folding laundry. There is almost always something that they have outgrown in every load.
  2. Immediately throw away socks with holes in them or that are missing mates.
  3. Carefully assess needs. Before buying your child new things, make sure you are aware of what they already have and whether they really need that new shirt or pair of shoes.
  4. Be picky about hand-me-downs. Take only what your child needs and donate the rest.
  5. Make sure the hamper is easy to use. Place it somewhere your child can get to easily and empty it often. Avoid hampers with lids, even though they look nice because kids won’t open them! This hamper is a great one for kids’ rooms.

Make a hanging organizer to help kids choose outfits


While I was at the store buying an over-the-door shoe organizer, I saw this other hanging shoe organizer and a lightbulb went on in my head.

I bought it, and we now use it to hold all of my daughter’s outfits for the entire week (with the exception of Saturday). Every Sunday night, she picks out her outfits for each day, including socks and underwear.

She absolutely loves to do this. A nice side effect of the exercise, is that she actually spends time planning her outfits and looks a little nicer at school these days.

Each day is labeled.

Help children keep their clothes neater by choosing outfits a week in advance and storing them in a hanging closet organizer.

It has lessened the clothing explosion on her floor considerably.

There are still dirty clothes to contend with, but she is getting better and better at putting them in the hamper instead of on the floor.

Keep your kids' clothes off the floor by having them choose their outfits a week ahead of time.

What has helped you keep your kids’ clothes off the floor?

Find all of the posts in this 31 Day Challenge here: A Place for Everything: 31 Days to Less Clutter and More Peace.

Want to start the 30-day declutter challenge?

Fill out the form at the very end of this post and you will receive an email each day with a new decluttering assignment.

This post may contain affiliate links, for more information, please see my disclosure.

Are you ready to declutter your life?

Join the 31 day challenge to get rid of clutter and make room for peace.

Powered by ConvertKit
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

10 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
TKumic

We did this for Zoya and Tevin! It works great when you remember to have them fill it….

Vanlun

I do the same for my little one. A few weeks ago I organized her room and she is keeping it clean. Phew, I am so happy about that. Great tips

Andrea B.

We have and use one of those, too! And we did clean out my daughter's closet completely this summer, but OY! It gets cluttered up again quickly. But I think this is a great idea. 🙂

Hilda Rodgers

What a smack-my-head, why-didn't-I-think-of-that idea Lara! I don't have the problem of clean clothes being pulled out and lying on the floor (still pick most of my daughter's clothes with her), but I'm going to use one of these for all the clothes that can be worn again so they don't pile up on the floor! She can wear them again on weekends or the following week and I don't have to deal with clothes on the floor. LOVE IT! Thanks 🙂

Lara

Yes, I have forgotten a few times and the wardrobe explosion quickly reminds me why it's so great!

Lara

Always wonderful when they keep their rooms clean on their own!

Lara

I wish I knew how to keep it from getting to be a mess so quickly. But, yes, this idea has made a big difference!

Lara

That's a great way to use it, too, Hilda! I hate dealing with clothes on the floor. And I feel like I am always dealing with clothes on the floor. Next is to figure out a magical way to keep my teenager's clothes off the floor, LOL!

Rachel Pops

What has worked the best for our girls (4&7) is a narrow rope attached between two hooks, or decorative knobs, on the wall. I put a small decorative metal bucket on their dressers and filled it with clothes pins. When they undress, they throw the dirty clothes in a hamper and hang the "still clean enough to wear again" on the rope with a clothes pin. The reason this works better than hooks is that you can add as many pins as you need and don't have to hang things on top of other things. They then choose clothing from the rope in the morning before going to their dressers. I love this system and so do they AND it cuts down on laundry!

Lara

That sounds like a genius idea! And anything that cuts down on laundry is obviously genius. 🙂 It sounds really cute, too.