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Nursery Closet {Organizational Ideas!}

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*UPDATE!* …see the nursery in all it’s finished glory HERE!!!

We’ve been working away at the nursery, and were LOVING the fresh unique color palate and all the sentimental and DIY items we’ve incorporated into the room thus far!

The nursery closet was NOT a priority when it came to planning a nursery design/color scheme. But there came a time when I realized that this just wouldn’t do.

First and foremost, that deep periwinkle cave-like color just had to go. Does it bring back nightmares of the original room color?  Oh how far we’ve come! The second issue at hand is the lack of structure and storage solutions. One massive shelf, and all that wasted space!

But knowing that closet shelving and organization systems are very spendy, I set out to make it functional on a budget! So we added a second shelf halfway down… maximizing space, and adding a clothing bar for hangers!

THEN, I got this picture in my mind of a super genius space-saving solution. Remember these little plastic crates from your middle school years that you kept all your scrunchies in? (Check out my freakish looking hand in this picture!) HA!

Well come to find out, they’re kinda hard to come by these days. Nobody wants a chunky plastic mini-crate with no handle. After checking Walmart, Menards, and Bed Bath and Beyond, I found them at the Dollar Tree! For a dolla each! I may not have chosen black, but it’s what they had. And exactly what I needed. So the next step was to install some hooks under the top shelf… can you see where I’m going with this??

After strategically placing the hooks, I just hung the crates on them! And as I envisioned, they dangled slightly yet securely at the perfect angle to hold tiny headbands, bibs, booties, burp clothes… whatever!

And now, after washing all our tiny baby clothes, blankets and burp clothes… the closet was ready to load up! Strangely, I looked forward to this very much. I get an abnormal amount of satisfaction out of organizing.

So I’m feeling very productive and organizational, right? And I occasionally make a stop in the nursery to admire all that we’ve done. But on one such evening, I walked through the nursery to admire the closet… and it looked like this:

Surprise! There’s no light in this closet! Can you imagine holding a naked baby who just had a blow-out at 3am (while the other baby is screaming in the crib) and trying to fumble through this dark mass? I’d rather not find out.

So I batted my eyes and said to my hubby, “Hubby? How much work would it be for you to wire a light into the closet and put a switch on the outside?” He groaned and said he would think about it, and add it to the already lengthy list of things I had given him to do.

SO, to give the poor boy a break and avoid dry-wall dust in my precious nursery, I marched to Walmart and bought a rope light with a remote light switch and hung it up and around the trim on the inside of the closet.

And what do you know? It lights up the whole closet with a soft, even glow! Which is even better that one bright light coming from a single source, being enough to wake you (and your drowsy infant twins) up permanently. This is as NIGHT TIME shot!

I love the final outcome… super organized with a soft glow, and filled with tiny baby clothes! AND accomplished with only spending $6 on crates, and $11 on rope light!!

*UPDATE!* …see the nursery in all it’s finished glory HERE!!!

*UPDATE AGAIN!* …it’s crazy to think it’s been 3 years since we designed and decorated this nursery for our twin girls. Click here to see what this closet looks like NOW! And even crazier to think that we now designing their big-girl toddler room! Come check out all the projects that we’ve done to make this room super special!

Twin's Big-girl Room Transformation {Sawdust and Embryos}

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Comments

  3. 42

    How did you do the design on the changing table to match the curtains? Did you use a stencil if so where from?

    Reply
  4. 43

    I’m confused on how the light works. Do you have an outlet inside the closet? If not, is there an ugly cord running outside of the closet to an outlet?

    I need light in my daughters closet, and in my nursery. Please help!

    Reply
    • 44

      Strangely, we do have an outlet inside the closet. I never thought about how weird that is. You could use a small drop cord and tuck it under the edge of the carpet to reach the nearest outlet.

      Reply
  7. 48

    I have 2 very dark closets and would love to use the rope lights with remote. I have never seen them. Can you tell me if it is possible to still get them?

    Reply
  11. 54

    Wow! How brilliant is that! I would never think of using those crates that I think only college students use in a baby nursery. What a fantastic idea to use the existing shelves and then adding these crates below.

    Reply
  12. 55

    I love this…the lil crates and rope light! Im so doing this in both of my daughters closets! Brilliant! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  13. 56

    I totally love the hanging crate idea. I’m totally going to try this!! I have different shelving, but I’m going to figure out how to do this! Found your blog through pinterest!

    Reply
    • 58

      The rope light (from Target) comes with a wall plate as well as a small box that you plug into an outlet. The box has a place to plug something into it… so we just plugged the rope light into the box, and the wall switch turns it on!

      Reply
  16. 60

    they also have the battery operated LED lights that you can just push or click and the light comes on…it lit up my entire walk in closet very well…if i had 2 it wouldve been really bright..one was good 4 me..but its an option..dollar tree is a great place to get batteries too..i get the 8 pack of AA or AAA for $1 and they work great for all of the babies toys..even my 14 mega pixel fuji film camera runs good off of them DOLLAR TREE ROCKS!!

    Reply
  21. 65

    Oh my gosh, I think we share the same organizational gene!! This is the very same kind of thing that thrilled me when awaiting our first born! After she was born, hubby would find me in her closet “just going through things”…such a sweet time. And the rope light is pure geeeenius!!

    Reply
  23. 67

    Love this… and recall endless nights with our girls in the same room trying to figure out enough light but not too much light.

    Reply

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