A tween is someone inbetween childhood joys and teenage excitement. A tween closet reflects that transition. See how we made this tween closet fit both beautifully.
Every year before Christmas, my kids go through their clothes and stuff to purge and donate anything they’ve outgrown or no longer need. This time as they went through, I realized that my daughters’ closet was not working for them. Even after they had pared down and cleaned up, it still looked messy and nothing seemed to have a place to go. Since they are entering a new phase of life (the tweens) it was time to update their closet.
We spent a the next month assessing everything, and deciding what needed to change. We found that the top two shelves still worked well, and could even hold bins for toys they occasionally played with, but the lower wood shelf piece had to go. It had turned into a dumping ground.
Out came everything, and on went the paint. A fresh coat of paint is a great way to start any major update. We chose a glossy white to make the closet look more open and light. In case your wondering, that square hole allows access to the bathroom plumbing (hopefully we never need that access again, but just in case, it has a white removable cover).
We decided that wire shelves would be the most budget-friendly, and they would allow us to move things around as my daughters’ needs changed. Even still, we measured and planned everything before we made any purchases.
We started by attaching three uprights to hold shelves. These are what make the shelves adjustable.
We put up three wire shelves to hold large bins and a plastic drawer set. The large buckets are awesome. We use them for everything. These two hold Barbies and dress-ups, but as my kids get older, they can hold other collections and gadgets.
To encourage my daughters to hang up their clothes, we put in two hanging bars at their height. We purchased the brackets and cut up the old hanging bar into smaller sections.
In our month of assessment, we realized that each girl needs her own space. This is partly because each girl is starting to define herself and partly to give them each complete responsibility over their own space. We’re working on a room makeover with the same idea. I’ll share that when we get to it.
Above the hanging bar is a 2-foot shelf which each girl is allowed to organize and keep anything and everything that is her own. The shelf is an old piece of particle board covered in contact paper.
In the shelf arrangement, we left space for an art cart, the Raskog cart from Ikea. It holds all of their art and coloring supplies and can be moved to any room in the house, if needed.
I especially love these inexpensive, little organizing buckets because they can be hung on the side of the cart for easier access.
We kept their toys bins from before with a few toys they still use. We put the bins up on the higher shelves with big labels so they can be taken out only when they are wanted.
There is also a space on the floor for the laundry basket. Now that my daughters are 8 and 10, they have started learning to do their own laundry. Hopefully soon, that will mean a little less work for me!
Here’s the finished closet. No, it is not color-coordinated and show-room-ready like a magazine layout. This is a real, working closet that my daughters helped design. I think they did a pretty good job. A tween closet that has a place for everything, and everything has a place.
This post was shared at some of my favorite link parties.
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