Your Kids Can Pick Out Their Own Clothes Every Day with this Montessori Closet

Are you still picking out your toddler’s clothes? You don’t have to! Let your kid take over that task and save yourself some time (and arguing) in the morning. My youngest daughter has been choosing her own clothes since she turned two, and there are two key wardrobe decisions that allow her to do this. The first – I always buy neutral bottoms in gray, black, navy or khaki. The second –  I set up the closet for success by making it a Montessori closet! Every piece of clothing is visible and easy to reach. Better yet, it only cost about $50 and is super easy to put together!

In case you’re wondering what the Montessori aspect of the closet is – Montessori emphasizes child-sized household items. The idea is that kids will able to do many everyday tasks for themselves if they have tools that are the right size. For this closet, I focused on making the clothing easily accessible for my preschooler. Check it out!

Cube Organizer

We bought a 4 cube organizer from Wal-Mart. We also bought two x-shelves but only ended up using one. Our setups are a little different in the winter vs the summer. Because we live in the south, our winters can be cold or warm, while our summers are nothing but hot. The winter distribution of clothes goes like this:

Cube 1 (upper left): Pants

Cube 2 (upper right): Long-sleeved shirts

Cube 3 (lower right): Short-sleeved shirts and shorts

Cube 4 (lower left): X-organizer with rolled up pajamas in two spaces and underwear in the other two spaces

Here’s a visual of the winter version, since that’s what we have right now!

The summer setup is a little different, since I know we won’t need pants or long sleeves from May to September:

Cube 1 (upper left): Shorts

Cube 2 (upper right): Skirts

Cube 3 (lower right): Short-sleeved shirts

Cube 4 (lower left): X-organizer with rolled up pajamas in two spaces and underwear in the other two spaces

On the top of the shelf, we have two bins. One bin is for blankets, and the other for sheets. We also put some special-use items on top of the shelf – long underwear in winter and taekwondo uniform year-round.

Closet Rod Extender

Hang in-season dresses up on the curtain rod extender. Off-season or special occasion dresses go on the upper rod, safely out of reach.  I leave the area above the shelf clear because it would get too cluttered otherwise.

Truth Time – The Top Shelf

I left the top shelf deliberately messy because we’re not perfect over here. Pull-ups go on the top shelf, as well as diaper pail liner refills. That bin on the upper left side of the shelf is the bin of outgrown clothes. If a piece of clothing is too small, I throw it up there until I have time to properly sort through it and separate items. This closet belongs to my youngest child, so I either donate her clothes to a local charity or keep a few special pieces to pass on to friends or family. The top rod and high shelf keep these things firmly out of a child’s reach!

A Super-Functional Montessori Closet for less than $50!

We love this closet setup! Even someone who is not handy at all (like me) can put this together in a short amount of time. My child loves the fact that she can see her clothes, and choose them (when she wants to) and I love that it gives her autonomy and saves me time!