The baby just spat up, and you need a cloth to clean it up. You search through a couple of drawers and finally find it, trying to rub the dried spit from your clothes. Later, you're changing the baby's diaper, and desperately try to hold them still while you go into the closet and search out the things you need. In a baby's room, organization is essential, and these baby room organization ideas will help you manage yours.
1) Under-Crib Drawer
If you're short on space, you can always store things underneath the baby's crib. This is extra space that you probably aren't using for something else, so you can put your extra toys and blankets under the crib where you're most likely to need them. A roll-out drawer like this one from Amazon is easy to use, so you won't struggle as much to hold onto your baby while trying to open the drawer and find what you need.
2) DIY Tool Cart
A tool cart probably doesn't sound like it belongs in the baby's room, but it can actually be an effective changing table and a great way to store everything you need. The top part is a perfect table, with raised edges to keep a baby from rolling off, and the small drawers are great for organizing and storing things. If you have an extra toolbox, or if you want to make a garage-themed nursery, you can design a changing table like this.
3) DIY Cloth
Baby rooms are soft spaces, even more so than a regular bedroom, and you don't want any hard surfaces if you can help it. This can be limiting when it comes to drawers and organizers, but you can take a hard organizer and modify it to work. Try adding cloth to baskets and drawers, as Kelsey and Atlas did in this video. You can pick patterns that will be stimulating for the baby, such as bold or black and white ones.
4) Drawer Dividers
Baby clothes, toys, and toiletries are much smaller than children's or adult's clothes, and they can easily get lost in a large or deep drawer. Instead of resigning yourself to this, and constantly having to paw through a jumble of items while handling a crying baby, get containers like these. These small bins will divide up your drawers to keep things organized, and they're made from cloth, so they'll still have the soft feeling that's appropriate for a baby's room.
5) Crate Toy Box
Your baby will need a toy box, but initially, you'll likely be the one grabbing toys from it and putting them back. Unlike toiletries and clothes, toys don't need to be separated. Instead, they need to be kept off the floor in one convenient place. Get an open-topped crate like this to toss toys in whenever you need to, so you can throw toys in or grab them back out quickly. You can get one from a dollar store, flea market, or elsewhere, and paint it any way you like.
6) Plastic Under-Bed Containers
The space underneath your baby's crib is probably wasted space. To make use of it, try getting organizers and storage containers for under the crib. These should have extra blankets, toys, and other things you'll need to use at or near the crib. This way, everything you need is near where you need to use it. Get a storage container like this to keep clothes separate and slot them away under the crib. These should fit underneath, but make sure to measure your crib before buying, since they're designed for beds, not cribs.
7) DIY Crib Drawer
Organizing a baby's room is all about where you're most likely to use each item. If you need to use it near the changing table, make sure to have it stored there. Similarly, if you need to access toys and other things near the crib, or if you have a changing table that goes over the crib, you'll want storage by the crib. You can use these instructions from Cloth Diaper Revival to build a drawer under your baby's crib. This way, you can easily slide it out and get anything you need.
8) Door Hanger
If you're struggling to figure out where to put things and trying to find extra space so you can keep things properly organized, an organizer on your door can be an effective solution. Hang an organizer like this one on the back of your door, or on a closet door, so you don't take up floor space, and you can grab anything you need quickly. This organizer is designed for babies, so the pockets should hold what you need comfortably.
9) Changing Table With Drawers
When you organize your baby's room, you'll want to place things in the area you need them most. This means you'll need a lot of things by the changing table. Since you don't want to struggle to find things when you're in the middle of changing a baby, make sure you have drawers in your changing table. You can even convert an old dresser and add dividers to organize your baby's clothes, changing materials like diapers.
10) Cardboard Toy Box
In most cases, in a baby's room, you'll want something with small pockets and cubbies to keep things organized, but with toys, you want to be able to toss a handful of odd-shaped toys in all at once. Avoid pockets and cubbies, and just use a big open box for a toybox. If you don't want to spend money on a small toybox they'll grow out of, you can make a cheap DIY toybox from cardboard using this tutorial.
11) Fun Shapes and Designs
Babies need a variety of unique shapes, textures, and colors to stimulate them and help them learn about the environment, and your organizers shouldn't be any different. As you plan and organize your baby's bedroom, make sure to buy or make storage containers like this elephant one. It has a unique shape and texture that’s great for adding variety to a baby's room. If the clothing going in it smells very bad, you can try to get similar hampers made from plastic to try to lessen the smell.
12) Closet Dividers
Babies grow quickly, and it's probably a good idea to keep clothes of multiple sizes around. That way, when the old clothes grow snug, you can switch to a larger size. These dividers can help you organize your baby's clothes so that you know what clothes are old and can be stored, and which clothes to try next when things stop fitting. You can either hang these from a closet bar or use them to hang clothes from hooks.
13) Plan Your Changing Table
If you've had babies before, or if your little one is a few months old already, you know that you spend a lot of time at the changing table. This makes it a central area for your organization, and storage spaces in your changing table will be essential. Plan your storage carefully, making sure that you have everything you need in the most convenient place. If you're not sure how best to organize the table for your needs, you can make a dresser into a changing table and use the system outlined in this article.
14) Baskets
While drawers and closets are standard and useful organizers, you probably want to get creative with your organizing ideas. Instead of storing everything in a drawer, try designing a changing table with baskets instead of drawers. Baskets are easy to access, since you can sometimes toss something in one without pulling it out, and they add a variety of textures to the room. This tutorial from Shanty 2 Chic has the information you need to make a changing table with baskets!
15) Covered Hamper
Baby clothes can get very stinky very fast, and you might not want to wash lightly soiled clothes and towels with the worst of your baby's clothes or cloth diapers. Use your laundry basket to sort your laundry, so your heavily soiled and lightly soiled clothes can be washed separately. This laundry hamper from Walmart has two compartments so that you can sort the clothes based on how soiled they are. It also has a magnetic closure, so the smell won't be as bad in the rest of the room.
16) Wall-Mounted
When you're looking for good organization ideas, you have to get creative sometimes. Try mounting your changing table on a wall, the way this sink is mounted. This gives you space underneath and lets you mount the table at whatever height you want. You can also do this with any of your organizers, or even add a cabinet higher up on the wall where your child can't get into it. This makes it so you can store important cleaning supplies conveniently without worrying about your child getting to them.
17) Hanging Changing Table Organizer
Your changing table is by far the most important place in your baby's bedroom when it comes to keeping things organized. This means you'll want to have a good organization system for it. Try getting a hanging organizer like this that can hang on a changing table, crib, or even just a wall. This way, you can put the organizer wherever it's most convenient. Since the organizer is designed for changing tables, you'll have easily accessible slots to put everything you need in.
18) Dollar Store Hacks
If you don't have a lot of money, you'll need cheap organization ideas that still work well. After all, babies are expensive, but there are some things you can't skimp on when it comes to keeping their space in order. Try using some of the DIY dollar store hacks in this video by RyMingTahn. These hacks will help you make an organized space where you can care for your baby more easily without breaking the bank.
19) DIY Theme or Style
When you think of organization for your baby, you're probably focused on how to arrange your supplies, where to store clothes, and other practical designs; however, you don't want to ignore the look of the organizers completely. Consider what theme you want in the baby's room, whether it's old fashioned with wood toys, pastel pink and princesses, or something else. You can design your changing table to be practical and still fit the theme, as Jameson Rantz did with this rustic changing table.
20) Clear Plastic
Clear plastic is one of the best organization ideas there are. The plastic is great for keeping moisture out, and while you probably don't have a leak in your nursery, you might spill aby powder and other things that you'd like to be able to clean up more easily. Containers with clear sides are amazing because you can always see what's in them. Try organizing your drawers using clear plastic trays like these ones from Amazon, or get covered plastic totes.
Did any of these ideas seem right for your baby's room? Tell us about it in the comments below!
