Our boys have been sharing a room since Jude was born and we are planning for the girls to share a room as well. Configuring a room to be conducive for two children hasn’t been complicated and the kids really enjoy sharing a room. Elyse is incredibly excited to have her sister in her room soon! Don’t worry, I made sure to get that on video because I am sure there will be moments she doesn’t feel that way in the future. The biggest challenge to creating a shared bedroom for the kids has been managing the shared closet space.

The kid’s closets are really small when you think about putting two kids in there. They would work perfect for just one, but it’s taken a lot of trial and error to find something that works for two kids. A shared small closet between two girls proved to be even more challenging. Girls have so many clothes! Between their dresses, sweaters, jackets, nicer tops, and the list goes on. We had to come up with some really creative storage ideas to help their shared bedroom function well.

Shared Closet Hacks

We found the perfect hacks for a shared closet space and I am so happy with the way it pulled together. The more small storage solutions we could pull together, the better everything could be organized. A few simple shared closet hacks saved our lives!

Closet Shelving

We used simple cube storage shelves to create a divider down the middle of the girl’s closet. This helped to distinguish the two spaces, but it also served as more storage for the girl’s clothes. We did this same system in the boy’s closet and it has worked so well that I knew I wanted to do the same in the girl’s closet. Because I fell in love with the idea of a french provincial dresser in the girl’s room, their dresser drawers are very shallow. So the extra shelving in the closet is very helpful.

I use the closet shelving to store both of the girl’s pants. It’s easy to grab and see all the pairs they own on these shelves which is very helpful. I also have a shelf with a basket that holds all of Elyse’s winter hats, gloves, and scarves. When it isn’t being used for that in the winter, I use it to store her swimsuits. Evelynn’s top shelf has all her solid white onesies that can be used for layering, as well as I have set some bows there for the time being. I am just waiting to see which bows will fit her and which won’t before storing those somewhere else.

Multi Level Closet Rods

Since the size of the kid’s clothes are so small, we could utilize a multi level closet rod system. I am sure this will change as they get older and I will have to reevaluate, but for now it works perfectly. Their dresses hang on one and their jackets and sweaters on another. I currently don’t have room to hang nicer tops, so most of them are in their dresser. They don’t usually get too wrinkled the way I have them in there so it has not been a problem yet. I still have room to fit Elyse’s weekly clothing bins in the closet as well!

Storage Baskets

The storage baskets were the best closet organization hack we could have used. Utilizing baskets to help organize the top of their closet has helped save space tremendously. I use the storage baskets for the items we need to keep within easy access for Evelynn, but don’t need to access regularly. Things like swaddles, sleep sacks, hats, bloomers, etc. These baskets have been perfect for these items and the baskets help it look really clean and organized. I plan to create some labels for the baskets at a later date, but right now I know exactly what is in them so haven’t needed to. As the girls get older I am pretty sure I will still utilize the storage baskets in some way because they keep it so clean and organized! This is something I didn’t do in the boy’s room, but will definitely be doing soon!

Create Alternative Storage

When it comes down to it, create alternative storage when necessary. Sometimes you have to get creative with storage solutions to help make the most of a shared closet. I definitely make sure to only have out seasonal items to help. So there are no summer dresses or shorts taking up room during the winter time, and once summer comes around I’ll pack away all the winter long sleeves and dresses. I usually leave a few pants out for that transition, but not too much. I store all the out of season clothes in a tub in our basement.

We also created some under the bed storage drawers for their room for less than $50! With a few pieces of wood, some white paint, wheels, and a cute handle, Elyse has drawers that slide perfectly under her bed. The drawers currently store all of her pajamas and shirts freeing up more room in the dresser. She happened to have an abundance of long sleeve shirts this year so her short sleeve shirts, skirts, under shirts, tights, socks, and underwear are in the dresser. The under the bed storage drawers have been another one of my favorite storage solutions. They were so simple to make and have provided the perfect storage!

We also have a small area in our bedroom that we set up for the baby’s while they’re young. Since they share a room, I don’t want to interrupt Elyse when she is sleeping or during the middle of the night situations that arise. So just like we did with Jude, we have a few things of Evelynn’s stored in our bedroom. The only difference this time is that I keep her pajamas and sleep sacks in the baskets since those are the most needed items during the night. You can see how we set that area up when we had Jude here.

Small Shared Closet

The added storage and shelving is the key to making a small shared closet functional. It seems so simple, but the organization in their closet really makes me happy. It truly is the little things in life. Feeling like it’s all organized and easy to manage definitely helps this mama feel less stressed!

It’s definitely important to make it functional and easy for Elyse too. Most of her clothes are within her reach and she has the drawer system to help organize her clothes for the week ahead. She’s pretty independent so this system makes her feel like she still can get to what she wants and choose what she wants to wear.

All in all, this organization seems like the best solution we have come up with yet! I even like it better than the way I set up the boys’ clothes in the beginning. I know the functionality of this shared closet will be a huge benefit! Now to finish the rest of the bedroom so I can show you all!