Looking through nursery organization ideas was my favorite thing to do when I was pregnant with my little ones. There is something about finding storage for all of baby’s belongings that set my nesting self at ease.
Since then, I’ve written a lot about how to organize a nursery for moms. Today, I’ve written an ultimate guide to help you while you’re in nesting mode as well.
We’ll cover a lot of content in this guide, but in short:
The secret in understanding how to organize a nursery is to (1) have a place for everything, while (2) using all the space you have available in the room.
We’ll dive deeper into each aspect below.
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How to Organize Baby Clothes in the Nursery
The first thing you’ll want a nursery storage solution for is all the baby clothes!
It can get overwhelming quickly, especially once you realize that baby will be wearing more than one outfit each day, with all the spit up involved with being a newborn!
Do I fold or hang baby clothes?
You’ll find doing a little of both will be most practical!
You can fold onesies, pants, pajamas, swaddles and socks.
You can hang nice shirts and blouses, matching outfits, sweaters and jackets.
Let’s tackle the nursery dresser next.
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How to Organize a Nursery Dresser
I think having an organized nursery dresser is the most important aspect of organization bliss in the baby’s room.
You’ll be in and out of the nursery dresser several times a day, so you’ll want to be sure you have a system in place to keep everything organized.
The last thing you want is to fumble around looking for something when baby is distressed or needs a quick diaper change.
This is especially true if you’re using baby’s dresser as a changing table too. If you’re storing changing table essentials in the dresser, it’ll be even more important to have everything in its place.
I personally used the dresser as a changing table for both my little ones, because it saved me room and I liked having all of baby’s essentials in one place.
1. Use Drawer Dividers
Using drawer dividers is my number one tip for nursery organization.
I didn’t use them for baby number one, but I did for baby number 2 and it was worth the few dollars it cost for them!
Drawer dividers allow all like items to stay together for easier access, like onesies vs t-shirts.
I also like to fold clothes in a way that I can file them in drawer dividers so I have a bird’s eye view of all of the baby clothes.
You’ll be grabbing things out of the dresser in a hurry, so things tend to get a bit messy. Having drawer dividers will help everything stay in place, which will help maintain your nursery dresser drawer organization.
2. How to Fold Baby Clothes
Learn how to fold baby clothes in the most efficient way.
I prefer either file folding or rolling.
This will save room in the dresser and allow you to keep baby clothes folded neatly.
Both my kids went through multiple onesies a day, so it was helpful to have a system in place that kept everything organized.
Learning how to fold onesies using the file fold method was essential for me to keep everything in the dresser organized.
I prefer to file fold baby clothes into drawer dividers. I think it’s the key to keeping folded clothing neat and organized.
Next we’ll move to baby closet organization ideas!
Related: How to Master Nursery Dresser Organization
How to Organize a Nursery Closet
The baby’s closet is another spot in the nursery that’s important to organize before baby arrives!
Not only can you store baby clothes in the closet, but you can really maximize the nursery closet’s space and store other newborn and baby essentials in it.
1. Closet Dividers
I didn’t use closet dividers with my first baby but I did with my second, and it made a huge difference!
You’ll get a ton of clothes before baby arrives, including a lot that baby will have to grow into. The closet dividers help you organize everything by size, so you can quickly grab what you need.
2. Maximize Space
There are a 5 hacks I use to maximize storage space a nursery closet.
I like to use every inch in a closet, so I can store a ton of baby essentials to keep the rest of the nursery clean and uncluttered.
#1 Use back of door storage.
This is a favorite storage hack of mine, and I use it in other places beside the nursery closet.
Attach a door organizer rack to the back of your closet door.
If you have sliding closet doors, you can also do this on the back of the room door.
This allows for so much storage!
You can store items like diapers, ointments and lotions, bottles, wipes, baby shoes, small baskets of toys and teethers. There are so many possibilities.
#2 Add hooks to inside walls.
This is such a small hack, but it really adds extra storage space.
Attach hooks to the inside walls of your closet. You can hang wire haskets for extra storage, or simply hang items like:
- wire baskets to hold small items
- hooded bath towels
- baby headbands
- baby hats
- jackets & sweatshirts
- and more!
This nursery storage hack saves room on the closet rod and your shelves, which you can use to store other baby essentials.
#3 Use a hanging clothes divider.
I really like using hanging clothes dividers in a nursery closet. They allow you to use the vertical space below the closet rod that otherwise goes unused.
You could use this to store:
- baby blankets
- swaddles
- stuffed animals
- wearable blankets
- extra crib sheets
- and more!
#4 Make use of shelving or add inexpensive shelving
The best way you can optimize space in a nursery closet is to fully utilize any shelving you have available to you.
If your closet doesn’t have shelving, you can add an inexpensive wire shelf below or above the clothing rod.
I did this in my daughter’s nursery and we used it to store a ton of her baby stuff.
You can store seasonal clothing, blankets, shoes, keepsakes, books, bulk diapers and more on closet shelving.
The best way to organize the closet shelf is to use baskets, which we’ll dive into next.
#5 Use baskets.
Using baskets in the nursery closet is the best way to maximize space. We’ll dig a bit deeper below.
3. Nursery Closet Organization Ideas: Baskets
I think using baskets in baby’s closet is essential to keeping everything organized once baby arrives.
You can choose adorable baskets to go with your nursery’s theme and store like items in each one.
I like to call this sort and conquer.
You can use baskets in baby’s closet to store:
- baby blankets
- baby toys
- teethers and binkys
- seasonal clothing
- bigger sized clothing
- keepsake items
- swaddles and wearable blankets
- extra crib sheets
Too small basket
I also highly recommend having a basket in your nursery closet or beside your nursery dresser for clothing that is too small for baby.
It’s the easiest way to keep baby clothes organized, because babies grow out of clothing so quickly.
4. Add a Nursery Organizer (if Space Allows)
One last thing you can do to really step up your nursery closet organization game, is to add in a rolling cart, chest of drawers or cube shelf if you have a closet large enough to do so.
Now we’ll move onto the changing table organization ideas!
Related: Baby Closet Organization Ideas (The Ultimate Guide)
Changing Table Organization Ideas
Having your changing station or table in order is especially import, because you’ll be changing your baby’s diaper and clothes several time a day.
Whether you have a separate changing table or you’re using the nursery dresser for a changing station, you’ll want to find a place to store all the changing station essentials.
Here are a few ideas that work really well.
Dresser drawer using dividers
If your changing station has drawers, defintely use drawer dividers to sort and organize all your changing table essentials.
I like adding all my ointments, creams, nose frida, current package of wipes in the top drawer.
The second drawer I like keeping extra packages of wipes and diapers.
Baskets on changing table shelves
If your changing table has shelves, add baskets or bins to sort and organize all of baby’s essentials.
Using vertical space on wall
You can also use the space on the wall above the changing table to hang wire baskets to store all baby changing items.
Rolling cart
If you’re working with a small nursery, you may not want a changing table at all. I didn’t use one for my second baby, but I did invest in a cute rolling cart as a diaper changing station.
Simple diaper caddy
You can also utilize a simple diaper caddy to store all of your diaper changing needs. It’s easy to move around and you can add a diaper changing mat in it to change baby’s diapers wherever you are.
Pro tip: have a diaper caddy on every floor and in your car so you can change a diaper on the spot.
Related: Changing Station Storage Ideas
What is your favorite tip on how to organize a nursery?
Let us know in the comments!
