Getting all of your baby’s clothes together can be a lot of fun for expectant moms. Baby clothes are simply adorable, so going through them and thinking about how sweet your baby will look is a great joy for many. It’s one of the many exciting areas that come in the last few months before the baby arrives.

At the same time, it can be a little overwhelming. After all, it is the last few months before the baby arrives. There’s so much to do and let’s face it, pregnancy brain and fatigue can get in the way. You want to do as much as you can ahead of time to make your life easier, but on some days that’s more of an uphill battle than others.

When you’re a new mom, you’re getting a lot of new things for your baby. One of the quickest things you’ll find you amass is clothes. Between new things and hand-me-downs from friends and family, it’s likely you’ll have a wide range of sizes in clothes from the very start. No two babies grow at the same rate, so you can’t easily gauge when you’ll transition from one to another. 

There are some easy ways that you can get your newborn’s closet organized and ready for when the baby comes home. You’ll find that these creative solutions will get you rethinking a lot of your organization choices for the baby’s room and making some better arrangements. Plus, you’ll have a good time doing it. Consider these newborn closet hack

Always start with sorting by size

No matter what kind of newborn closet organization technique you decide on, you’ll want your baby’s clothes separated by size. 

Make it fun by checking out some of the closet dividers that are available on Amazon or Etsy. They have really cute designs, so it should be easy to find something that compliments your baby’s nursery decor. They’re also pretty affordable, generally sold for $10-$20, so it’s an accessible organization solution. Some particularly crafty mamas even find that DIYing them is a fun activity.

Once you sort by size, you can get creative with other options. You can sort by season, by color, by outfit, or by anything else that makes your new mama heart happy.

Maximize the use of rods and rails

Because baby clothes are so small, you can install multiple rods and rails in a newborn’s closet to optimize it. You can use the rods to hang anything. There are a number of different clips available that will allow you to hang accessories like shoes, ties, and bows. You can find a lot of cute ways of grouping things together, such as by the color or the theme, that will make the closet aesthetically pleasing as well as well-organized.

Transform a dresser with chalkboard paint

Chances are that as time goes on, you’ll change up the way you organize your newborn’s clothing as they grow. It may be hard to keep track of what is whereas things move from time to time. By painting a dresser (or just the drawer fronts) with chalkboard paint, you can label things and update them as you go. Get creative with your penmanship and drawings to really bring it to life. As your baby gets old enough to start flexing their own creative muscle, they’ll probably get a kick out of the accessible, safe-to-draw-on piece of furniture too. 

Use some furniture pieces that aren’t meant for baby

Because of the size of newborn clothing, it’s easy to use things that aren’t expressly meant for babies. You can repurpose some plastic office drawers or an unused bar cart, for example, to store items you need. The upside to these particular items is that they are typically on wheels, so it’s easy to bring things you need with you to another area of your home. Alternatively, it’s easy to store elsewhere if you have limited space in your newborn’s nursery.

That doesn’t just apply to furniture. There are a lot of other office storage solutions that work surprisingly well to help with storage in newborn closets and other areas of the nursery. Think of ways to use velcro and magnetic tape, for example. There are a lot of wonderful magnetic 

Look at creative ways to store what you won’t use immediately

From bins to baskets, there are a lot of options for storing what you can’t use right away without it looking cluttered. The key to finding a good storage solution is looking for things that allow you easy access, but still get what you don’t need out of the way. 

For certain baby items, such as seasonal items, extras of things, memento blankets, and more, consider longer-term storage solutions outside of the room if possible. You can also make the most of space-savers like vacuum bags to take care of bulky items. 

Plan to separate the laundry

Your newborn will go through some items more quickly than others. By separating the laundry, you can get what you need clean when you need it clean. Many moms find clipping lingerie mesh bags up on a line or rail is the easiest way to keep things separate. Get the mesh bags in different colors, or attach labels so you know what’s what. Then throw things in the proper bag when they’re dirty. This is also a good space saver for moms who don’t want a bulky laundry basket in their newborn’s nursery.

Simply grab the bags you need when it’s laundry time and you’re all set. This is an especially valuable tip for parents using cloth diapers, as they’ll find themselves doing the laundry a bit more frequently.

Use door storage to make the most of your space

There are all different kinds of storage pieces made for the back of doors that can help you take care of all your newborn clothing and accessories. There are cubbies, racks, buckets, and pockets. You can even get a mirror that hangs on the door with hidden storage inside. Since many newborn items are small, you can use these to store anything from hairbands to mittens and booties. Best of all, you can meet your storage needs without compromising the look of your newborn’s nursery.

Drawer dividers are your best friend

Drawer dividers are one of the most useful items in your organizational arsenal, especially while your newborn is small! You can fit a lot in a drawer when things are properly separated. Some moms like to buy their drawer dividers, while others DIY them. Either way, consider dividers with bottoms. While sometimes they’re a little harder to situated in drawers, you can use them later on as baskets for small toys and other accessories when your baby’s drawer needs changing.

Plan ahead for the things they’ll grow out of

When your baby outgrows their clothes, where will they go? Some moms save them for future babies or as keepsakes. If that’s the case, you’ll likely want to explore storage options outside the nursery. 

Other moms will pass used clothes on to other family members, charities,  or sell their baby clothes bundles on BundleUp to earn money back for their preloved or new baby clothes sorted by size or season.

 Either way, planning ahead for what you’ll do with the clothes will give you one less thing to worry about as you’re getting a handle on parenting. To keep those clothes from getting lost in drawers and bins, keep an easily accessible hamper or bin around where you can toss clothes your baby has outgrown at the moment. You can make the next move at a later time.

Keep a night table or other little corner for mom’s things

Mom is likely the person who will spend the most time in the nursery beside the baby. She should have a few things there that she can quickly grab, especially if she’s breastfeeding. Keeping pumping supplies nearby is a must. Many moms also find a change or two of clothes for any baby projectiles or breast leaks make a significant difference and keep them from having to leave the room when their baby is in their most chaotic, messy moments. Other suggestions from new moms have included snacks that are easy to eat one-handed, water bottles, a notepad, and a cell phone charger.

There’s so much your newborn needs. Luckily, these tips are there to simplify the process. At the end of the day, you want to make things as smooth as possible for the baby’s arrival. Though any seasoned parent will tell you that you can’t plan for everything, having a few key things in place, like knowing how you’ll organize your newborn’s closet and clothing, will fill you with ease in the time leading up to welcoming your bundle of joy.