Easy Organization Tips for Your Disorganized Teen

As a mom of a teenage boy, it seems like the daily struggle to keep his area organized can at times, feel overwhelming. Every time I turn around he has a new ball, a new pair of shoes or a new hobby that needs to find a home. Since moving him into a larger bedroom in our downstairs last year, I figured he’d have more places to put all of his stuff. But, as I should have know, in true teen boy fashion he found the one closet that wasn’t in use and decided to start shoving. In the less than a year that he’s been downstairs, his closet has descended into complete chaos and the storage area where I was hoping to keep his sports gear, winter clothes and items for his hobbies has turned into an absolute mess. So, last week when he headed off to camp, mama and daddy grabbed our tools (OK, this was mostly the hubs), came up with a few easy organization tips, got a little help from Lowe’s and installed the Rubbermaid ® HomeFree Series™ in his second closet to transform it into a perfect place of complete teen organization! And the best part is, restoring organization to my teen’s area was easier than you might think!

So, how did we turn an area that was complete teen chaos into one that is not only organized now but is easy to KEEP organized in the future? Well, it’s easier than it sounds and simply requires a little planning, a uniquely flexible closet system that allows us to use every inch of the closet and a free afternoon! Here’s how we did it!

Clean Out the Clutter (and Toss It Out!)

My son tends to be somewhat of a pack rat. He hates to throw things out (OK, truthfully he may have gotten that from me) but after a while, he needs a place to put all that stuff! His regular closet is overflowing and his second (storage) closet had simply turned into a catch all for everything that didn’t have its own home. There were boxes and old costumes and tons of shoes. There were weighted training balls and gear that while still totally useful, had been forgotten. Knowing that cleaning it out when he’s around is NOT the answer (I can only listen to “MOM, you can’t get rid of that!” so many times), I waited for him to leave for camp and then went through his items, keeping anything that was still useful and adding old clothes, shoes and toys to bags to be donated.

I’ve heard many times that the rule should be if an items hasn’t been used in a year, it should be tossed. Well, I did just that and tossed out too-small shoes, old book bags and items that really had no use anymore so that I was no longer looking at a completely chaotic area!

Once I had cleaned everything out of his closet and sorted the items into keep and discard piles, it was time to put it all back in…but in a much more organized fashion! The only question was, how could I quickly and effectively maximize his closet space while providing the storage he needs for his always changing interests? For me, the answer was easy!

Install the Rubbermaid HomeFree Series Closet System

Once the closet was completely cleaned out, I was thrilled to find that it was a perfectly blank canvas that was ready to be transformed into the perfect organized oasis for all of my teen’s needed items. However, it was essential that I choose a closet storage system that was functional, adjustable to our specific needs and helped to not only organize the closet but keep it that way. In search of the perfect way to transform our now blank space into the very definition of organization, I hopped onto the computer and used the Rubbermaid Closet Design tool to create the perfect design for our closet. To start, I simply chose the area we wanted to organize, took a few measurements and then plugged them into the design tool.

After adding the measurements of my closet, the design tool recommended the Rubbermaid HomeFree Series 4-8 foot kit to transform my teen’s closet to the picture of organization and even allowed me to customize my design with easy-to-install shelves and rods that don’t require any cutting! As an added bonus, I was able to add on shoe shelves, cubes and drawers that matched the epoxy-coated steel of my organization system and allowed me to truly make the most of my space.

Armed with an image of exactly what would work for my teen organization ideas, I headed to Lowe’s to pick up my Rubbermaid HomeFree Series 4-8 foot kit and the accessories. After quickly locating them in the home organization area, I was ready to get to work organizing my space in an easy and amazing way!

Once we arrived back home with everything we needed to turn my teen’s closet into the perfect place to store all his items, it was time to get to work!

And surprisingly enough, installing our Rubbermaid HomeFree Series 4-8 foot kit was super easy! All we had to do was open the box and follow the simple instructions that allowed us to not only install the storage system but customize it so that it fit perfectly with our needs!

With the flexibility to choose where to put shelves that expand by overlapping, we were able to use the included mounting hardware to create the exact layout that was right for us! There was no cutting, no waste and no needing to rethink our design. Instead we were able to completely customize our closet so that it met the specific needs that we had.

In no time at all, we had installed out Rubbermaid HomeFree Series 4-8 foot kit and added on an additional storage drawer (storage drawers do not come with the Rubbermaid HomeFree Series 4-8 foot kit and were purchased additionally). More importantly, we had been able to place our selves exactly where we wanted them so that they met the always changing needs of our less than organized teen!

Once we had tried a few different configurations to ensure that our closet design allowed us to make the most of every inch of space, it was time to start putting all the items he uses back in a way that allowed them to be easily found and used!

Use Your Closet System to Create Perfect Organization That’s Easy to Sustain

Once our Rubbermaid HomeFree Series closet system was in place and we had determined the configuration of shelves that made the most of our closet, it was easy to create organization that was not only perfectly designed for our needs but was also easy to sustain since shelves and rods can be moved at any time to meet the ever-changing storage needs of our teenage son.

For now, we’ve turned this closet into the perfect place to keep winter coats, sweatshirts, all the gear for his many hobbies and his shoes.

In a few year’s time when he’s out of the house, we’ll easily be able to re-configure it to maximize it as an overflow area or a seasonal way to keep our clothes organized in a very effective way!

But the awesome part is that no matter how we arrange our Rubbermaid HomeFree Series closet system, we’ll be able to continue to make the most of a space that up until this point had been wasted. We’ll be able to help our teen learn some important organization tips that will hopefully encourage him to install his own Rubbermaid HomeFree Series closet system in his house as he gets older. But most importantly, we’ve found a way to turn the chaos of an area that used to drive me crazy into a well-organized room that makes my son and I both happy knowing that he now has the perfect way to store, find and use all of his most important items!

Now, it’s your turn! Is there a closet in your home that drives you crazy? Do you want to add customizable organization that will allow you to make the most of every inch of your space? If so, head to the Rubbermaid Closet Design Tool today and use it to discover the right Rubbermaid HomeFree Series product to help transform your space into perfect organization! Whether it’s a teen’s area, your own room or a storage area that’s been long neglected, the Rubbermaid HomeFree Series systems has the best and easiest ways to get back the organization you need!

Now tell me, what area of your home would you organize with the Rubbermaid HomeFree Series?