ADHD Clothing storage ideas

[keyslover]

DD13 hates drawers,  says she prefers hanging, but all evidence points to her love of the laundry basket, desk chair, or floordrobe.  

We are exploring other ideas like a cube storage for clothing.  Anyone else do this?  Other ideas?

[countthestars]

Did she say what she likes about hanging vs. dislikes about drawers?

I have ADHD and it is SO HARD for me to put away clothes, which sounds dramatic but it's like this unexplainable paralysis. There are two things that have helped me:

1) I don't fold 95% of my kids clothes (only if it's something wrinkly) and a lot of my own clothes
2) I like using open shelves in my closet because I can see what I have without digging through a drawer, and it does not force me to hang things on a hanger

[keyslover]

countthestars, she likes hanging, but her closet has a deadzone in it and she can't see it easily. Drawers hold too much stuff and hard to see what is in there. She is very much "out of sight, out of mind". I have come to terms with the lack of folding. We are both realizing choices are hard and less is better, that not only includes the amount and option of clothing, but the space they are stored.

I am hoping to find a better solution than a laundry basket and the waste of space her dresser and desk (another issue) take up. I am willing to look outside the box and what works for her, but it is so engrained clothing storage is a dresser!

[leahcar]

We have one of those hanging clothing organizers that my DD with ADHD uses. She prefers to see what she has as well. She semi-folds t-shirts, leggings, and sleepwear on puts them in those open shelves. She only uses her drawers for underwear, bras, and socks.

It drives me bonkers and her floor is still her storage entirely too often. But drawers simply don't work for her at all.

We also cut way, way back on how much clothing she owns. A true capsule doesn't work for her because she won't rewear things or wash more than once a week. But she basically has enough for maybe 10 days and that's it.

[sent]

Could you get rid of the dresser and get some of those standing hanging racks to put in its place?

I don't have ADHD but I am a stickler for having every routine clothing item be easily visible otherwise "out of sight, out of mind." Some things I like to use besides laundry baskets are clear drawer storage from Container Store and having one of those folding tables where I sort and fold my clean laundry. As I fold, I keep the clean clothes stacked there before I move the stacks to where they are supposed to go. I don't always get to sorting and folding everything at once, but having it all contained on the table makes me feel better than having it sit in a basket.

[dexteroni]

I very much prefer shelves to drawers! I agree with replacing at least one dresser with shelves. It would be super easy to replace a tall chest with one shelving unit. If she only has a low dresser with a mirror, you can use a few half-height shelf units and have a solid surface cut to fit on top to make it look more cohesive. And then she can still have the mirror above it if she wants. Given that she’s 13, stuff will still probably end up on the floor and draped over stuff, but hopefully to a lesser extent.

[litskispeciality]

I just went through ADHD testing and check every single box. I'm your kid to a T, only I hate hanging things too. Couple of things finally helping me now:

1. Recently went on ADHD meds and find a little more energy after work to put clothes away (that's HUGE!)
2. I try to sort clean laundry in piles before it goes up to be put away. This will get hung up, this will get put away in the PJ drawer etc. It takes longer, but makes the actual putting it away in my room more faster and more efficient.
3. I just added a "fancy" hamper to my closet and it's helping me put dirty clothes in there instead of leaving them on the floor forever. For whatever reason having a hamper that has a washable liner is also appealing. I can wash away the germs and then refill with clean clothes.
4. A long time ago I organized my hanging closet clothes by color and type. For example all pink shirts, sweaters etc., then green, then black. Another section for work pants, jeans etc. It sounds silly, but it's easier in the morning to find what I need. My non-hanging clothes are separated by type in drawers too. I have a whole drawer of PJs, one of tee-shirts etc.
My closet however has a dead zone as mentioned and it makes me crazy. The wall is too small to knock it down and expand the closet door or I'd fight for that reno.
5. Forcing myself to clean out my clothes every so often. This is very hard as I get a silly attachment, but it's necessary as some of my drawers can't close. There are all kinds of recommendations to determine which clothes you should keep, but I know what I wear as I often wear the same clothes over and over (ADHD thing?)

Anyway, I'd say getting rid of what she really doesn't need, finding a hamper that she likes and swapping out the dresser for another hanging system are really good starts. If you go with a drawer system try the open shelving. I'm not a huge fan as it looks messy after you take something out, but it works well for my brother. I'd also recommend letting your child go pick out the storage if at all possible. This may sound silly, but the storage choice based on their needs may make a huge difference.

Unfortunately nothing worked for me as a kid and I pretty much couldn't keep a chair or anything that can hold clothes as it'd end up as my hamper. I had to do my own and the family laundry pretty much as soon as I could see in the machine, but just had enough clothes I could go a while without a wash. My parents once had someone buy me nice hangers for a present "as a joke" because I hated to hang stuff up, but I was so mad at them (probably offended) that I didn't use them much. Sounds like you're treading very lightly here, but ADHD kids whether we're diagnosed or not aren't lazy or disorganized, our brains just work different. I think it's helpful for others to understand that and meet our styles, which is what you're trying to do

[nicolewi]

Just chiming in to say that we have cube storage in my girls' closet that we were using for toys but repurposed some cubes for clothes. It's not working well for us. Clothes too easily get shoved in the back of the cube or are falling out. Unless someone is great at keeping things folded and organized, which sounds HIGHLY unlikely, it doesn't work well.

At our cottage, I got some cheap wire shelves (they have at Target or Walmart for example) and put those inside a small closet. That seems to work a little better b/c you aren't limited to the cube and have more room to make stacks.

You could also put some things into clear bins on a wire shelf.

Clothes organization is something we struggle with a lot.

[namasteak]

We all have a clean clothes basket and a dirty clothes basket. We use those most of the time even though we all have drawers and hanging space. It's not ideal but it works for us!

[Jalapeñomel]

I also hate drawers, and I hang everything.

[twinmomma]

We were using cube shelves with the fabric bins for a while because I wanted to repurpose furniture we already owned and knew my kids didn't fold their clothes anyway so why not shove in a bin. It was a disaster. The bins overflowed, stuff fell out, and it was way harder to dig around in a cube for what they wanted vs. digging in a dresser drawer. We changed to dressers and it works relatively well. My super ADHD daughter still struggles, but it's because she gets too caught up in trying to put things away as outfits instead of as categories of clothes. And she never pushes the drawers back in, so it's always a mess. She claims she wants a way to hang everything, so we've considered a clothes rack, but they're expensive. And I think her clothes would still be in piles. How do I know? I'm a grown up with ADHD and my clothes are still in piles at almost forty years old!

I've released it and don't care. DH goes insane seeing how messy their room is.

[spindle92]

ADHD here and I'm currently reading a book about cleaning and organizing with ADHD to try and help get my life in order.
(HAHA - good luck to me)

I 100% have to be able to see things or my brain completely forgets what exists.

One thing I recently added to my closet is a sliding basket unit.
Something similar to this:
www.ikea.com/us/en/p/jonaxel-frame-white-60419957/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping_feed&utm_content=free_google_shopping_clicks_Bedroom_furniture&gad_source=1

A quick google search of "sliding clothing baskets" comes up with a few different options/styles.
Maybe something to consider.

[Jalapeñomel]

Oh I should add that my socks and underwear are in a cloth basket on a shelf in the closet, but everything else is hung up.

[ssmjlm]

Would a hanging clothes rack in her room help? Maybe to start to weed out favorite pieces from others? Then you could use what she really wears to put back into the closet.

There are some inexpensive ones on amazon.

[rubytue]

I love shelves. I had H build my last closet with a bunch of shelves that I stacked folded t-shirts on. I’m my current closet, there are only a few shelves. Most things are hung up. And I got some of those clear bins that I keep t-shirts amend leggings and such.

The problem with ADHF and drawers, if we can’t see it, it’s doesn’t exist. So clear bins let me quickly glance and see which bin to pull out, and how far down in the stack the specific shirt I want is.

[keyslover]

I appreciate the ideas and feel a bit better knowing it’s a battle for others.

I struggle with things should look nice vs if the systems works it doesn’t matter how it looks.

[picksthemusic]

Could you get those basket drawer things from Ikea?

They are see-through and open.
www.ikea.com/us/en/p/jonaxel-storage-combination-white-s99297144/

We are getting these for DS's closet for easier organization of toys, etc. He has ADHD and also has clothing paralysis. lol

[picksthemusic]

Oct 3, 2024 14:57:23 GMT -5 spindle92 said:

ADHD here and I'm currently reading a book about cleaning and organizing with ADHD to try and help get my life in order.
(HAHA - good luck to me)

I 100% have to be able to see things or my brain completely forgets what exists.

One thing I recently added to my closet is a sliding basket unit.
Something similar to this:
www.ikea.com/us/en/p/jonaxel-frame-white-60419957/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces&utm_campaign=shopping_feed&utm_content=free_google_shopping_clicks_Bedroom_furniture&gad_source=1

A quick google search of "sliding clothing baskets" comes up with a few different options/styles.
Maybe something to consider.

Haha jinx!

[dexteroni]

Oct 3, 2024 16:11:04 GMT -5 keyslover said:

I struggle with things should look nice vs if the systems works it doesn’t matter how it looks.

It’s good that you recognize this, so you can work on getting past it, rather than digging in and being an obstacle to your DD’s needs. Anyway, I think cube storage units look nice. And the open basket drawers others are recommending, those are small and one can probably go in her closet instead of out in the open.

[erbear]

My ADHD kid also lives out of laundry baskets. She does her own laundry when it’s dirty but it lives out of drawers

[bee20]

I probably have ADHD, agree entirely with paring down the clothes to a manageable amount and then focusing on hanging, whether on hangers or in hooks. I was always struggling with things you wear more than once until I just put a bunch of coathooks on my wall above the hamper. Now it's either dirty (in the hamper) or cleanish (on the hooks).

Clothes get put on hangers as they come out of the dryer and hung up on a shower rod above the laundry area. I've heard of others getting those rolling valet carts, but my first house had stairs so that was out.

[raleighnc]

This may not help because it's still drawers, but mine started organizing some clothes by function instead of a pants drawer, a shirt drawer, etc. Mostly because they do a lot of outdoor and Girl Scout stuff. So those clothes they use more often for outdoors are grouped together. Swimming and wetsuits and water shoes all love in a big bin in the laundry room during the summer. Everyone is "allowed" one clothes basket in their room to choose whether to put away. I'd rather have it in a basket than on the floor.

It's a much bigger struggle when drawers are too full, so I try to rotate clothes out.

But I struggle with this as an adult, so I'm not the best person for the job, lol.

[sonrisa]

Adhd here: cubes and shelves work better for me than drawers (you can pull them out completely and see everything)

I don’t hang anything but dresses - but I wear a lot of dresses (usually casual) because it’s a one item outfit which cuts down on decisions.

[litskispeciality]

sonrisa, I wear dresses almost every day now. When I worked in an office I wore dresses as long as it was warm because it's such a time saver. I hated moving to colder weather because I hate tights/nylons etc. and leggings with boots just don't always work...plus the extra effort and time in getting those extra items added in the morning.