Whether or not your are waging a constant battle to get your children to clean up their rooms or they are pretty good about keeping it tidy for the most part, you still feel that there is just too much stuff lying around. Finding a way to organize your child’s room that is good for both of you is important to keeping your house in good order. Especially now before heading into holiday season when you know they’ll be getting even more stuff, it might be a good time to do a little purging and add more storage solutions to help them stay organized and keep the room neat.

 Sorting and Purging

Since they can quickly accumulate a lot of stuff, get them to help you sort through everything. There are probably items they no longer use or like. And they are most certainly harboring treasures that they can’t part with but have been broken and are beyond repair. Separate toys, books, etc. from clothes. Put everything in piles: stuff that needs to be thrown out; things that are no longer used and can be given away; and items that just don’t belong in the room, including seasonal items like outerwear, sports equipment etc.

Storage Solutions

Once everything that is not staying, such as items to be put in the trash, is removed from the bedroom, you’re ready to get organized. Now that you have a better idea of what’s staying and what’s going, decide if you will need more storage options or if everything will go back into the shelves, cupboards and storage bins that are already in the room. This is also a good time to wipe everything down and sanitize surfaces while shelves, cubbies and cupboards are empty.

Like with Like

Sort the pile of things your child wants to keep into piles of similar items, for example all of the toy cars in one pile, books in another, stuffed toys in another. Decide where everything will go. Put everything back into their assigned bins or shelves. If storage bins aren’t see-through, add labels to make finding things and putting things away more convenient.

Afterwards

Encourage them to use what they have. If they have a toy chest or clothes hamper they never use, perhaps they are simply in the wrong place. Try finding a more central location that will motivate them to put dirty clothes straight into the hamper rather than dumping them on the floor or toys back in the toy box once they have finished playing. Make sure that storage bins are easy to use and that bookshelves and storage units are accessible and not blocked by other pieces of furniture.

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Post tags: bedroom, child's room, Childrens Bedroom Furniture, kids bedroom, kids bookshelves, storage bins

        

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Designing a space for young kids to play is just as important from them as it is for you. Assigning a designated area not only will help contain clutter, but let you catch a little down time. Knowing that they have a safe place to play will give you a chance to “sneak” off to finish a project in another part of the house or to make yourself a cup of coffee and relax for a few minutes.

Even if you do not have a separate room to spare for a playroom, having a designated place such as a corner of the family room, living room or basement that the kids in your house can call their own will go a long way to help keep toys out of your main living and entertaining areas. It will also give them more room to play, particularly if they are sharing a bedroom. Whether you have an actual playroom or you will be creating a space for them to play as part of another room in your home, the design process will be relatively the same.

 Step 1: Clearly make it their space

Separate their play area from the rest of the room by a screen or divider. As a DIY project, you could create your own customized room divider, making it multi-purpose by including cork board sections that can be used as bulletin boards (one for each child) or plastic pockets that your children can use to display their artwork or pictures of friends and family. Another easy way to create a “room divider” is to place two or three bookcases together to form a wall. These will be very useful for storing books and toys. Add a row of baskets to one of the shelves for storing art and craft supplies.

Step 2: Add Color

Kids love anything color. Especially if you are incorporating their play area as part of a room, it might not be possible to paint the walls child-friendly colors. However, you can bring bright colors into their play area by adding select furniture pieces like bean bag chairs, bookcases and toy chests that are colorful.

Step 3: Keep it Interesting

Make room for as many different activities as possible. Provide sleeping mats or body pillows for snuggling up with a favorite book. Give them someplace to paint and draw. Have a special storage bin just for building blocks. Include an activity table for crafts or a table and chair set as the ideal place to color or play board games.

Step 4: Make Tidying Up Fun

Include storage bins, storage organizers, cubbies or shelves as part of their play area. Encourage them to put the toys and books they have used back in the play area ready for next time and to tidy away any materials they used to make crafts. Furniture that has a dual purpose such as a storage bench is ideal for a playroom/designated play area because it can also be used as seating.

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Post tags: bean bag chairs, cubbies, kids boockases, play room, shelves, storage bins, toys

        

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Great for storage, yes, but the KidKraft Nantucket Storage Bench would make a great “window” seat as well – a perfect place to read on a rainy day

Don’t despair – there are some easy and simple ways to organize your child’s room that will help keep them on track and the rest of your home neat and uncluttered. 

A mix of closed storage and open storage will provide your and your child with options – closed storage lets you hide items from view, giving the room a tidy feel; open storage allows children to see at a glance what is stored where.

Whatever you choose for your child, storage containers should be age appropriate, fun and easy to use and made of non-toxic materials. Toy organizers and storage bins should also be very accessible; if they are not, you know what will happen – everything will land on the floor or be stuffed out of sight in the closet.

Children, like adults, are tactile and love to experience different textures, colors and shapes. Choose storage bins and toy boxes that are bright and bold. There is a wide variety of storage solutions for kids to choose from – toy chests and toy boxes, toy caddies, toy organizers and storage bins.

A toy caddy is very handy, especially for younger children, for transporting toys and other miscellaneous items to and from their room to other areas of the house. Storage bins range from utilitarian and multi-purpose to fun and funky and they can have a particular theme like animals, princesses and automobiles.

Levels of Discovery Stack A Buddies Kids Storage Unit

Make the most of baskets – they can help you wage war on clutter. They look stylish and trendy (a bonus for you) and are user-friendly (a bonus for your kids). Adding a row of baskets or individual see-through bins to a couple of bookcase shelves creates a convenient space where kids can “stuff” things out of the way. Baskets and stackable bins can be a great way to tame an unmanageable closet and keep it organized. 

A toy chest like the Teamson Design Under the Sea Hand Painted Kids Toy Chest/Box can an a whimsical element to a child's room

Under the bed isn’t reserved just for monsters. Transform the space under the bed into useful storage with under-bed drawers. If your child’s bed won’t accommodate under-bed drawers, this would also be a good place for baskets or a set of storage trays for items like shoes or sports equipment.

It’s easy to forget the storage potential of the walls in your child’s room. Put hooks on the backs of doors so that they can hang up clothes, backpacks, etc. without too much effort. Hanging racks are also handy to have. Shelving units, floating shelves and shadow boxes are ideal for displaying mementoes, collectibles and other highly valued treasures. While not strictly storage related, placing a cork board or some kind of message board will give them a place to display pictures, etc. while keeping their desk or activity table free of bits of paper.

These straightforward and simple storage solutions for kids will help you to organize your child’s room easily and conveniently. Storage solutions for your child’s bedroom are good for the rest of you home, too. A wall organizer in the family room or a set of storage cubes in the hallway (one for each child) just might inspire them to put things away rather than “store” them on the floor.

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Post tags: child's room, closed storage, open storage, storage bins, storage solutions for kids, toy chests, toy organizers, toys

        

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