Your Guide to Kids’ Room Organization
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The best way to teach your kids life-long organizing skills is to start early. Whether it’s putting the socks in the right drawer or placing toys back in the appropriate bin, these simple tasks can lead to a life-long habit of staying organized.
Whether its school papers or clothes, books or toys, kids’ bedrooms and playrooms can quickly become unruly and disorganized. No matter their age, busy families need to choose priorities, and often organizing their personal spaces falls to the bottom of the list.
In the long run, having organized spaces for your kids, whether they have their own bedroom or share one, will save you time in the long run. Imagine spending less time searching your home for the soccer cleats/permission slip/cell phone/favorite jeans because you and your child know exactly where they are. Sounds dreamy, right?
To begin your journey in organizing your kids’ bedroom or playroom, follow these seven steps. Be sure your kids are involved so they understand the system that’s being put into place.
Organize papers. When organizing papers, you may find a collection of artwork, exams, certificates or other school-related materials that you’d like to save. Create a memory box for each of your children and save those items for them elsewhere. Only keep current and pertinent papers in their rooms. Be sure to review books, school papers, and whatever might be hiding inside their desk.
Organize wearables. Use this opportunity to go through all your children’s clothing, footwear, outerwear, dress-up and sports-related clothing.
Sort through the toys. I’m convinced that toys have a way of multiplying under cover of night! A few times a year (especially before birthdays) take the time to do a thorough sort of all the toys and games in your children’s room. Your kids, even the younger ones, have their ways of showing you which toys are important to them and which they are no longer interested in playing with. And the next time a birthday rolls around, consider asking family to gift experiences and not physical gifts. It will help to maintain your organized spaces. And trust me, kids will remember going to the beach or spending time with the grandparents at the park much more than a board game.
Check under the bed. You never know what might be hiding under there! Have you ever told your child to go clean their room and it’s miraculously done in just five minutes? Chances are, many of the items that were formerly on their floor have been shoved under the bed (or in the closet) to quickly hide them away from you. And then you know what happens? They forget what’s even under there.
Throw away the trash. Maybe your kids have a small trash bin in their room, in which case maybe the dirty tissue or crumpled piece of homework has made its way into the trash bin. If not, there’s a possibility that trash has accumulated on the floor or on surfaces. Do a quick sweep with your child and gather all of the trash. Discuss with them if they think having a small trash bin in their room would be beneficial.
Determine if you need new storage solutions. Once you have completed the bedroom and/or playroom declutter process, decide at that point if you need new storage solutions. Don’t be tempted to do this at the beginning of the project. Chances are, you’ll find what you need already in your home (and maybe in their bedroom!) and that the real reason why their room was hard to organize was because they just had too much stuff. Always declutter first and then organize.
Create a donate box. When decluttering your children’s bedroom, be sure to have a donation box in the room with you. Put toys, clothes, and books that your children no longer want inside the box. Be sure to take your kids with you when it’s time to make the donation. It’s a good learning opportunity for them to see where the clothes and toys are headed.
Keep in mind during the decluttering and organizing process, if you have a younger child that can benefit from saving some of these items, make sure to put them in a labeled bin for easy access as they get older. If you are saving clothes, make sure they are clean, and then store them elsewhere in your home. In the end, building systems in kids’ bedrooms and playrooms will have a lasting effect for many years to come.
More Organizing Ideas
Need even more ideas on how to organize your home? Living. Simplified. is ready to help. Take a look at these blog posts or send us an email at lauren@livingsimplified.net and we can work together to reach your organizing and decluttering goals:
The 6 Best Laundry Room Organizers