House & Home
Archives Spring/Summer 2007

Make sure your organizational tools are age-appropriate
Get Creative with items you can find at yard sales
Kids will appreciate having a specific place for their belongings

Divide & Conquer

Organization is all it takes to declutter your kids' rooms

It seems like the older your children get, the more stuff they acquire, which makes keeping their rooms neat and clean a never-ending battle. But it doesn’t have to be that way. If you decorate with organization in mind, you’ll both win.

Here are a few tips for taming kid-sized clutter:

Age Does Matter

Neat and Clean Bedroom - Train your Kids

Organization is all it takes to declutter your kids' rooms.
Photo by Brian McCord

Make sure your organizational tools are age-appropriate. For toddlers and school-aged children, multicolored bins and baskets help them easily sort and store toys, games and books. If your child is learning to read, adding labels to bins can be a fun way to learn and practice new words. Avoid containers with hinges, which can be a safety hazard for small fingers.

Teens need a well-lit study area with plenty of storage for school supplies. A desk caddy helps organize loose pencils and pens, and mounted file holders help sort and store loose papers. Teens also require more privacy. A file cabinet from an office supply retailer is a great choice for storing letters, cards, class assignments and keepsakes.

Get Creative

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to keep your kids’ rooms organized. Some of the best organizational tools can be found at yard sales – or even around your house.

An over-the-door shoe organizer doubles as a crayon-Barbie™ doll-stray Lego™ holder. A garden trellis can be painted and hung on the wall; the pegs keep a girl’s purses within reach. A bulletin board can also come in handy for keepsakes such as photos, movie ticket stubs and certificates.

All of those empty shoeboxes can also be put to use. Get your kids to help cover them with colorful wrapping paper or fabric, line them up on an old shoe rack, and you’ll have a ready-made storage shelf.

Use All Available Space

Looking for a place to store last season’s clothes or sports equipment? Rolling storage boxes that fit easily under a bed are an easy fix. Toy hammocks attach to the corners of the walls and are great for storing stuffed animals and dolls. And don’t forget behind the bedroom door. Hooks help keep backpacks and purses out of sight but close at hand.

For smaller rooms, built-in shelves and desks that attach to the wall with hinges help maximize storage space and floor space. Attach hat pegs to the wall and hang a different labeled canvas bag on each one. The bags will help kids quickly pick up stray toys, blocks or crafts supplies, and the pegs keep their favorite things within reach.

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House & Home Archives Spring/Summer 2007