Clean Your Clutter – Clutter Zone: Children’s Bedrooms

Kids collect stuff, lots of stuff and it seems all that stuff is spilling into the rest of the house. According to Marcia Ramsland in her book Simplify your Space, children’s stuff usually falls into three categories: clothes, books (and other papers) and toys, which are later replaced with trophies, sports equipment and other collections. It’s time to round up your kids to sort, simplify and store that growing collection of stuff.

Be their Cleaning Consultant

Instead of tackling your child’s mess with garbage bags in hand; take this opportunity to teach your children good organization habits. Kids like to be independent and chances are they’re more likely to clean their room if they have a say in the process.

Storage, Storage, and More Storage

You can never have too much storage. If you have old furniture collecting dust, try refurbishing it to create additional storage. An old footlocker makes a cool storage compartment for teens while an old dresser can store your child’s arts and crafts supplies.

Set Goals

Determine how much storage will comfortably fit in the room, then deal with the clutter section by section. Make suggestions such as saying they can keep all the stuffed animals that fit on one shelf or all the army figures that fit into a designated basket drawer.

Collectable Art

Finger paintings, macaroni mosaics and pastel pictures are just some of the neat art projects your child brings home. Create a space, such as an art portfolio, where children can store their art or other important school papers. “Create a three-ring memory book with sheet protectors and tabbed grade level dividers to hold special papers, awards, report cards, and photos,” says Ramsland.

Closet Cleanse

Go through your child’s wardrobe the same way you would go through your own. Any items they don’t wear or have outgrown can be sold at a children’s consignment store so long as it isn’t  ripped or stained. However, unlike your closet, a child closet can be used to store toys, sports equipment, and other collections.

“A child’s closet is important and relatively easy to organize if you adjust it to (their) needs” says Ramsland. “If your child is young, hang a lower bar so he can reach his hanging clothes. Install shelving up to the top of the closet if you need room to store an extra set of bed sheets, out-of -season clothes, and his memory box.”

Hungry Hamper

Make laundry a game! Mount a basketball hoop above their laundry hamper so they can slam dunk their dirty clothes. Or buy a cool kid-friendly hamper masquerading as colorful animal. Amazon.com has safari hampers where children can feed their dirty laundry to a hungry elephant or lion. If you have older kids, buy a divided hamper so they can sort their laundry as they change outfits. Kaboodle.com has some stylish hampers your teen will love.

Good Habits

Get your child in the habit of doing a 15 minute clean-up before school and bedtime. Just as you set aside 15-60 minutes to tackle your clutter, kids will benefit more from a short clean-up than from a longer one.

Prompt your Parents

Grandparents spoil grandchildren; it’s a rite of passage. But, instead of them buying more toys and clothes suggest they buy movie tickets, amusement park passes, or pay for martial arts classes. That way you can reduce incoming clutter and give your child memorable experiences.