parenting

Kids Bedrooms: Organizational Tools and Solutions

momhome managementparentinghome management

Kids Bedrooms—As we move forward in our quest to organize Lauren’s room, we have come to some hard and fast conclusions: she likes her closet, bookshelf and dresser. Thank goodness, there is nothing worse than having to add furniture to the expense of organizing and re-decorating a teen’s room.

One of the items that we were missing was a small desk where she could do her homework. We definitely need one. True to her ‘environmental-recycle-re-use’ beliefs, we were lucky to find a solid wood desk at our local thrift store. One thing that we needed to consider was the way in which Lauren studies. Her tendency is to study in her bedroom with the door closed. She likes to have the family laptop at her disposal to do research and – well – watch the odd YouTube video. I am sure she is also on her Facebook page…What can you do?

When I was discussing this project with a friend of mine, she mentioned that each one of her kids now has a small netbook for their own particular use. Although this seemed to be an outrageous expense, I soon found out that the cost for a compact netbook can be between $350-500. Not a negligible amount but certainly not the $1,200 my laptop cost me in February. Something that we may conside rfor her birthday in July (let’s hope she doesn’t read this post *wink, wink*).

Moving forward, we managed to make a few adjustments in her chest of drawers to accommodate more socks and divided them so that she can easily put them away and take them out in the morning. We also used fabric dividers that you can buy at IKEA to separate undergarments, socks, and scarves.

Compact containers

We used an over the door hanging pocket unit to coral all of her make-up, hair accessories, belts and necklaces. This is one of those organizing items that, when you look at it the first time you think to yourself: “that isn’t going to hold very much and it doesn’t look sturdy enough” but on the contrary it is the PERFECT solution.

Door organizer on a hanger

One of the other great pieces of furniture that we got when we first had children was a French Canadian highboy dresser. We loved it because it uses height and depth. Using the vertical space in a room is something we organizers always love. This item lets us space that would otherwise just hold a picture frame at most. Here is a picture of a similar high from Camlen.

Dresser with drawers

The last piece in Lauren’s room is a deep IKEA shelving unit with five shelves (once again the height to be able to carry off more storage). In Lauren’s assessment of what she wanted in her room, books were very important. Even though I had to ask her to pair it down even more, she was able to keep treasured novels and even old Nancy Drew books on the bookshelves. We made sure to give her enough boxes to hide all those little items she so dearly loves. We also kept some of the shelves empty so that she could add without overcrowding. Using a combination of colorful magazine holders, patterned boxes, and clear containers we gave Lauren organizing options for all her stuff.

Ikea Bookshelf with divides

Girls like pretty things and my daughter is no exception. The trick is to provide a variety of containers in different sizes and solid furniture with natural divides. Organizing can be a fun project with your kids if you get them involved and making some of the purchasing choices.

This post is part of a four-part series that covers ways to make your kids' bedrooms clutter free and organized. Please be sure to check out the first two posts in this series:

What organizational tools do you use in your kids' bedrooms to keep everything in its place? What type of furniture work best in your kids' bedrooms?

Margarita Ibbott is a mother of 3, Professional Organizer, speaker, blogger, and lover of all things social media. She lives in London, Ontario Canada but travels throughout Canada and US as an expert speaker. She recently addressed 600 organizers in San Diego at the National Association of Professional Organizers on the Ask the Expert Organizer Panel. Her favourite areas to organize are clothes closets and kitchens. Margarita does not just organize ‘on-the-spot’ but can help clients virtually using photos and video consultations. You can find her musing about organizing, product reviews and client stories at her blog: WWW.downshiftingPOS.blogspot.com. Connect with her on Twitter @DownshiftingPOS or find her on Facebook Page: Downshifting – Professional Organizing Solutions.

Margarita's co-conspirator in this process is 14 year-old Lauren. She is a straight A student, social justice and environmental activist, and national-level competitor in Irish Dancing. She will be competing in Nashville, TN this summer for North America Nationals.

The following two tabs change content below.

Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Web Statistics