The ABCs of decorating children’s rooms! This week: 5 Tips to Combat the Clutter in Kids' Room
Some rooms just seem to attract clutter and your children’s room is a prime example of this. Today, throughout Israel, there are so many great storage solutions for kids' clutter available for every need and in every price range. But before you spend any money on storage solutions, you need to understand how your children live and play in their rooms. As I talked about in my second blog article on decorating your children’s room, you need to look at the sleep, play/work and storage areas of their rooms.
1. Redecorating is a great time to declutter! Are there toys, clothing and other belongings that your children have outgrown? I have just two words (ok, three words) for you: donate and throw out. You can save artwork, you do not need to save smelly sneakers!
2. Make every piece of furniture do double-duty.
Their bed can have built-in storage boxes or detached, roll-out boxes for linens, blankets and pillows.
Raised-level beds should have room for a desk/play area under the bed. Double-decker beds are great space savers; many even come with a third pull-out bed that saves even more play space during the day!
Covered stools can have hidden storage areas - perfect for school supplies and toys.
3. Closet storage space should be adaptable to your children’s needs. Closets should always contain easily removable/adjustable/modifiable shelving and hanging space; this way you can modify the closet setup according to the needs of your child at nearly any age.
Consider pegs on walls for hanging coats and hats – in season. Once the season changes – store them out of sight.
4. Shelving is a great way to take the clutter off the floor. Consider these simple solutions for nearly every item:
Narrow shelving – only as wide as a thickness of a closed book - with a simple wood/plastic bar across its length, is a great way to store kids’ books; they can view each book and easily replace them when they are finished reading.
Corner shelving is a great solution to preventing the wasted space of tight corners.
Keep shelves organized with baskets/storage bins – this is great for both toys as well as clothes – this way the items are not visible and even if the clothes aren’t perfectly folded, the room will still look tidy.
Use containers to declutter. An easy declutter tactic is keeping like-items together: keep school supplies in one area, art supplies together with a drop cloth and old shirts and sport equipment in another area.
Clear plastic containers are great for small toys and supplies – a great way to keep tidy, but also to find small items quickly when needed!
Keep school supplies in baskets hanging from a bulletin board or a mesh frame.
Does the kids' room have open shelf units that are getting messy? Hang a curtain/length of material to hide the mess and - if you have window curtains in the room - use the same fabric - it's a great camouflage trick.
5. Just DIY it and other repurposing ideas. The summer is a great time for DIY projects with the kids; consider some of these:
Hangers, like socks, just seem to disappear. To make their hangers kid-appealing and therefore maybe a bit more fun when they tidy their clothes: have them decorate the hangers to match their room or favourite toy characters. Cut out character faces and have them paint/color them and attach to the hook part of the hanger or add beads, feathers and pipe cleaners to the hanger. Make it fun and they’ll use it (hopefully).
Re-use big plastic containers for beads, small cars etc. Older kids can reuse glass jars.
Use a hanging shoe bag as a great place to hold school supplies, small toys, or even art supplies.
No room for a blackboard or easel? Consider painting one wall with black board paint and store colored chalk in a container next to this spot. Here's the how-to in Hebrew and English http://www.mako.co.il/living-diy/handicrafts/Article-610eea04c44c531006.htm or http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/how-to-use-chalkboard-paint
Consider hanging a cork or peg board on the wall behind their desk and hang pots and containers from hooks – this is a great place for school/office supplies.
Do you have an old hammock – reuse it to hang stuffed toys in a corner of the room? All the kids need to do is throw the stuffed animals back in the hammock at the end of the day and no more clutter!
Make organization fun and educational for the kids as well – use colourful labels on containers, with pictures, words and colors – this can be a great learning tool for kindergarten and lower-grade school kids.
Want more ideas? Check out this link: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/kids-room-organization/
Everyone is happier with less clutter – make this summer the summer of your kids dream room. Want more storage ideas? Don’t know where to shop for furnishings for kids' rooms without breaking the bank? Contact me today and we’ll discuss your kids, your needs and your budget. Give them a great room before they go back to school on September 1st!
Yael Diamond, Interior Designer and Project Manager, specializes in consulting, planning and designing private residences, elite apartments, offices, and public business. You can follow Yael on www.facebook.com/yaeldiamondesigns.
