Childrens bedrooms are well known for being messy spaces where they can be themselves. And all this is great and good apart from the messy bit!
I am so passionate about instilling good organising habits into children that will serve them well in later life, and think that we are never too little to do something – in fact, the smaller the child, the more like a game the actual tidying and sorting out can be.
My little girl is now 3, and really enjoys the fact that her room is quite tidy – she loves to show it off to people who come (it is a new room after we had an extension last year!), and not in a horrid precocious way, but in a genuinely proud way.
Not everything is in its place, and she has the freedom to play, read etc… – but she also knows that its her space, and is already quite house proud!
Here are my favorite tips for organising your childrens bedrooms – and I really hope that they help!
Get your children to take responsibility for their own rooms – dependant on their age. Even small children can keep things tidy!
Set up small rewards if they keep them tidy for a week, a month etc…
Children LOVE to have some independence and being in charge of their own room (to whatever extent you feel they are able) will really help with giving them this.
Have areas for toys, books, sleeping, changing (for babies), sitting (for them and for you!), clothes and anything else specific to you and your needs.
Ensure that everything stays in these areas and then it will be easier to find things.
It also helps to relax children as they work best with routine, and if they know where their things are in their room they will feel calmer.
If you have zones at their height then this will also make it easier for them to start to dress themselves, make their bed, choose a story etc…. (and it can also help to keep things away from them – although I highly advise taking medicine and other potentially harmful items completely out of their room – as they will always find something to stand on to get at it when you aren’t watching)
I suggest having very few toys in the bedroom, as this will encourage children to play there rather than sleep. If you keep the bedroom as a restful area then that usually will work better for you.
I find that having this split between their toys is really beneficial – and if you do use their bedroom as a punishment when they are naughty (I don’t advise this as it puts a negative feel to bedtime too), then you don’t want them to have fun in there while they are meant to be thinking about what they have done wrong!
Keep books in the room that are good for bedtime reading – my daughter loves her book about monsters – but its downstairs as she doesn’t like to read it at night!
Short books are best for bedtime for younger children, and activity books are better for playing rather than bedtime. It seems logical when you think about it – the last thing you want your child to pick out for his/her bedtime story is something that involves loads of interaction – you want them to start to wind down and simply listening to a story will be perfect for this.
Children grow out of their clothes quickly – as such keep a bag to hand that you can fill with small clothes (under the bed or at the bottom of a wardrobe are good places).
If you have younger children you may want to keep them for them, if not, give them to charity or sell them – but as soon as the bag is full get rid of the clothes.
Get your children to make their own bed as soon as they are capable.
To make this easy try and keep the majority of toys off the bed – hanging a toy hammock above the bed slightly works well as they are to hand, but allow the bed to be made easily.
To get more space out of a smaller bedroom, consider having a bed thats raised and allows for a desk/drawers, sofa etc… below. This is also really good fun for a child!
Multi functional furniture works well in childrens bedrooms – I also love this bookcase/dolls house from Laura Ashley - expensive but will work for years! (and currently on sale!)
Keep any toys in baskets so that they are off the floor – this makes hoovering much easier, and also gives your child a place to put everything at the end of the day.
Get your older children in the habit of getting their clothing for the following day ready the night before – stops any last minute searching around for a PE kit or a clean school shirt.
Younger children can do a tidy up at the end of the day, and make their bed when they get a little bigger.
Teenagers can also be in charge of cleaning their rooms too! (good luck with this one!)
Display childrens artwork on noticeboards in their room – this will make it more their own, and also prevents some damage to the walls from blu tack etc….
Giving lots of shelving will also help them to add their own individual character to the room – and children thrive on developing their own personalities.
If you label boxes, small children will be able to understand them if you label with pictures rather than words. This helps them to be able to tidy up and know where things go more easily.
Older children can have more of a say in decor, storage and style – and this could be a great incentive for them to get things tidy each day – why not use it as a reward!
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So, hopefully this has given you some ideas for how you can make your childrens rooms work for them, and you – whatever age they are currently. It may also give you ideas of how to make it work ongoing (white furniture is better than pink in a little girls room as it will age with them and will go with any colour room for example).
I hope that you have fun and that your child becomes enthusiastic about their own space – and proud of it! Thats the goal! – after all, one day they will have a whole house to look after hopefully…..
If you have any questions or comments please reply below and we’ll get back to you always. As ever, we love to hear from you!.
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