Creative Organization Solutions for Children's Rooms

9/1/2005

One thing is certain: If you have kids, you have stuff - lots of stuff. Stuff the kids won't let you get rid of. That's something you have to do in the dead of night, so you're stuck with it and need to know how and where to stow it all.

Kids like open floor space to play on, dance on and read on. Store toys above the floor. For example, to store big stuffed animals, hang white plastic chains with pincer hooks from the ceiling. Children can take off whoever they want to play with and put back whichever they not want. That way they stay off the floor.

Since most closets have clothes racks too high for kids to reach, clothes rarely get hung up. To give your kids a chance to at least get their clothes off the floor, simply put hooks around the back walls of the closet. For extra storage, build shelves and cubbies or use sets of plastic drawers on wheels.

Get the Kids Involved

Planning and organizing your child's room should be a cooperative effort if your child is old enough. You and your children can make up a list of all things they have or go into their rooms with them to come up with storage and organization solutions.

For your child's CD collection, you can find any number of different style organizers from boxes to towers to suit your littlest one to your teenager. If your child's Barbie Doll accessories, beads, rock collections and odds 'n' ends are winding up in your vacuum cleaner and driving you to distraction, use small, clear stackable containers with lids to keep them organized and clean-up easier.

Use Your Imagination

Do over-the-door-shoe holders have to hold only shoes? You can put all sorts of odds and ends and smaller toys in the pockets. Under a day bed, use large, brightly colored laundry baskets to create lots of storage. There are multitudes of storage and organization products available at area stores that provide parents and kids with a variety of options for storing toys, games and clothing. Clear organizers are a great way for kids to store their items, while being able to see what is inside. They are excellent as a basic storage item, and with many sizes to choose from, can be placed under beds, in the family room, the garage and other areas throughout the house.

Organizers are a great way to make clean up fun and educational. By involving your children in the initial planning stages, they'll know where everything is, especially if they do the labeling and organizing by themselves.