We have been enjoying the little changes we made to the girls shared bedroom in and sitting in their new hanging chair every night since we got it and reading. Such a cozy little spot. I wanted to follow up on that post. I get a lot of questions on how I keep my girls room clean and organized and where we keep it ALL in a small house. So I thought I would share our little tips on keeping our kids room clean and organized. With any house the kids stuff is not all confined to their room, so I am sharing a few spaces that actually help to keep their room organized that are not in their room. Does that make any sense? Well come see what I mean…
One of our favorite changes and biggest helps in organization was THIS new dresser we just got from Raymour & Flanigan. We took out the two Ikea toy storage pieces I shared HERE we had in this spot for this new dresser. I can’t believe how much more I like it. It felt really good to go through their toys and donate some and clean things up.
DECLUTTER I have to say that having a third party, a husband in our case in-charge of the de-cluttering and donating of toys. I do go through their toys about once a month, but having someone else asking the girls what they use and not being emotionally attached helped to get rid of more.
SORT AND ORGANIZE We were able to fit all of their toys in this one tall dresser. It is really such a great piece. I kept thinking I needed to use a cabinet for toys, but a dresser works so much better! Taking time to find the right piece is so important and worth the investment.
GROUP LIKE THINGS I grouped all of the baskets that we had from HERE all on top of their dresser to hold the smaller things. Grouping like things even if it is a lot of them will make it seem less cluttered.
After we cleared up some room from the toy cabinets Ella asked if she could move her little desk to this corner. I loved the idea and it fit perfectly.
She mainly uses this desk to write in her journal and keep her little collections in the drawer. I added the hanging light that the glass had broken above her desk, it works great here and without the glass. You can read how you can add a plug to any pendant light HERE. (Love our new “Good Day” sign from Delta Frames).
GIVE THEM A DRAWER Ok maybe more than a drawer, but a space for them to keep their little treasures. About once a month I have the girls go through their secret drawers and throw away garbage and anything that doesn’t mean something to them.
CLEAR OPEN SURFACES Another way we keep their room clean and organized is keeping the decor and accessories to a minimum on top of any open surface. I have a wooden heart dish for their necklaces and some books stacked to add height for their lamp.
SEPARATE WITH BASKETS They have this one vintage pink dresser in the room and storage under their beds. We keep their dresser draws clean and organized with plastic containers and baskets. This helps SO much. They put away their own clothes after they are washed and they know exactly where it all goes. TIP– measure the drawer or cabinet you are putting the baskets before heading to the store to find the perfect fit an best use of space.
HAVE KIDS HELP Ella is 8 and she has been organizing her dresser drawers for awhile now. I notice that it helps her stay committed to putting things back where they go. She takes everything out and only puts back in things that she loves and that fit her well. The rest she passes to Lola or we donate.
DONATE OFTEN Keeping a box or a tote in their closet to put clothes and shoes that donate fit anymore helps to keep us organized and saves the time of wondering what to do with something that they don’t want anymore.
One of the best purchases I made was buying the extra under-the-bed storage drawer for under their bed. I knew that when we moved into this smaller house that I would need all the storage I could get. (Their beds are discontinued, find similar HERE).
We used baskets to keep pants, underwear, swimsuits and pajamas in.
HAVE A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING We keep an empty basket by their bed where they put their things they sleep with in the morning. Blankets and stuffed animals and then they always make their beds before they come down for breakfast.
MAKE BEST USE OF SPACE In small houses everything has a job- including doors. Adding hooks like THIS to the backs of doors saves a lot of space and creates extra storage.
Luckily we have a closet right off the front door. This is where we keep a lot of the girls shoes, coats, hats etc. I also have a basket on the floor that holds all of their socks! Best idea I had was to keep their socks by their shoes.
ADD EXTRA HOOKS This door is to our basement and it is right off of the kitchen. This is where they put their backpacks right after school. It is handy for loading their lunches and doing homework. Best idea I had was to add hooks on the back of our solid wood doors. And also added the hooks that hang over the top of the door for my bags. You can find the hooks I use HERE and more details on this room HERE.
I have A LOT of other great posts on Kids Spaces from some very talented bloggers who shared their homes and how they keep their kids spaces and rooms organized. You can find all the posts HERE.
You can also read how we keep our small kitchen organized HERE
I love how chill this post about organizing is. It’s not rigid or fussy. Just the way I want my house to be. Warm, cozy, AND neat. Well done. ā¤
Thank you! I almost didn’t share it- I thought I need to go buy a bunch of fancy organizing things to share but I stopped myself and wanted to share how it really looks and how easy it can be!
Thanks for sharing! These are common sense ideas that I love. There is such a sense of satisfaction in keeping only the things you love and purging often. Your a girl after my own heart.
Thank you Sharon! It is good to be reminded of what works in our homes to keep us sane! thanks for your comment:)
This is a great post and is full of so many great ideas! It seems like it should be obvious to use things like baskets and hooks but I guess it isn’t!! My 26 year old needs to start doing some of these things to keep herself organized! She’s a train wreck, thank god she has her own apartment to mess up instead of my house! lol! Seriously though, she is moving to a new apartment this month and I think I’ll suggest some of these things to her!
Tania
Thank you so much Tania! I appreciate your comment and love that it *might* help your daughter:)
I totally agree with Jordan! It’s realistic- most organizing ideas require all matching bins, baskets, etc. And ample space to store them all in. My husband and I don’t have kids, but I am always open to inspiration to get more organized in general. Our home is right around 1600 sf. I started a new job a year ago that requires me to work from home a lot and it has been satisfying to ‘make it work’ (adding new home office stuff and figuring out where to put it, good furniture, spaces with multiple functions, etc. ) without leaving a home and neighborhood that we are so fond of. š Your blog is my favorite!
Thank you Kristin! I am flattered that you love my blog, mean so much! And I didn’t really think about that with the organizing- I am all about practical and EASY! Hope these tips help in your home and congrats on your new job!
Could you share what you used for under their beds? Is it an empty trundle bed without the mattress? I’ve been thinking about doing this for my daughter’s bed but the trundle piece that matches her bed is just way too expensive. Almost as much as the bed itself! So I’d be interested to know what you used…
Well mine is called “under the bed storage” I thought it could hold a trundle bed but I don’t think it would really work. But you could totally use a trundle bed without the mattress.
Mine did match the set and it was pricy, but worth it for the storage for our small house. You could do a lo too different things though for storage under the bed.
I had a trundle bed in my daughter’s room when she was little for when she had friends spend the night. Her room at that time was T.I.N.Y. and I thought a trundle would be a good idea… it really wasn’t. Her room was so small that we had to move everything else out of the way just to pull the trundle out half way… it was a giant pain!
Tania
oh I hear ya! I had that issue in Finn’s room with his trundle. We had to move the table and chair…becomes a big old mess!
I love your girl’s bedroom!!! Can you please tell me where you bought their beds from? Thank you!!
Thank you! They are from Hooke Furniture- they are discontinued unfortunately š