Recently my kids and I redecorated our 2 kids’ bedrooms. I plan on revealing some photos of the individual rooms in the near future. Prior to redecorating, we organized both of the rooms. In my opinion, redecorating or redesigning a room could not happen properly without organizing the room first. It’s a critical step that you can’t skip before making your room beautiful.
I’d like to show in this post how I organized my two children’s room with them. My middle one is 12 years old and the youngest one is 8 years old at the time.
We moved to Manila in 2018, 2 years ago from the U.S. We had purged a lot prior to moving from Virginia to Manila, but for 2 years, we have not done a major decluttering. Thus, it was about time.
If you would like to tackle your kids’ rooms, here are some tips from me.
Part 1 – Start With Clothes
If you have read Marie Kondo’s book “Spark Joy!” you know that her strategy is to organize by category. I find it very helpful.
She suggests that you start with clothes. I also find that clothes are the easiest to deal with first. Some of you may think you know every single item in your kids drawers and closet. I’d say in the process of redecorating, you will find items that you have forgotten. There will be clothes that are too small or your kids hardly ever wear.
My kids’ closets need to be organized on a regular basis. Since they grow so fast, any clothes that they grew out of should be removed and repurposed. There is no point of giving space to clothes that my kids can’t or won’t wear any more.
1. Have 2-4 hours for any activity? Let’s tidy up!
Two to four hours may sound like a lot, but it will go by fast. It’s a great bad weather activity that you can do with kids! This time also depends on how many clothes kids own. I believe you need at least 2 hours to organize even if you work fast.
2. Have your children participate in the process
It is highly encouraged that you to get your children involved in the process of organizing their rooms. Through being part of reducing and organizing, they learn values to take care of their belongings. I’d like for my kids to see what they own and think about the reasons why they’d like to keep certain items.
3. Get everything out
When you reorganize a category, you must get everything out. If you have read Marie Kondo’s book, you know that’s how she does it. I can’t agree more with her. For organizing my kids’ clothes, we pulled out every single clothing item and make a big pile on the floor. Then my kids and I went through all the items one by one. Every time I picked an item, I showed it to my child and asked, “Do you want this: Yes or no?”
4. Make a yes pile, donation pile and no pile
We sort items we are going through in a yes pile, donation pile and no pile. Yes is for items that they love to wear. Donation pile is for clothing items that have not been worn much, gently worn and still clean or brand new. No pile is the items that were worn out, has a stain, hole, stretched.
5. Let your child(ren) select what they don’t need any more
Kids have the ability to determine what to keep and what to throw away. My kids usually know yes or no right away. I am always surprised by it. To be honest, I have a harder time with deciding what to and not to keep. My son is 8 and he has responded to it well. My 12-year-old and 15-year-old daughters were able to part ways with many of their clothes that I was shocked. I’m worse than them. I’d say that be prepared to be surprised by your kids when you organize their rooms with them.
6. Try not to influence your child’s decision
When you declutter with your child, it is tempting to influence your child’s decision on what to keep and what to throw away. You may have more attachment to items than your kids do. Sometimes kids would hold onto something so old and trashed while they are willing to part ways with brand new items. There were many times I wanted to say something to my kids when I was helping them organize. Basically, I put an imaginary tape on my mouth and let my kids decide.
7. Teach kids how to fold clothes
If you help your kids organize their closet, they need to learn how to fold clothes properly on their own. I have taught all my children how to fold including my youngest, who is 8 years old. He does not enjoy folding his clothes, but he has no choice. I’m not going to always fold clothes for him. He has to pick up after himself and be able to fold and organize his own drawers on his own.
8. Teach your child to organize drawers
My kids know that they have to put away their own clothes. However, sometimes it takes days for them to put away their own clothes until I nag them to do so. I think they get used to seeing their clothes lying around. Making my kids tidy up without my saying on a daily basis is still a work in progress. If I catch my kids’ drawers looking messy, I make them fix it. I find it important that they organize before it gets to the point where it’s too much for them to handle.
9. Where to give away unwanted clothes
I stopped giving away my kids’ clothes. I still send gently used clothes worm by my son that are in a good condition to my nephew. Other than that, my kids’ clothes go to donation. There are two kinds of donations I make. The clothes that are gently worn and look great go to donation for those who are in need. The clothes that have stains, look worn out and old go to donation at H&M or UNIQLO. H&M stores in Manila no longer accept donations since COVID-19. Now I take my old clothes to UNIQLO’s donation box.
10. How to Keep your kids’ rooms organized
This is probably the hardest part. The neat state of my kids’ room usually lasts for a week. I remind my kids every so often to pick up when their room starts to look a bit cluttered. Usually I ask them to tidy up their rooms before they watch a movie or play games on a computer. It gives them an incentive to get it done so that they get the reward. So far, it has worked.
The key to sustain the clean state is to put kids in charge. Most kids who pull something out of a drawer and decide not to wear it, they leave their clothes on the floor and move on to do something else. Even if they see their clothes lying on the floor, they manage to step over them and don’t get bothered. At my house, when I see a crumpled clothing item on the floor, I bring my child to show it and he/she has to pick up, fold and put it away. It’s a constant work, but it’s worth teaching until it becomes their habit. They’re still working on it.
I hope my readers feel that they learned something from this post and feel encouraged to start decluttering their kids’ rooms! Happy tidying up!
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