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- Push mess under bed. This includes clean clothes, overdue library books, and all perishable food items.
- Stuff whatever won't fit under the bed into the closet. Shut door quickly before mess explodes out of closet.
- Tell mom your room is clean as you run out the front door, before she has a chance to ask about the smell coming from under your bed.
- For really big organizational challenges, clear some floor space and divide it into three areas or grab three large containers. Designate each one either "Keep," "Store," or "Donate."
- The "keep" pile will contain everything that will stay in the room. Some organizational experts will tell you this should be the smallest pile!
- The "store" pile is for anything they've outgrown but is worth saving (for a younger sibling, perhaps.) Those things should find a new home in an out-of-the-way space like the attic or under the bed.
- Lastly, the "donate" pile should contain clothes, books and toys that another child could enjoy. There are even stores that pay cash for your gently used children's clothing, toys and books!
- Start with lots of clear containers, large and small. They don't have to be expensive. Even disposable food storage containers work great for little socks, small toys, hair accessories, and collections of every kind.
- Consider buying a label maker (or make your own with stickers) and clearly identify each container, "Blocks," "Barrettes and Bows," "Pokemon Cards," "CD's," etc. This is also a great way to help younger kids learn new words!
- Make it easy for kids to hang up and put away their things. Where appropriate, place containers, shelves, rods and hangers at kid-level. (That's one less excuse!)
- Get the kids involved. After all, it's their room! Let them decide where to put their stuff. They may even be more willing to stay organized if they designed the "system." For younger kids, make it a fun game of sorting and matching and reward them with extra bedtime stories.
- Choose furniture with plenty of deep drawers that let them stack as much as they need to. Jeans, bulky sweaters, sweatshirts . . . hey, as long as the drawers close, who cares how much they stuff in there?
- Look for creative storage solutions such as under-bed drawers, which provide space equivalent to five dresser drawers.
- Kids love to display their favorite things, but to keep them neat, try a hutch with nooks and crannies they can use to show off trophies, photos, stuffed animals and more.
- Finally, motivate kids to keep their rooms neat with a clever coupon system. Every time they clean their room, make their bed, or put away their clothes, they earn a coupon. Assign a value to the coupons, which may be redeemed for "prizes." For example, you may decide that five coupons are worth an extra hour of television, while ten coupons earn them a trip to the movies with Mom. This system may even inspire some friendly competition between siblings!
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