How to Declutter Your Child’s Room

4-step process for decluttering and organizing a kid’s room

Do you walk into your child’s room to start the bedtime routine and say to yourself, “This room is a mess!” But taking the time to declutter and organize it up seems like it’s always at the bottom of your to-do list. Plus it feels overwhelming to tackle because when kids are little, they’re constantly growing out of clothes and their interest in books and toys change. Add to that that well-meaning family and friends always seem to gift large toys or toys with a million pieces and you’re left with a room that never seems clean! Having a bedroom that feels messy isn’t very inviting - for playtime or sleep. My goal is to give you tips to get your kid’s room sorted so that when you and your child walk in to start bedtime, you feel happy, not overwhelmed and anxious!

Step #1 Take everything out

If you have a toddler or older child and have never spent much time getting rid of items, the best thing you can do is take everything out of the room - toys, books, and clothes. It’s helpful to put them in categories as you remove them to save a step later.

Once you have the space cleared, you can do a deep clean and make sure there aren’t any huge dust bunnies hiding, do any touch up on the paint (or if your child is ready for a different paint color, this is the time to do it!), and move any furniture items around.

If you’re rethinking the paint choice, check out What Color Should I Paint My Child’s Bedroom for More Peaceful Sleep?

Step #2 Make four piles

Once the room is ready to have things moved in, you’re ready to go through your categories of all the stuff you took out.

You’ll put everything into 4 piles outside of the room:

1. Keep (in the bedroom)

2. Relocate (to another, more appropriate part of the house)

3. Donate

4. Throw away

• Did you find some books that you didn’t even know you had and you can just tell they aren’t something your child would be interested in? Donate.

• Is it a book that you used to read ALL the time but your child is older and no longer interested? Relocate (into a bin for future siblings or in your bin of sentimental items) or Donate.

• Too small clothes? Relocate to a labelled storage bin(if clothing is in good condition for future siblings) or Donate.

• Did you find items that should be kept in the medicine cabinet, office supplies, etc? Relocate.

• Do you have clothes that your child is currently wearing…and the next size up (because you found a fantastic sale or had hand-me-downs from siblings or cousins)? Keep in the bedroom (with an asterisk…we’ll talk about the next-size clothing in a bit.)

• Any toys that are broken or missing important pieces or clothing that has holes or rips? Throw away.

• Toys that were so fun but are no longer played with because they are no longer age-appropriate? Donate (if you aren’t saving for a sibling), otherwise Relocate to a place that is out of the way if you’re saving for a sibling (but don’t forget you’ve kept them!)

• Have you found 15 pink long-sleeve tops in the same size? Decide whether you really need to keep all of them and consider donating some that are worn less frequently.

• Did your child get 92 teddy bears as baby gifts that are just sitting in a corner and collecting dust? Donate (if they’re dusty, do run them through the wash!) and Keep a reasonable number that are your child’s favorites.

• Do you have a lot of arts and crafts items in the bedroom but are ready to move them to the playroom or kitchen? Relocate.

• Is your child’s closet a catch-all for YOUR items you don’t know what to do with? Ask yourself if you still need these items (or they’re too sentimental to part with) and make a decision where they’ll be moved to in the house or if you’re ready to donate.

Three helpful questions to ask if you’re on the fence about keeping something are:

1. Does my child use (wear, play with, or read) this?

2. Does my child need this?

3. Is it sentimental?

Once you have everything in four piles:

1. Bag up the throw-away pile and take it out to the garbage bin.

2. Box up the donation pile and either put them in your car (if you’ll be dropping them off) or set up a donation pickup online - and put a reminder in your phone to make sure it’s out on the correct day!

3. Next is the Relocate pile. For things that are regularly still used (medicines, office supplies, etc), take a few minutes and put each in the correct spot.

   If it’s a “save for siblings” bin of clothing, toys, or books, label it with the correct description and age (i.e. Baby toys or Boys Clothing - 2T) and decide where you’ll keep it so it’s not forgotten (it’s amazing how things that are out of sight are forgotten). Keep all items in one location (same area in the basement or attic) so you can quickly see at a glance what you have to grow into for future siblings.

   If you choose to put those next-size clothes in a bin, keep them in this area and I would put a reminder in the closet (just a post-it with sizes that you have in that storage area). Otherwise, if you have a large closet in the bedroom or under-bed storage (like a pullout drawer), then next-size clothes can go there.

And now it’s time to organize the Keep pile…

Step #3 Organize the Keep pile into the bedroom

Now that you have the books, toys, and clothes that you are going to keep in your child’s room, start with the clothes.

If you are someone who tends to grab the top shirt out of the drawer and you feel like some of the clothing doesn’t even get worn before the next growth spurt, I would highly recommend hanging as much as possible in the closet. Use a double-hanging rod to double the closet space if it’s not a large closet. I also love these closet dividers that can be used for item type or size to organize the closet. They are a must-have if you’re keeping next-size clothing in the closet!

If you have a bed with a pullout drawer underneath, you could also store next-size clothing there, out of sight…just put a reminder on the closet door so you remember what sizes are under there!

For clothing that goes in the drawers, I would suggest using adjustable drawer dividers to keep the types of clothing organized.

Books and toys…

I highly recommend keeping a small number of books and toys out in your child’s room. This is helpful for 5 reasons:

1. If the room is smaller, it will feel less crowded with stuff!

2. It keeps things tidier daily because there’s less to put back each night

3. It keeps toys and books “fresh” as you rotate them

4. It makes the bedtime routine quicker because less distractions

5. It’s less enticing for those in the crib that are thinking of escaping, because there are fewer things in sight to play with.

If you have a playroom or area outside the bedroom where your child often plays, you can keep most of the toys there or keep them in bins in the closet. Then rotate a few into the bedroom and they become exciting and new again! This is similar to keeping activity bins fresh when you implement quiet time after dropping the nap!

For the items in the bedroom, have one place to store books - a traditional small bookcase, a bookcase with tiered shelves to showcase the covers of each book, or a combo unit. There are also ones with a little reading nook!

For toys, using a system with bins on a shelf will keep like items together, make it easy to clean up, and come in several different color schemes. I would get label holders to attach the bins and you can put pictures and/or words on to show what belongs in each bin!

Three tips:

1. Try to keep the floor under furniture (bed, dresser, bookcase) clear of stuff - it’ll make the room look SO much neater not to have things crammed in all available spots (plus it makes vacuuming a breeze).

2. Make sure to do a sweep for childproofing issues - especially securing bookcases and dressers to the wall

3. If you put toys directly on the floor or on open shelves, it will look more cluttered - and chances are, your child won’t put them back on the shelf neatly!

Step #4 Make a plan for a “maintenance schedule”

Now that everything is in the right place, decide how often you’ll do a quick purge of clothing and toys/books for size and age-appropriateness.

A good system is to go through clothes every 3 months (seasonally) because your child will likely need a larger size this season next year!

You may decide to rotate books and toys once or twice a month to keep them exciting and fresh.

And don’t forget to check on the next-size-up clothing if those need to be taken out of the storage bins and swapped into the closet!

And most importantly, get your child into the habit of putting away toys daily!

How to organize a messy kid’s room

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This post is for informational purposes only and may not be the best fit for you, your child and/or your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your child’s physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.

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