Our kids’ rooms may be the home’s busiest (and messiest) spaces. After all, we have to store a lot of stuff in there: toys, clothing, books, and more—so much more. To make things easier, put in the time to create organizational systems that work and are easy to maintain for both you and your child. Here are our most clever kids’ room organization tips.
How do I keep my child’s room organized?
Declutter
This is definitely the longest step in the process, but it will make the biggest difference in the tidiness of the space. Start by pulling everything out of the closet and drawers. Begin with the toys (because that’s likely what you have the most of in the room), making piles for the things that you’ll keep, donate,e or throw away.
“Do the decluttering together and involve your child in the process – this helps them take ownership of their space,” says Anabela Medeiros, a professional organizer at the Professional Organizers of Canada (POC) and owner of Reorganizable. “Keep a donation and recycling bin in the room. Teach your child the importance of giving to those in need and recycling items they no longer use. This also encourages responsible decluttering.”
Decluttering isn’t just something that will serve your child well now – it’s a practice they’ll take with them throughout their lives. “Each time you tidy up, and as often as possible, encourage children to identify items, clothes, toys, and books that are no longer in use and can be donated – it will help build their decluttering skills from an early age,” says professional organizer and POC member Pascale Chenard, owner of The Simple Way.
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Buy the right organizational tools
Once you know what you have left in the room, find the best bins and containers to hold everything. We often buy cute baskets or boxes and then try to fit things into them–you should buy containers after you sort and take an inventory of what’s left. “Invest in child-friendly storage solutions like colorful bins, shelves, and baskets, and label these containers to make it easier for your child to know where everything belongs, fostering a sense of organization,” Medeiros explains.
Everything (and I mean everything), should be labeled. Labels are a great way for your child to clearly identify where everything goes. If they are too young to read, think about creating pictograms with images of the items that need to go into these containers.
“Use color-coding and assign specific colors to different categories of items, such as red for toys and blue for books,” adds Medeiros. “This visual system makes it easier for kids to locate and put away their belongings, and this promotes independence in maintaining order.”
Chenard agrees: “Colorful stickers on storage boxes make the tidying up process more fun. Your child can have fun sticking the right labels on the right boxes.”
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Maintain the organization
Once you’ve done the big overhaul of the space and everything has been put away in labeled containers, it’s all about maintaining the organization. If your children are a bit younger, Chenard suggests organizing a treasure hunt in your child’s room to find all the toys that need to be put away—it makes the process a little more fun. “Give them a list of what they need to find and encourage them to bring the objects back individually to put them in their place,” she says.
“Schedule regular room maintenance sessions with your child [where you] set aside time each week to tidy up together,” says Medeiros. “Consistency is key to preventing clutter from accumulating.”
Organizing a child’s room can be a fun and educational experience for both parents and children. By involving your child in the process, using creative storage solutions and maintaining a routine, you create an organized, clutter-free space that fosters responsibility and independence.
These habits benefit them throughout their lives, teaching valuable skills in organization and cleanliness.
The best kid’s room organization products
Delta Children Deluxe Multi-Bin Toy Organizer
Merchant
Easily organize your child’s toys with this deluxe multi-bin storage organizer. With nine toy bins in varying sizes (and bold colors) it offers a stylish storage space for toys of all shapes and sizes. Designed to be the perfect kid-sized height, it allows your child to clearly view and select their favorite toys and makes it easy for them to clean up when they’re done playing.
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Handy Laundry Daily Activity Kids Closet Organizer
Merchant
Here’s a fun, yet practical way to keep your child’s room both neat and tidy! This colorful daily organizer hangs directly on their closet rod and provides four sides to arrange clothes, toys, shoes or games. One side features six large shelves labeled with the days of the week, and tons of pocket space on the remaining sides, your little one is going to enjoy being organized.
It also includes a swivel hook that allows the organizer to rotate 360 degrees—perfect for easy access!
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GAMENOTE Rotating Art Supply Organizer
Merchant
Is your kiddo into arts and crafts? This seven-compartment holder is perfect for crayons, markers, glue sticks, stickers and any other tools your little one uses to get creative. Simply spin the organizer to store or take out their supplies! Made of sturdy plastic, each container comes with an accessible handle that makes it easy to spin and stop.
The soft rubber tabs on the bottom protect their crafty surface from damaging any surface. Take it one step further and make labels for each compartment.
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Kids Toy Box Chest
Merchant
Well, it doesn’t get more organized than this. Suitable for large toys and small toys, this storage bin is very convenient for children to open and take various toys by themselves—and thanks to the lid, hide them when company comes over. The toy chest includes an internal removable divider, allowing them to store toys in various categories.
Made of a soft material, this organizational system is very suitable for teaching your child self-management.
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SONGMICS Kids’ Shoe Rack with Doors
Merchant
Peak organization, but space-themed. This six-slot organizer features colorful rockets, astronauts and planets to inspire your children’s wonder of outer space. Designed to be a functional piece, the storage unit has separate shelves for organizing things like shoes, extra bed linens, towels or books.
Thanks to the innovative interlocking system, you can set up the organizer in two different ways (vertically or horizontally), depending on how you want to fit it into your little one’s bedroom or playroom.
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Experts
- Anabela Medeiros, a professional organizer at the Professional Organizers of Canada (POC) and owner of Reorganizable
- Pascale Chenard, professional organizer, POC member and owner of The Simple Way
