Your challenge this week is organizing kids’ bedrooms. This week’s task is important not only so these rooms in your home are not an eye sore, but also so your kids can really use and enjoy their rooms to their fullest.

All of us want a space to call our own, and whether our children share a room, or have one all to themselves, somewhere in that room is most likely “their” space. This week our goal is to make that space both functional and fun to be in.

Just like with last week’s challenge the steps below may be something you do all on your own if you have very young children. However, if you have older children these steps really should be taken together with your child, because your kids need to be involved with organizing their own rooms.

Step 1: Decide The Functions Of The Room

You can’t organize a room until you know what you’re supposed to be doing in it.

In the case of bedrooms there is typically one obvious function — sleeping. That is generally the primary purpose for this room, so obviously you need to organize and create a space that fulfills this function.

However, bedrooms often serve many other purposes too, called secondary functions. Another obvious one that we addressed last week was storing clothing in your child’s closet. Additional typical functions for a bedroom can include:

• Studying and doing homework
• Relaxing
• Playing and entertainment

There are no right or wrong functions for your child’s bedroom, but make sure you know the priority for its functions and make sure all the top priorities are served before trying to accommodate lesser ones.

Also, be willing to move certain activities to other areas of the house instead of having everything occur in the bedroom. For example, perhaps you’ve been insisting that your child do her homework in her room, but she needs supervision to get it done properly. Then, at this time studying shouldn’t be a function of the bedroom but instead this activity needs to be done somewhere more convenient for you to supervise. Therefore, consider moving out the desk, or converting it to an art and puzzle area instead of a study space.

Also, be aware that the functions of the room can change with time, as your children get older. That is why organizing is not a static process, but instead one you must engage in over and over, always making adjustments for changes in situation.

Step 2: Declutter Your Child’s Bedroom

With the functions you’ve determined freshly in your mind set about decluttering your child’s room. Some items should be donated or sold, others are trash, and other stuff should not be in the bedroom, but instead moved to somewhere else in the house.

I would suggest doing this step of the kids’ bedroom organizing challenge at the same time that you do step 3 below, because once you set up the zones for your child’s room you’ll be able to see what does not belong and needs to be removed from the room more easily.

Step 3: Create Zones Within Your Child’s Bedroom For Each Function

Once you’ve decided what activities should be done in your child’s bedroom (and which shouldn’t) make sure you create space within the room to accommodate the activity.

The best analogy I’ve ever heard for these zones is to compare it to a kindergarten classroom, where the room has all kinds of activity centers. The reading zone has a bookshelf and a comfy place to sit, the arts and crafts zone has a nice flat surface to work on and craft supplies at the children’s fingertips, etc. Your goal in the Kids’ Bedroom Organizing Challenge is to create similar zones in your child’s room so they can easily and happily use it for all its primary and secondary functions.

Most Important Zone: For Sleeping And Resting

Children need adequate rest, so the most important part of this Bedroom Organizing Challenge is to make sure they have a nice calm, uncluttered area around their bed so they can sleep peacefully each night.

This also includes a wide path to walk through to and from their bed to the door, so it is easy for them to get in and out of bed as needed, even in the dark.

Other Often Utilized Zones In Children’s Rooms

Here are some ideas for other common zones to consider creating when doing the kids’ bedroom organizing challenge:

• Clothing zone
• Toys and games zone
• Arts and crafts zone – don’t forget a place to display artwork and other creations too!
• Music or other entertainment zone
• Homework and studying zone

Don’t Forget To Remove Things Which Don’t Fit Within One Of The Bedroom Zones

It is important to remove things from your kids’ bedrooms that send a conflicting signal about its function. For example, if arts and crafts are off limits within the bedroom for your child then don’t store arts and craft supplies in there. It encourages rule breaking, and also makes it less convenient to actually do the arts and crafts in the area you want them done in.

Plus, a large part of feeling organized is having empty space to stretch out in, and do activities without feeling cramped. Just because you can pack a room to the gills doesn’t mean you should. If an item doesn’t fulfill one of the functions of the room it should be outta there!

Step 4: Use Kid Friendly Bedroom Storage Solutions

The other part of making zones for the activities in your child’s room is that everything in the room needs a place to be put away or kept while it’s not in use. Again, think back to the kindergarten room analogy. Not only does each activity center have space to actually do the activity in, but there are also storage containers, shelves, drawers, etc. to hold the supplies when they are not in use.

Everything should be easy to get out, and to put back up. This is especially important for kids, who can’t be expected to lift heavy objects up high to put them away, or wedge objects into tight spaces to make everything fit.

Here are some criteria and tips to keep in mind when choosing bedroom storage solutions for your child’s room:

• Keep things at your child’s height so they can reach things easily, and put things away themselves without needing your assistance every time
• Under the bed storage can be very handy in a child’s room, and is often underutilized. Try to use plastic containers with rollers, since these are more easily accessible
• Bookcases, shelves and cubbies are all easy to use storage solutions for children. You can subdivide these spaces by placing baskets, bins and other containers on the shelves, for example
• Don’t cram too much stuff in one storage container, since it makes it difficult for a child to get things in or take things out of it

Tell Me How The Organizing Kids’ Bedrooms Challenge Is Going For You

I would love to know how this week’s Challenge is going for you. You can tell me your progress or give me more ideas for how you’ve organized this area of your home below in the comments.