I’m taking a sabbatical and have lined up a few posts ahead of time. I’ll also be re-sharing some of my fave OTR articles and re-introducing you to some favorite OTR guest authors, like Ellen Delap. Today, she has advice on how to help your children keep their rooms clutter free.

Kids rooms get stuffed to the brim after the holidays! Helping them learn organizing strategies as well as modeling decluttering is one of our most important jobs as a parent.  Just like every new skill, it takes patience and practice to create good systems and routines.

• Set a time that will work well for you and your child to organize. You will be able to have them work with you between 30 and 60 minutes, so you really want to hit the hard stuff first.  Before you start, set your goals together to be sure you are communicating. Work toward a goal of completion and not perfection in this endeavor. Going into this work with a team attitude makes all the difference as well. If your child is done, but the room is not, continue on but ask about the items you declutter before you donate.  You are teaching respect for each other and taking care of your property, too!

• Think through the areas that are used in your child’s room, including technology, attire, reading and any other zones.  Mapping this out ahead of time helps you both set boundaries for what will fit in this space. Often we have too much in one space to make it work.

• You and your child will approach decluttering with different perspectives. Give your child permission to declutter without guilt or second thoughts.  Often your child is ready to let go of an item and  you are not.  Be sure that you are open to their opinions, regardless of the cost or use of the item.

If your child is reluctant to declutter, be sure to help them by gathering together the items, then asking how many they might need of a single item or if they will keep only a treasured number. By helping them approach decluttering in a positive way, you are encouraging a lifelong process.

• Keeping toys or clothes for your next child? Use 66 quart bins, labeled with size and season for clothes. You can store these on the upper shelves in your child’s closet.  Toys can also be stored this way. Be sure to be discerning and keep only the best of these.

• Kids need a keepsake box, too.  The size of the box helps them limit their keepsakes to what is most precious. This can also be stored under a bed or at the top of the closet.  This strategy also helps them honor what is precious.

• Choose products that encourage independent maintenance of their space. Think of their ability to access and spaces they can return items to so that they can easily keep their room orderly. Place items that are frequently used in open bins for just dropping in. Color and labels can make organizing fun and attractive too. Be sure to label each spot so that everyone knows where items belong.

• Establishing routines are an important final step. Talk through the maintenance with your child. Will they be picking up a little every night? It is much easier this way!  Will they be preparing for the next day each evening as well, taking out their clothes, filling their back pack and getting ready? Easy to follow routines can be reinforced with a chore chart and praise to insure completion.

• Keep a schedule for decluttering each season. Whether it is a holiday or birthday coming up, frequent decluttering is the most reliable way to keep order in your home. Calendar it and you will be sure to keep organization a priority for you and your child.

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About the Author

Certified Professional Organizer ® and Family Manager Coach, Ellen Delap, is the owner of Professional-Organizer.com. Since 2000, she has worked one-on-one with her clients in their home and offices, streamlining their environments, creating effective strategies for an organized lifestyle, and helping them to prioritize organization in their daily routines.

She holds ADD and Chronic Disorganization certificates and specializes in working with ADD and ADHD adults and students.  Ellen has been featured at The Woodlands (Texas) Home and Garden Show, on ABC13 Houston, in the Houston Chronicle, and is an Expert on The Clutter Diet, an online organizing resource.

Connect With Ellen: Twitter | Facebook | Web | E-Mail

If you have kids or if you’re a crafter (or both!), this tip is for you. =)  Kids usually come home with little, itsy bitsy objects. Most of my clients have no idea how to store these precious bits that their children love.  Here’s a simple way to keep them from getting lost or taking over your home.

Rubbermaid Egg Keeper

You may not think of an egg keeper as storage for anything except eggs, but think again!  It’s perfect for those tiny things kids always have.  It’s especially nice for when you’re taking a road trip and need to just carry a few things with you.  You crafters who make jewelry might like it, too.

How do you store the teeny tiny’s in your life?

Your children’s masterpieces are very important, especially to them.  Once the frame-worthy ones have been selected, there may be some left over that your kids’ may are not ready to part with yet.  Keep them all in one central location so that they don’t fly about your home.

Here are a couple storage options:

Schoolfolio

• Large: Holds 24″ x 18″ paper with 3.5″ capacity.
  
• Portable : Great for transporting to and from school.
• Acid-free and UV-resistant for maximum protection.
• Four colorful designs with 5″ x 7″ photo pocket to add your child’s photo.
  
• Opens flat for easy access.

Click here to order

Photo Books by Snapfish

• Custom hardcover: Photos and captions printed directly on the cover, spine, and back.
• Hardcover with dust jacket: Photos and captions printed directly on the front, spine, and back of dust jacket.

*Take a photo of each piece of art to submit to Snapfish.

Click here to order

Ok, so the title of today’s post may be a bit misleading, but if you watched Shark Tank recently, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Lisa Lloyd presented a pretty nifty organizing idea to the sharks - Treasure Chest Pets - organizers that look like stuffed animals for children. Each pet has secret compartments for putting away your stuff.  So, on the outside they look like a toy, but on the inside, they keep you organized.

How cool is that?  Why not get your children involved with organizing early on, especially with when it’s fun to do it?  Sounds like a win-win to me. Even the sharks knew that. They chomped at the bit to make a deal with Lisa.

Here’s a look at one of the TC pets…

Want to see the other pets that can store CD’s and other things out of the way?  Check out this video…

“The way children decorate their walls, paint their rooms, and maintain (or don’t maintain) their space is an expression of an emerging sense of self.  As long as it doesn’t interfere with their academic success – or become a health hazard – let them express themselves.”

[The Organized Student · Donna Goldberg · Fireside · 2005]

Buy The Organized Student @ Amazon.com!

We all know that children don’t come with instructions, as convenient as it would be if they did. But one thing they do come with is an overabundance of STUFF! No matter what ages or stages your children are, I can say with great certainty that there are no shortage of items you will possess, as a means to keep your children happy and entertained. I can remember needing 2 cars to transport the gifts from a small baby shower my mom had for me. Two car loads, and my little bundle was not even born yet! And as your children get older and you perhaps have more than one child, you tend to accumulate more stuff, spanning different age ranges, to again keep your children happy, and yourself sane ~ okay, partially sane.

I can’t tell you how often I would look around at the items in my house pondering the question, HOW DO I ORGANIZE ALL THIS STUFF? Over the course of the next few weeks, I am going to be highlighting several approaches and tips to organizing all the things that enter your home, as a result of having children. I am currently embarking on my own Project Organization and I am asking you take the journey with me, that is, if you are brave enough to confront talking Elmos and more plastic pieces than should ever enter one’s home in any lifetime.

So, are you up to it? Let’s get started!!!! I am going to take a Clean Sweep approach to this, minus hauling all your children’s belongings onto the front lawn ~ doing so could likely result in a very traumatic experience for the little darlings in your life. This may sound very basic, but sit down and go through everything. Yes, EVERYTHING! If it’s broken, has missing pieces or poses a hazard in any way, TOSS IT! If your child has outgrown it, no longer uses it, or quite frankly has never liked it from day he got it, it has to go. If you plan on having more children, you can pack away any items you can reuse for the future. When packing them away, make sure to label the contents so you know what’s inside. If you’re pretty confident the baby train has made it’s last stop, there are many options to getting rid of things that are in good condition that you no longer need. If you know someone expecting, or with children, ask them if they want it. You can also donate it to many local organizations in your area, and get a tax write off for it. Another option is to make a few bucks by utilizing sites like Ebay or Craigslist, which really aren’t as intimidating as they sound. There are even places out there that will take your stuff and sell it for you, if you don’t have the time or energy to do it yourself. Finally, put aside the things you want to keep. Don’t be a hoarder. If you don’t have a use for it in your home, as cute as it is, or as much as it reminds you of your own childhood, GET RID OF IT!

This first step is usually the hardest. Try to get past the nostalgia of it all, and be prepared going into it that it can and will be hard! Taking pictures is a great way to preserve memories, and it only takes up a minimal amount of space on your computer, instead of precious real estate in your home.

I think we have established a good starting point here. Once we get through this step we’ll be ready to move on to the “fun” parts, which will ultimately lead to creating a FUNctional space to play for you and your children. I do hope you’ll join me on this journey. Are you game? Let me know if you’re up for it, and how this first step is going ~ I really want to hear from you!

Image via WikipediaRecently, a friend of mine sent this message to me on Facebook:

“[I need to know] how to get a handle on kid’s projects and artwork. I feel like my house is overrun with the sweet little things [he] takes home from school. I rotate them off the fridge, but always feel bad throwing them out….yes, admittedly, I have ALL of his projects from his first year of preschool saved in a container in the basement – crazy huh? My initial organization method/weeding process just didn’t work, so I kept them all! Just in case you were looking for a new topic for your blog, have at it, my friend!!!”

So, what’s a mom to do with all her children’s masterpieces? Here are a few suggestions. Try them out and let me know which one you like best.

1. Create a Gallery. Select a specific area (or areas) of your home to display the art work. When possible, let your child in on the action and have them help you choose the location as well as the frames that they will be displayed in. Once you’ve mounted the frames, pick the ones to be displayed or let your child choose. Ask them to pick up to three or four they love or like the best and rotate in new ones when it’s time for a change. You might also want to take them to an art gallery as a follow up activity.

2. Make a Book. If you watched Oprah’s Clean Up Your Messy House show recently, you may have heard Peter Walsh talk about www.snapfish.com. You can send in your photos to Snapfish and they’ll put together a nice book for you. To make your book, you’ll need to:

• Scan your children’s art work first to create a .jpg or .gif (i.e., photo)
• Upload photo after creating a Snapfish account

Again, your child can choose their favorite works of art to be used. Nice gift idea, huh?

3. Create Something Special. Did you know that you can put almost anything on a mug, tote, or even a blanket? Why not your child’s favorite art work? How about creating some special stationary, calendars, or even greeting cards? For more information, visit Snapfish or Snaptotes. If you’re up for an even bigger project, check out the article below on how to make a coffee table to show off the great stuff your kids bring home.

If you have an interesting way of managing your children’s masterpieces, please share!