Help your teen organize her bedroom and closet.
An organized bedroom will likely help your teen find her clothes, CDs and homework, making both your lives easier. She'll spend less time searching for things, which will give her more time to study or do things she enjoys. Implement an organization strategy to help your teen organize her bedroom and keep it that way. Does this Spark an idea?
Strategy
Arrange your teen's furniture so the room flows and each area has a distinct purpose. Create an area for studying, playing video games, hanging out with friends, grooming or any other activities he typically does in his room. This will help you and your teen decide where to put his belongings, as they should be in the area of his bedroom he will use them most. For example, storing his video games in the closet when he uses them on the other side of the bedroom will likely result in your teen leaving the games on the floor rather than putting them away when he's finished.
Sort and Organize
Have your teen sort her belongings, going through one area at a time. Taking on this project little-by-little will help keep you from feeling overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. Start with one area, such as the closet, dresser or desk. Remove everything from that area and sort through the items, putting them in one of four piles or boxes. Label the piles "keep," "trash," "donate" and "undecided." Sorting the items and clothes should be a fast process. Avoid looking through pictures or taking a journey down memory lane to just get everything sorted. Put the "keep" items away before moving on to the next area. Take a break to stretch and put away items that belong in another room, throw away the garbage and move the "donate" pile to another area if possible.
Storage Containers
Use decorative storage containers, such as baskets, plastic containers or bins, that coordinate with your teen's bedroom decor. Stylish containers that fit in with his bedroom and are convenient to use will make it easier for him to keep his room organized. Store the containers that hold heavily used items within easy reach of where your teen uses the items. For example, pens and pencils can sit on top of his desk or in a top desk drawer. Store CDs, video games, books or similar items on floating shelves or a bookshelf near the area where they are most commonly used. Out-of-season clothes and extra bed linens or old stuffed animals that he doesn't want to throw away or display can go in containers on top of the closet shelf or under the bed. A laundry basket should hang in the closet or sit on the closet floor next to a bin for large sports equipment or a shoe rack. Organize desk drawers or a container on top of the desk for ongoing school projects or crafts. Discard papers or notes from previous semesters or years, if they are no longer needed. Keep a sampling of your teen's work in a file or folder for each year.
The Closet
Utilize the space in your teen's closet, such as the top shelf, floor and behind the door. Hang shoe racks, laundry hampers and hooks for belts, purses or other accessories. Store out-of-season items or items that are hardly used in clearly labeled containers on the top shelf. Hang clothes she currently wears often according to their type (shirts, pants and skirts), color or function (school clothes, weekend clothes and formal clothes). Encourage your teen to donate or discard any clothes she hasn't worn in more than a year or items that don't fit right.
Tags: your teen, bedroom will, help your, help your teen, items that, video games
