Q&A - Organizing Tween Room

I've decided to start posting some of the questions that I get about organizing along with my answers. Here is the first about a messy 10 year old's room - never a simple solution since "wait till they move out" does not seem to satisfy most parents. :)

I'm changing the name to protect the innocent (or otherwise), so don't worry if I post yours here sometime in the future!

Question:
My daughter, "Jane", age 10, needs some major help in her room. Her tiny space so messy and unorganized. If we get her room in decent shape, it doesn't take her long to wreck it. What's the best way to begin?

Answer:
Dear "Frustrated Mom",

The biggest problem I see with most children's rooms is that they are just too full of stuff. You can put away once, but if everything is full and it's hard for THEM to put it away (cramming into drawers, moving things around to get to the proper storage area, etc.), the chances that they'll keep it up go way way down.

Also, parents sometimes set up a system that makes sense to them, and possibly it does not to the child, so they must memorize where everything should go. Include her in the organizing process so she both understands it and takes some ownership.

The key is to make it super easy to put stuff away. Store like things with like (based upon their version of similar categories), with plenty of empty space. Think of resource vs. archive, and move out anything that is simply being stored there long-term. Box up the sentimental outgrown things and store them elsewhere if she can't put them "back into the Universe". Only the most used items should occupy "prime real estate" in her room.

Finally, understand that it takes discipline and leadership by example to keep it neat, and most tweens and teens struggle a lot with this. Keep expectations realistic, try for a few minutes a day of maintenance, and congratulate even very small victories!!

That's a quick synopsis of what I do for a client. Hope it helps some!

Becca