237 - Toys, Collections & Sharing Bedrooms

We've reached the final episode of the Kid's Organization Series. I hope you've all enjoyed this mini-series so far and found the advice useful when it comes to organizing your bedroom – or mini apartment as I like to call them!

In previous episodes, I've talked about organizing your clothes, closets, and rearranging the furniture in your bedroom. But now I want to talk about organizing your toys, collections, and how to save space if you're sharing a bedroom with someone else.

Eliminate Your Nightstand

If you share a bedroom with a sibling or a friend at college, every space counts. With two beds in the room, it's unlikely you'll have a lot of space to work with unless you're lucky and have a massive room for you both.

If you've been keeping up with the podcast, you'll know that my son is preparing for college and we've been shopping for his new apartment. During one of my many Walmart visits, I came across storage headboards. Well actually, there were more like mini bookcases with shelving suitable for things like an alarm clock, picture frames, ornaments, books, and other small items.

A storage headboard eliminates your need for a nightstand, giving you more floor space to work with. If you want to have a lamp near your bed, you can use a clip-on dorm lamp that can clamp onto your headboard. They are adjustable and you can angle it so that you can read at night without shining a stream of light in your roommate's face – phew!

Cube Units For Bunk Beds

If you have bunk beds in your room, a storage headboard is probably out of the question. But don't worry, I've got the perfect solution!

IKEA are the masters of storage units! Their KALLAX shelving units are my favorite. They are available in a range of different sizes, but if you're looking for the perfect bookshelf for bunk beds, I suggest going for the 1 x 5 unit. It takes up very little space and you can easily attach it to the wall with a standard L bracket.

You'll need to think about functionality over appearance. Most people will immediately assume that the unit should be facing outwards, but this isn't how I do it. I recommend connecting the unit to the wall sideways so that the kids can reach into the shelves from their beds.

Reducing The Bedroom Clutter

If you share a room, you MUST reduce the number of collections and toys that you keep because there just isn't enough room to spare. If your family has additional storage space or a family bookshelf, etc., then you might be able to keep some of your possessions there if you don't want to donate or throw them out.

Cube units are easier to work with for organizing your bedroom because they're functional, long-lasting, and you can easily separate them if you like. A 2 x 8 unit, for example, can be stacked on top of each other with your TV on top.

My daughter took a slightly different approach to her shelving units and, instead of putting a TV on top of her 2 x 8 unit, she put her hamster cage on top of it. It's not a regular hamster cage either – it's a hamster mansion!

Organizing Books

Is it just me or is every home overflowing with books? I was a preschool teacher and when my kids were young, we literally had EVERY picture book ever published. The house was covered in them until I finally decided to do something about it.

My kids were never big readers. They preferred to play with toys rather than sit and read for hours. So, I took all the picture books and stored them in the loft. I then put their toys in their bedrooms and they were so much happier.

If you've got a lot of books, you should think about donating some of them or moving them to where everyone else in the family keeps their books. I suggest assigning one of your cubes in your shelving unit for books – and that's it!

Organizing Your Toys & Collections

Everyone has a passion project. Your passion project is the type of toys that you're currently into. Whether it's PS4 games, Monster High Dolls or Lego, your passion project will probably take up at least four of the cubes in your unit.

Toys are different from collections because toys are the things that you play with while collections are more personal and private. Your collection is special because it has a memory connected to it and, even though the rest of the family sees it as junk, you don't see it that way.

There's just one thing to remember – your entire collection HAS to fit into one cube. You can store them in a bin, but once that container fills up – it's time to go through it!

You should spread everything out on the floor and go through it piece by piece. Prioritize your collections and only keep the items that you still love. Everything else should be donated or thrown out because they're just taking up space that you don't have.

Find A Display Area For Your Collections

Once you've gone through the bin, you need to find a flat surface in your room where you can display your favorite pieces from your collections.

I suggest putting them on a ledge or "floating shelf" that you can hang up on the wall with a nail or L bracket. This type of shelf comes in a range of sizes and is relatively inexpensive. You can find them anywhere, including IKEA, Target, and even Walmart.

You can attach it to your wall and use it as a collection shelf. If you share a room with a sibling, get two shelves for your collections and stack them on top of each other.

I hope you enjoyed this special Kid's Organization Series as much as I enjoyed making it! I've organized plenty of kid's rooms in the past. It's one of my favorite things to do because each child is different and their bedrooms reflect their personalities – I think that's fantastic!

If you tried any of my suggestions, I'd love to see them! Follow me on Instagram for more great organizing tips, then share your photos with me by tagging me @organize365!

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