June 19, 2020

Organizing Ideas For A Shared Bedroom

My girls share a bedroom, which means organizing can be a little tricky. Most recently we ran into the challenge of giving them each their own area in the room, which made organizing even more important. Alyssa is 9 and Lauryn is 7 and since they are getting older, especially my oldest, was desperate for a little of her own space. I needed to get creative so everything would fit! Here are my favorite organizing ideas for a shared bedroom.

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Organizing Ideas

Stuffed Animal Storage

I love stuffed animals, which means I love giving stuffed animals to my kids as well. We do sort through and remove some from time to time, but their room is still overflowing. To help manage all the stuffed animals, I bought bean bag storage! It allows you to throw in any extra stuffed animals and then you have a seat as well. My girls love to sit on their bean bags and read, I have even sat on the bean bag and it is pretty comfy (as long as you have enough stuffed animals inside)!

It also works well for rotating your stuffed animals. If your children have too many stuffed animals to have out at one time, then every month put a few back in and then choose a few new stuffies to pull out.

Bean bags are one of my favorite ideas for stuffed animal storage and it has worked really well in our girls room!

Toy Storage

With limited space, underbed storage is a must! I bought two bins that hold a variety of toys. If you don’t like the large bins because everything slides together, you can put smaller bins inside to work as dividers. Right now, we don’t have dividers in our large bins…but it will probably be something I will add soon. Even my girls have mentioned that it is hard to find some of the little stuff.

Overall, it helps keep the girls room much cleaner. I want them to play with toys and enjoy what they have, but I don’t want a constant mess in their bedroom either. Underbed storage helps solve this problem. The girls can play, and then easily pick up.

Cube Storage

Bins are a great way to store random items or books. They also keep the room looking tidy, even if your kids aren’t. My girls, well one daughter in particular, is the queen of little nick nacks. We could not find enough space to display everything she wanted, so bins help a ton. It allows her to keep all the special treasures she couldn’t bare to part with, while still keeping an organized look.

The one downside to cube storage, is sometimes it becomes a catch all because you can’t see what’s inside. So try to have your kids go through their bins occasionally and reevaluate what they need and see if they can get rid of anything. Another good note, is to designate bins with certain categories to prevent them from becoming a catch all.

Organizing Ideas For Your Closet

Bins have been a great way to organize my girl’s closet! Especially with a shared closet, all of Alyssa’s bins are pink and all of Lauryn’s bins are purple. They can easily find their clothes and it is easy for them to take care of their own laundry! With limited space, I really wanted to get rid of their dresser and move all of their clothes to the closet. Floor space is limited in a shared bedroom and I am so glad I did.

Each bin is designated for a specific type of clothing. Long sleeve shirts, short sleeve shirts, pants/shorts, and pajamas. Then I added two additional 3 bin drawers to hold their socks, underwear and bathing suits. As summer hit, I grabbed one last bin that has their play clothes inside.

This system has worked really well! I do sort out the pants during summer and leave mainly shorts, so it does entail a little sorting…but it is simple and something that works really well for my girls!

Creating Personal Space

When the girls first started sharing a bedroom, they were 1 and 3. There wasn’t much need for personal space, however, they are 7 and 9 now. My oldest really wanted a little space to call her own. I had been wanting to get them desks for a while, and when quarantine hit, it was the perfect time to tackle this project. I wanted to find desks that would flow into their teenage years as well. As I was looking I came across this writing desk. Storage is a must, so I was a little skeptical…however, I love anything industrial and bonus, it had teal wheels. I mean the teal wheels sold me (it is my favorite color)!

When purchasing these desks, I knew I would need to add storage. We just happened to be removing an IKEA storage unit from my sons room and I sat it on top of my girls desk to see if something like that might work. It was perfect, except the color which was an easy fix (I spray painted them turquoise). I went ahead and ordered one more, so each of my girls had one. An organizer adds a lot of storage on their desktop and is large enough to still give them room to write.

Arranging A Shared Room

Now to arrange the room with two desks to create some personal space. Arranging the room was definitely tricky! The room is longer than it is wide, so I want to take advantage of that. I also want the desks to have wall space and to be apart from each other.

I am definitely a more visual person, I did measure a little, but basically moved everything around until I liked it! When I finished moving everything, I felt like the room looked bigger and each of the girls had their own space. Goal accomplished, plus the desks were a great quarantine project because the girls used them to do homework and zoom meetings almost every day! Perfect timing!

Organizing Ideas To Help You Stay Organized

I have found that when everything has a place, it helps kids stay organized. Especially for my oldest daughter. She is not a natural organizer, but when everything has a place to go…she is more likely to put it back there. Also, when I ask them to clean their room, they understand that means everything needs to go back into the place that we collectively decided it should go. No more, I picked up…but half the floor is still covered. It has really helped my girls stay more organized with all these storage solutions, and they do it on their own!

CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW I PAINTED THE DIY RAINBOW WALL

If your child struggles with organizing, check out this flow chart I made for my girls! I feel like it has helped my oldest know when it is time to let go of things. My youngest, well she is a nerd like me and just loves a good flow chart! She walks around pointing at things and quoting the first question….is this item broken?!

CLICK TO SEE THE FLOW CHART HERE!

Sharing a bedroom may mean a tighter space, but using creative storage solutions and creating some personal space can be done. I hope this inspires you with your shared bedroom. Love these ideas, pin this post for later!