Keeping a teenager’s room organized is a tough task for any parent. This is especially true if they live an active life and spend a lot of time going in and out of the house. These are some ways you can keep a teenager’s room organized.
Lay Down Some Rules
Teenagers develop bad habits so you should lay down some rules so that their room does not get out of control. This could include certain incentives if they keep their room tidy. Teaching kids to clean their room from an early age develops good habits and you should ensure that they take responsibility as they get older too.
Draw Up a Roster
If you have a number of teenagers, create a timetable that indicates what days of the week their room should be tidied. You may meet with some hostility at first but this can be an effective reminder to tidy their room before it starts to get out of hand again.
Create Areas to Store Specific Items
Work with your teenager to create some kind of system they can follow. For example, allocate a certain area to store books, a certain area to store clothes and a certain area to store other items. Your teenager should get into the habit of storing items in the appropriate places. Otherwise everything will be stored together and a room can quickly become an unorganized mess.
Under Bed Storage
A lack of storage space to store items is a common complaint from teenagers. Many simply leave items lying on the ground. Some types of furniture are designed to store various items. High quality beds with storage compartments underneath are a good example of this type of furniture.
Use an Armoire to Hide TV and Games
Many teenagers have a TV in their room or they’re keen gamers. All of this equipment takes up space. It’s important to have a place to store and hide this equipment from view when it’s not being used. A range of specialized wardrobes and armoires are designed for this purpose.
Add Furniture that Doesn’t Take Up Too Much Space
Certain items are required in every teenager’s room. For example, a bed, desk and wardrobe are all needed by teens. Normally these are three separate items. However, many furniture manufacturers sell combinations of all three to help you save space. They often consist of a bunk bed, with a table below it and some kind of storage space.
Provide Compartments for Smaller Items
A teenager’s room often has a lot of smaller items lying around. Provide some kind of storage facility for these items. Smaller clothing like socks should also have a designated storage area. If you and your teenager label each storage space, it may be a more effective way for your teenager to become more organized.
Don’t Allow Food in the Room
Teens eating in their bedroom is one bad habit you need to prevent. This problem can escalate quickly. In a very short space of time your teenager’s room can be filled with empty soft drinks cans, crumbs and wrappers. To avoid this problem have a rule whereby your teenagers are not allowed to eat in their own bedroom.
Making the Bed and Other Tasks
Teenagers can get lazy and develop bad habits especially if a parent gives in and does their work for them. For example, your teenager should get into the habit of making their own bed and picking their clothes up off the ground each morning. This is a small task but it can develop a sense of responsibility and encourage your teenager to help out more around the house.
If your teenager’s room is in a bad state, they may need help. However, you should let them lead the way. When they see the work that’s involved they may think twice about letting their bedroom get out of control again in the future.
When they undertake this work, make sure they separate items that are no use from those they need. They will probably need a few containers to hold useful items and plastic bags to hold items that will be dumped. It’s a good idea to separate the different items to be dumped in to specific groups. For example, keep all the plastic items together, the tin items together and paper or cardboard items together.
Teaching your teenager how to keep their room organized is an important life lesson. When they see what’s involved they won’t take life for granted as much in the future and there’s a better chance they’ll continue to maintain their bedroom in the way they should.