How I Simplified the Kids’ Room for Summer

What do kids do in their bedrooms?! All the things apparently. As summer approaches, I need less to manage. The bedroom is for sleeping, reading, and maybe writing in a journal but that is it! Mama is closing down the chaos and going back to a minimalist space for the summer. My only hope for sanity is having less to manage! This is how I simplified the kids’ room for summer!

If you have been following along, I am working through Decluttering my whole house! Last week we tackled the Master Bedroom & Closet! That was refreshing and motivated me to keep going.

Here is the before of the master bedroom. Scroll for the before picture! Having a cozy tidy place to rest during the house declutter has been amazing.

The problem is we get so used to the stuff we don’t see it anymore! So I am flipping the script and getting rid of the stuff, so I can get comfortable with less! My plan is to simply own less. My goal is to throw away or donate as much as we can. We have a playroom, so I am implementing a NO TOY rule for the bedrooms.

I’ll walk you through the steps related to the kids’ bedrooms, but make sure to read the full post on Decorating a bedroom like a designer for all the details! This is just the kid’s edition of that post!

How I simplified the Kid’s Rooms for Summer

1.Prepare

I always begin by looking around the room. The clutter tells me A LOT about what is working and what is not. Right away, I wanted to remove the desk and replace it with a smaller nightstand to make the window area less cluttered and more manageable. I also brought up a trash bag and two donation bags! I hope to get rid of more than we keep!

For the girl’s room, I noticed lots of clothing and books. I know right away that the clean laundry is not making it to the closet. So, I will be addressing that. The lizard cage is moving to the office for better supervision. We have had 2 missing lizard situations and that is not working for me. Really needing this room to have as little as possible so the girls will have better habits.

2. Declutter

Starting with laundry, the girls seperated the clean from the dirty. DIrty laundry was taken downstairs and I set timers to stay on top of the laundry cycles and get them clean and back upstairs for inventory.

In the room, we removed the dresser and lizard first, then put everything else into groups. All toys and things that didn’t belong in the room, the girls put away while I decluttered.

The next big task was switching out the girl’s wardrobe. I brought all the laundry I cleaned upstairs and had them sort their clothing into tops, bottoms, pajamas, dresses, etc. I asked them what they didn’t like to wear (usually the items you don’t have to wash as much) and they placed those items in the donation bag.

Finally, I set a boundary for what we could manage. I will give this disclaimer: This number is not the same for every child and every season and if I notice clothing on the floor, I will take this number down further. This number is subject to change.:)

To begin I set each number at 14. I like them to have at least 5 items in each category but no more than 14. That’s two complete weeks of wear. Again, you can do less! I used to say 10, but as they get older, they want more options and that’s okay. For dresses, I usually limit to 8.

3. Organize

In the girls’ room, I organized their closet space and shoes first. Keeping this simple with littles is helpful when they are in the season of wearing 5 outfits a day. We do not fold clothes, rather have a drawer for tops, bottoms, pajamas, and undies. Don’t hesitate to put clothing out of reach or in another closet for sanity.

Since the girls got a much smaller nightstand, I did want to create a “bedtime basket”. My oldest has her items stored in the caboodle under the bed. For my youngest, we created a basket of the approved items to use at bedtime. This basket includes her devotional, Bible coloring book, a journal, reading light, and a fun book to read. This is my temporary fix until I’m ready to shop for a dresser!

4. Clean

Check out this post on cleaning and how I clean a room, but for the kids’ spaces, I have them help me clean it! Usually, there is bribery of some kind, and yes it’s harder than just doing it myself, but it teaches them to care for their room and show ownership.

Mostly you’ll want to focus on deep cleaning and the mattress:

• Dust lighting and corners of the room
• Clean blinds, window treatments, and windows
• wash sheets, dust bed and under bed, vacuum and flip mattress
• Dust surfaces and baseboards
• Wipe doors and window frames
• Vacuum or even shampoo carpets

Cleaning a room is the best way you get a brand new room for ZERO dollars.

5. Decorate

Make sure to create a Pinterest board with your child to help get a feel of the room together. Dream and don’t think about the budget for this step! You can also point out how clean or clutter-free a room looks! If we overlook the clutter, I know they do! This will inspire and encourage them to care for their room with a new standard.

Even if their style is not practical or your style, this gives you a guide to meet in the middle. I don’t let the kids choose their rooms per se. If I did, I would have to buy a new bed every time they wanted to change their style, but you can certainly compromise and create the vibe they want, to show their personality.

We took the girls to the parade of homes in our town and they came home willing to get their room straight so they could have a room like we had seen. I also got a feel for their style and what excited them!

Furniture layout

For logistics on where to place furniture, check out the Master Bedroom post. This is an area I’ve been working on. Less is more with the furniture in a kid’s bedroom, but I also know my kids have little control in my house. They do chores my way and take laundry up when I say, so if they want some bizarre layout, I don’t fight it.

Rugs

Rugs in kids rooms are great as long as they are BIG ENOUGH and the child is potty trained. I wouldn’t overspend on a rug for their space. It never fails that we have potty incidents, paint or marker accidents, and even nail polish situations. Pass on this until the older teen years or go cheap!

Wall & wall art

In this step, you can paint walls if you have a clear idea of the direction you want to go. Otherwise, check that your curtains are close to the ceiling and wide enough that they can sit beside the window. This is a big change you can make in the room.

Check out this post for more info on curtain placement.

I don’t focus too much on wall art. Less is more and bigger is better for wall art. If it doesn’t match your style or you don’t love it, just donate it and wait until you know more what you want. Blank walls are a good thing.

Lighting

Kids need all the lights, don’t they? Make sure you have a low-wattage bulb in their nightstand light and if you need a sleep aid, a new nightlight in an outlet will do the trick.

An overhead light is a must if you want to elevate the room. The girls’ room has a classic boob light still! This month I am investing in something charming. No doubt this will change the whole room!

Surfaces & Accessories

For now, I want to clear the surfaces as much as possible! The less clutter the better! I even put several items in a bin in the attic! I’m curious if we even miss them!

Do yourself a favor and do not buy decor. Especially decor that sits on a surface. This is how we think we are decorating, but it’s usually not the decor you want. Focus on the bigger, albeit less fun items, to bring character and style to a room. Get used to less. Stick to personal items and pictures or memorabilia for a season.

My son is very sentimental, so he has 2 shelves to keep his awards, projects, and class pictures for a season. When that season is over, I decide if it goes in a memory bin or the trash. The boundary is the shelves, so it has to fit there to keep it.

Bedding

I personally don’t want to manage all the pillows and layers in the kids’ rooms. I feel like I wash their bedding all the time, so I keep it simple. Once they get a preteen room, I’ll add in the layers!

Bedding Basics:

1. Fitted Sheet and fitted sheet only!
2. Quilt if it is winter
3. Duvet or even a comforter is fine for kids
4. Blanket- let them choose their blanket and express their personality and decor for their room. Replacing a blanket is no big deal!
5. 2 Twin Pillows. Monogram for bonus points.

6. Finish

I am guilty of not completely finishing the room, so I made this a step.

• Throwing away trash
• Dropping off donations
• Rehoming all items you are moving to a new room
• Collecting leftover organizational bins and decor and move them to a holding place until the declutter is finished. You’ll be glad you held onto these items for now.
• Put the “Maybe Bin” in the attic or wherever it’s kept. Remember, you only get ONE bin.

I did allow an extra bin for the summer called “Only for the Summer” lol. That should be clear enough. In the fall, I’ll decide if we keep those items or hopefully decide not too.

7. Celebrate

Now we can celebrate! It’s time to rest, reflect, and create new habits for the kids to care for their spaces. However, I don’t begin this step until all kid’s rooms have been completed!

I sit down and dream. Think outside the box and sketch out a floor plan or design a mood board on Canva for your homework journal. Here is Josiah’s room using his bed now, but a room created to grow with him.

Bedroom Favorites Kids Edition

Satin Pillow Case/ Warmie/ Hatch/ Kid’s Hangers/ Tonie/ Drawer Organizers

Next up, The playroom! Catch your breath and get ahead of laundry and meal planning!

Until Next time,