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Organize a room shared by 2 girls

by Rachel
(USA)

My two little girls share a room. They have a lot of toys. They also have lots of art and craft supplies. The toys have exceeded their already large storage system and I need a separate craft, art, writing/homework section. Other areas are books. Any ideas?

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Nov 17, 2009
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by: The Organizer

Hi Rachel,

So you need to organize a room shared by 2 girls, eh? You came to the right place! It can be a challenge but it can be done. How do I know? My girls also shared a room for several years. Seriously, they had 2 beds, 2 dressers and about 2 feet wide of walking space. Then there were the dolls, stuffed animals, books, clothes, etc. What a full room!
So here's what I would suggest in order to organize a room shared by 2 girls...

Schedule a day and take everything out of the room (except the furniture). Have the girls go through and decide what they really feel they need/want in their room and what can go someplace else in the house (a play room, storage, etc.). Encourage them to give a few things away to a favorite charity or a younger girl they might know.

Once everything has been gone through and you know what's going back in, sort into piles. Clothes, books, crafts, school supplies, and so on. Now look at what size of container might be needed for the various categories.

Some ideas for storage are...

Books - bookshelf or crates
Craft supplies - several small clear totes or shoeboxes with labels
Clothes - besides the closet, under bed storage containers, hangers that hold multiple items and fold down
School supplies - small containers, totes

Also over-the-door hangers with pockets can be used for a variety of little girl treasures.

If you they have a closet be sure to make use of the space high up. Adding shelves close to the ceiling (with enough room to put boxes on them) can add quite a bit of storage.

Use pet nets for stuffed animals

Hang a rope from the ceiling with clothespins for hats and scarves

Maximize space in dresser drawers by adding dividers

For the craft, art, writing, homework section, there are lots of "work stations" out there for young children these days. If you are on a tight budget, see if you can get someone to build one for you. Check Ikea, Target, etc. to get an idea of what you like and model a work station after one of them.

Always be thinking... contain, contain, contain.

Then teach your girls where everything goes and set a certain day or two each week where they have to put everything away so you can vacuum or change bedding, etc.

-The Organizer

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