20+ Smart Kids Room Organization Ideas

Yes, it is possible for a kids’ room to be organized! Don’t miss these 20+ brilliant kids room organization ideas!

Kids’ rooms can be some of the toughest spaces to keep organized. Most of our kiddos– mine included!– struggle to keep their items tidy. They always seem to be accumulating new things. And kids are always growing, so there’s a near constant need to get rid of old clothes and bring in new ones!

So how do we keep up with it all?

Well, first we release ourselves and our kids from the idea that the space has to be perfect. First and foremost, we want our kids’ rooms to be a place where they feel cozy and comfortable.

But smart organizing systems can really go a long way in helping kids’ rooms stay more organized so they can find their stuff and have a more calm and serene space to spend their time.

Like most rooms of the house, kids’ spaces won’t be one size fits all. But hopefully you’ll be able to find some ideas in this post that will be helpful to implement in your child’s bedroom!

20+ Ideas for Organizing a Kids’ Bedroom

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Declutter often.

Decluttering is important in every space in the house, but it is especially crucial in kids’ spaces. Their interests are always changing so they may outgrow toys on a regular basis. And with the rate kids’ grow, we end up having to rotate their clothes fairly often, getting rid of items that are too small in favor of items in their current size.

I usually do a big declutter of our kids’ room at least twice per year now that they’re teens/tweens. (Shortly before Christmas and right after school lets out are great times to do it!) When they were younger, I sometimes decluttered even more often, depending on their growth and changing interests.

Create zones in the room.

If your kids’ room is a multi-functional space, creating zones can help it flow well and stay tidy more easily.

Our boys shared a room when we lived in a small townhouse, and along with sleeping and getting dressed in the space, we also needed to store some of their toys and art supplies.

Their bunk beds became a natural sleeping zone. We created a little art zone for their craft supplies. And a ladder shelf acted as the toy zone, giving everything a home and allowing the room to perform multiple functions.

Keep hand-me-downs close by.

When we first moved into our current house, I relegated hand-me-downs to the basement. This kept them out of the way, but it was also a pain to carry the clothes up two flights of steps anytime I needed to switch them out.

I ended up moving the hand-me-downs to our guest room, which is right next door to the boys’ bedroom, and that made them a lot easier to manage.

In our townhouse, the boys had a fairly large closet, so I used the space in the back to hold hand-me-downs in plastic stacking drawers.

The drawers worked much better than lidded tubs because it was very easy to open them and grab what we needed, rather than having to unstack and re-stack bins whenever we were looking for something.

Kids room organization: Add a second row for hanging clothes in the closet.

Even though our current house is larger than our former townhouse, the boys’ closet is actually much smaller! One of the first things we did after moving in was add a second row for hanging clothes using IKEA’s BOAXEL system.

Since our boys share a room, this gave them each their own row for storing their clothing. And it also made it easier for Caleb– who was only 5 when we moved in– to be able to reach his stuff on his own.

If you don’t want to install a whole new closet system, simply purchase a second bar and install it and still gain the benefit of added hanging storage.

There are a few other ways to make the most of closet space as well…

Put the dresser in the closet to create more space.

Since kids’ clothes are short, they usually leave a lot of dead space at the bottom of the closet. There a lot of ways we can utilize that dead space to make it more functional. One of the easiest ways to do that is to put the dresser in the closet!

We used this strategy in our boys’ shared room in the townhouse, which allowed each kid to have his own dresser, even in a not-so-huge space.

Keep extra sheets close.

Kids can necessitate a lot of sheet changes, so it’s helpful to have them close! Rather than storing sheets in a linen closet, consider keeping sheets in a bin in the kids’ bedroom closet. They’ll be right there and easy to grab when you need them!

File fold kids’ clothes.

Our boys’ current bedroom setup only leaves room for one dresser. The only possible way I can fit all of the clothes for two boys in a single dresser is to file fold.

Not only does file folding take up less space, but it also allows the boys to see exactly what’s in their drawer without having to shift through stacked piles and making a mess.

File folding may not be the best option for everyone though! If the traditional stacking method is working well for you, feel free to stick with that. Or…

Don’t fold clothes at all.

When the boys were very small, some of their clothes were so tiny that it was a pain to fold them at all. In this case, maybe just stacking their items without folding may be your best bet.

I used this strategy for my boys’ undies for a while when they were younger. Their small size made them a pain to fold and they were always getting messed up anyway, so stacking saved me time and made more sense.

Kids room organization: Make the most of the space with stacking pantry bins.

Stacking pantry bins are one of my favorite organizing tools because you can easily see what you have. And you don’t have to unstack anything to get to the item you need!

We used these stacking pantry bins in a cabinet that the boys used to have in their dresser, but they could also work well at the bottom of a closet or on a set of storage shelves.

Add storage into the decor.

Especially when space is at a premium, we will want to get creative with the ways we add storage to a kids’ space.

Since I only had room for one nightstand in my boys’ room, I added some wall pockets beside my younger son’s bed for an additional space to store his stuff.

I was also sure to…

Provide hooks.

Hooks are great because they take less effort than a hanger. The easier we can make our systems for the other members of our household, the more likely they will be to follow through.

The boys use these cute airplane hooks in their bedroom to hold a jacket or sweatshirt they reach for often.

Take advantage of under-the-bed storage.

Without a system, the area under the bed can quickly become a huge mess! These storage bins make it easy to corral under bed items and tuck them out of sight.

Since it can be a bit of a pain to get to them, I like to store items under the bed that we don’t use frequently. These could be things like seasonal clothing and extra bedding and pillows.

Utilize open bins and baskets.

Our kids will be more likely to put items away if it’s easy to do so. Using un-lidded bins on open shelving allows them to toss their toys in quickly without the extra steps of finding the correct bin or unlatching and opening a lid.

We also use an open basket to hold extra blankets in our boys’ room, as well as an open round bin for their laundry. They’re definitely not perfect at it, but their items end up in the right place a larger percent of the time with less friction in the system.

Choose nightstands with drawers.

If there is room for a nightstand or two in your kids’ space, take advantage of the opportunity to add some storage at the same time. This also gives items a place to go rather than stacking everything on the nightstand’s surface.

Create an organized hat wall.

One of my favorite projects we’ve done in our boys’ bedroom is their organized hat wall! They’ve accumulated more and more hats as they’ve gotten older. These hooks make the hats easy to put away, and they look cute too!

Install a display shelf.

My kids love to collect little statues, figurines, and mementos. They had been piling them up on their nightstand and dresser, and it was driving me bonkers!

Eventually we installed this wall-to-wall shelf. It gave them a space to display their items but also limited the amount to a certain area so the room stayed less cluttered.

Maximize vertical storage.

Many kids’ rooms are on the small side, so when we run out of room for storage horizontally, we can go vertically!

This little art station in our boys’ townhouse bedroom used vertical space well and still allowed them to keep all of their craft supplies close by.

Bring in a rolling cart.

I love rolling carts because they’re an easy way to bring extra storage into a space, AND they can be moved out of the way when necessary. Rolling carts are great for holding books, craft supplies, games, small toys, and more.

Related: See even more ways to get organized with a rolling cart.

Try a bean bag chair for stuffed animals.

If you have a stuffed animal loving kid but don’t love the clutter they create, try a bean bag storage chair! It’s a great way for our kiddos to be able to keep their precious stuffed toys while tucking them out of sight in a useful seat when not being used.

My oh-so-creative blog friends are full of smart ideas for organizing kids’ rooms as well! Don’t miss these helpful organizing strategies…

Organized Kids Bedroom: Final Thoughts

Keeping kids’ rooms organized can be a challenge, but it’s not impossible! With smart systems that make it easy for kids to put things back where they go, their spaces will stay tidier and more comfortable for them too.

And when kids learn positive organizing habits from a young age, they’ll be more likely to stay consistent with those habits in the future. Happy organizing!

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Thanks so much for following along! Have a wonderful day!

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.