How to Clean a Kid’s Bedroom

It can be overwhelming for an adult to walk into a messy kitchen or living room and know where to begin. If your goal is to end up with a clean kitchen, what should you do first? Get the dishwasher going? Wipe the sticky jelly residue off of the counters? Go through the pile of mail taking over half of the table? Imagine how difficult this process is for your children when it comes to their bedrooms. You might have a Neatnick Nancy, or you might have a Messy Marie on your hands. If your child resembles the latter, she often lets her bedroom get out of control and then has no idea where to begin when you admonish her to clean her room. If this describes your child, here are some tips on getting her bedroom clean and tidy.

When everything is a mess, there are no categories of items. Instead of separating items by where they should go, try this strategy instead. All garbage in the room will go inside of the trash bag. All of the dirty clothes in the room (including clothing that you are unsure is dirty or clean) go into the laundry basket. The rest of the items littering the floor, desk, bureau and bed will go into one of two boxes: One is labeled “bedroom,” and includes only items that actually belong in the bedroom itself. The other is labeled, “house,” and in that go the items that belong elsewhere in the home.

If you are helping your child, and you probably should be if it’s messy enough to need this type of intervention, assign her one small area to focus on. For example, have her work on the items thrown on top of the dresser, while you work on the items stuffed under the bed. For every item that you touch, place it in one of the four containers as described above. Once one of you finishes an area, move on to the next area. This will help to reduce the distraction that occurs when one is zigzagging all over the room.

Once you have everything off of the floor and surfaces, it’s time to give them a cleaning. Sweep hardwood, mop tile and vacuum carpet. Also, go ahead and dust the bureau and desk. Vacuum out drawers if you are including these in your decluttering session.

Tie up the garbage bag and put it outside. Place the basket of dirty clothes in the laundry room, and start a load of laundry if you don’t already have wash going. Now go through each item in the boxes, starting with the “bedroom” box. As you go, discuss with your child where each item should reside. If you notice that she does not have enough storage space, make note of what you might need in order to remedy the situation, and write it down. Next, go through the “house” box, zipping through the house to put the items away.

If you need bins, baskets, boxes or stackable totes, now is the time to go and get them. Label everything and finish putting the items in their new storage areas.

Expect your child to keep her room up to this new standard of cleanliness. Inspect her bedroom every evening before bedtime and insist that she put her items away before retiring for the evening. Every weekend, go in and take a close look to make sure that her items are put away properly, and not just tossed in any bin that happened to be handy. When you have a child who tends to allow clutter to build up, you need to stay on top of the situation until she is able to monitor it on her own.

Good luck with your child’s bedroom! Remember that teaching her good habits now will go a long way in allowing her to use these skills as she grows up and moves out of your home.