The Top 10 Mistakes Parents Make When Decluttering a Kid's Room (and How to Avoid Them!)

Decluttering a kid’s room can be a challenging task, and parents often find themselves overwhelmed by toys, clothes, and various items scattered everywhere. While the intention is to create a clean and organized space for their child, certain common mistakes can hinder the decluttering process. In this blog post, we’ll explore the top 10 mistakes parents make when decluttering a kid’s room and provide valuable tips on how to avoid them. Get ready to transform your child’s room into a clutter-free haven that fosters creativity and growth!

Welcome to my Year Long Thorough Declutter Series. We declutter 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Each day we do a daily task based on the room we are working on. Today, our task is to start decluttering your clutter in your guest room or kid’s room. If you prefer watching videos, check out my youtube channel here. Today, we’ll look at some tips for decluttering outdated decor’ plus 10 mistakes parents make when decluttering a kid’s room.

The best way to develop a new habit is by slowly and daily application. We will begin a new daily declutter habit starting with the 2nd bathroom. In the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series, we will declutter 30 minutes a day, five days a week on weekdays. Sign up to receive daily encouragement and motivation.

Plus, you’ll learn your specific daily task to work toward completing the goal of a Year Long Thorough Declutter where you will declutter every space and learn how to start to purge your house. Are you ready to finally get organized? If so, will you join us? Leave a comment below to subscribe.

If you are new to the blog, welcome! I blog about cleaning, decluttering, and organizing. You can find my free printables to help you get organized in the drop down menu under the Printables category.

Currently we are working on decluttering the Guest Room or Kid’s Room. The daily task for today, July 20, 2023, is to begin decluttering any outdated decor’. Remember, we are focusing on just the guest room or kid’s room area, so don’t declutter your whole house. We will cover each room separately. Now we will look at 10 mistakes parents make when decluttering a kid’s room.

The Top 10 Mistakes Parents Make When Decluttering a Kid’s Room (and How to Avoid Them!)

Mistake: Tackling Everything at Once: One of the biggest mistakes parents make is trying to declutter the entire room in one go. This can lead to burnout and a half-finished job. Avoid this by breaking the task into smaller, manageable sections. Start with a drawer or a shelf and gradually work your way around the room.

Tip: Create a decluttering schedule, dedicating a specific time each day or week to focus on a different area in the room.

Mistake: Not Involving the Child: Excluding your child from the decluttering process can lead to resentment or reluctance to part with their belongings. After all, it is their room. Not involving them may also result in items being secretly stashed away, undoing all your efforts.

Tip: Make decluttering a family affair. Involve your child in decision-making and encourage them to choose which toys and clothes they no longer need.

Mistake: Rushing the Sorting Process: Hasty decision-making during the sorting process may lead to important items being discarded or kept unnecessarily. Take the time to thoughtfully assess each item’s value and function.

Tip: Use the “Keep,” “Donate/Sell,” and “Toss” method to categorize items systematically. Encourage your child to think about when they last used each toy or outfit and if it still holds sentimental value.

Mistake: Overlooking Storage Solutions: After decluttering, parents often forget to implement suitable storage solutions for the remaining items. This can lead to a reaccumulation of clutter over time.

Tip: Invest in practical storage solutions such as bins, shelves, and organizers that cater to your child’s needs. Encourage your child to maintain an organized space by having designated spots for toys and belongings.

Mistake: Ignoring the Sentimental Items: Parting with sentimental items can be tough, but holding onto everything can lead to unnecessary clutter.

Tip: Designate a special box or memory chest for your child’s most cherished items. This way, they can keep important mementos without cluttering up their everyday space.

Mistake: Not Establishing a Regular Cleanup Routine: Neglecting to establish a regular cleanup routine can lead to a return of clutter in no time.

Tip: Encourage your child to clean up their room before bedtime or have a quick tidy-up session after playtime. Consistency is key to maintaining a clutter-free space.

Mistake: Storing Everything in the Closet: Stuffing everything into the closet to create an illusion of an organized room may make it difficult for your child to find and access their belongings.

Tip: Use the closet for essential storage, such as clothes and larger toys, but keep everyday toys and frequently used items in accessible bins or shelves.

Mistake: Not Considering Toy Rotation: Children can get bored with the same toys over time, but parents often keep everything out, leading to clutter.

Tip: Implement a toy rotation system. Store some toys away and switch them out regularly. This keeps the room fresh and exciting without overwhelming your child.

Mistake: Overbuying and Gifting Excessively: Parents often contribute to clutter by overbuying toys or allowing excessive gifts from relatives and friends.

Tip: Encourage friends and family to consider quality over quantity when gifting, and suggest experiences or non-material gifts for your child.

Mistake: Not Celebrating Progress: Finally, parents often forget to celebrate the progress made during the decluttering process.

Tip: Celebrate each milestone achieved, no matter how small. Recognize your child’s effort in maintaining an organized space, and reward them for their participation in the decluttering process.

I hope you have benefitted from these 10 mistakes parents make when decluttering a kid’s room. By recognizing and avoiding these common mistakes, parents can successfully declutter their child’s room and create a well-organized and inspiring environment. Involve your child in the process, establish a regular cleanup routine, and consider storage solutions to maintain a clutter-free space in the long run. Remember, decluttering is an ongoing process, so celebrate each step towards a more organized and joyful living space for your child. Happy decluttering!

I personally have a bad habit of placing items that need to be donated in the laundry room behind the door. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Wrong. Delaying decisions means we still need to declutter.

Maybe you have a habit of delaying decisions, too. Let’s decide today where your decluttered items need to go. Do they need to be donated? Disposed of? Don’t delay that decision any longer. If they need to be donated, sort and put them in your vehicle. Then, make a note in your calendar to drop them off at your favorite charity.

As you are decluttering your items, I want you to try not to just move them to another room. You may be tempted to do that. However, resist the urge to keep everything. Decluttering means we actually part with these items. Otherwise, assign those items a permanent home where you can best utilize them.

Advanced Strategies to Declutter Your Kid’s Room

1.Only spend time on your specific daily task.

2.Do not get side-tracked or distracted.

3.Work within a time of day that you have the most energy and stamina. This is one of the most useful declutter motivation tips. Listen to your body and work at decluttering when you feel the most alert and energized.

4.Avoid thinking too long about whether to keep or discard an item. This is one specific way for How to Be Ruthless When Decluttering.

5.Avoid cleaning during your declutter. The goal is to purge the dead weight. Getting rid of the clutter is your priority. Cleaning can be accomplished later. Read on for more declutter motivation tips and my room specific deep clean checklist, though, as you will begin cleaning after your declutter.

Advanced Strategies to Declutter Your Kid’s Room

Supplies Needed:

1. boxes -preferably ones you can donate (Avoid plastic storage bins because you may be tempted to just store the items and not part with them.)

2. sturdy trash bags

3. marker/pen to label boxes

Decluttering Tip: Avoid using storage bins to declutter. Storage bins tend to tell your brain to “store” the items for later. That is just delaying decisions. If you aren’t getting rid of items when you declutter, you are not truly decluttering. This is why I recommend a trash bag, also. A trash bag tells your brain to “trash” the item.

Obviously, recycle if you have that option. The boxes you use should be ones you are willing to part with, so I recommend sturdy cardboard boxes. As to donations, there are many charities that will come pick up your items for you at your home.

I use one in particular where you can book an appointment for pick-up online. This is so convenient, as it saves you the hassle of hauling stuff away yourself. Scheduling that pick-up also motivates you to declutter by a certain date.

Steps & Strategies to Declutter Your Kid’s Room

1. Start by eliminating trash first- use a sturdy trash bag

2. Sort items by category if needed so you can see what you have

3.Get rid of items that don’t work or that work poorly, expired items, anything you don’t love, anything that you’ll never use again

4. Box up the donations and trash/recycle the rest

5.Select a charity to donate your items and schedule the pick-up if that is an option

How Do You Declutter Your Entire House (and get it deep clean?): Need to deep clean?

First, My How to Deep Clean Your Kitchen list can be found here.

Second, My How to Deep Clean Your Bathroom list can be found here.

Third, My How to Deep Clean Your Kids’ Rooms list can be found here.

Fourth, My How to Deep Clean Your Living Room list can be found here.

Fifth, My How to Deep Clean Your Bedroom list can be found here.

You can get your printable Daily Housekeeping Routine and Deep Cleaning Your House Schedule here. This 15 page printable kit is delivered digitally to your email for you to print and personalize. What Does a Deep Clean Include? It includes a daily schedule, calendar pages, and deep cleaning checklists for every room and area of your home. Check out the link above to see a sample page of what you’ll get in my printable set designed to help you create your personal Homemaking Checklist.

Also, you can get the complete digital printable copy of the Year Long Thorough Declutter Series Calendar and Checklists here. The printable digital download is delivered to your email. It includes 25 pages of printable calendar pages and checklists to help you declutter every room in your home. You can find that here.

New to deemiddleton.com and don’t know where to start? I recommend going in this order:

Step 1: Check out this post on the 1st step you should take to get organized. If you don’t have a calendar, you can grab my free weekly printable calendar page here. It is in my shopify store, but it is totally free, so you won’t be prompted to put in any payment information. It is a free download and will be delivered straight to your email.

Step 2: Create a daily Housekeeping Schedule. You can use this series to start to set up your own schedule. You can also use this simplified weekly schedule.If you often ask: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Or, if you struggle to get organized and have tried and failed time and again, you can likely find out which of these 11 reasons cause you to fail to get organized.

Step 3: How do you remove clutter? How Do You Declutter Your Home?.…Sign up for the Declutter Series and get your entire home decluttered in just 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.”Declutter Your Home” checklists are provided in each email.

Step 4: What is the fastest way to clean a dirty house? Use a timer and use the Deep Cleaning Checklists above. They will help you get your home sparkling after you’ve decluttered.

Interested in becoming a full-time blogger like me? Check out my blogging series. At the top of every page on my blog, you’ll find a drop down menu. Just select the BLOGGING category.