16 Kids Room Organizing Ideas to Keep You Sane

emily henderson kids bedroom — Design: Emily Henderson Design, Photo: Tessa Neustadt

Sometimes, when it comes to your kid’s room, it’s a win-lose situation. In order to prioritize storage, you lose sight of any personality and fun. But if you prioritize personality, the floors are covered in Legos before you can even think twice.

But what if we told you there was a way to have it all — in a way that keeps the Legos away from your poor, unexpecting feet but lets your kid have easy access to everything they might need for play time. It’s all about finding smart solutions that never sacrifice on style. To save you the pain and time of trial and error — and to prevent yet another tantrum of tidying-up-time-gone-awry — we gathered our 16 favorite storage solutions, plus a few of the products you need to achieve a state of organized bliss. Ahead, get inspired to clean up that mess of toys and books once and for all.

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Put Books on Display

If you’re not too careful, books have a tendency to take over every single nook and cranny in your kids room. Secure to the wall in sturdy racks that keep the book titles on display and right within reach for your kiddos to pick out before bed time.

IKEA FLISAT Wall Storage $15.00

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Trust the Labeling Process

In our humble opinion, every kind of storage is better with a label. For the kid that’s aged out of symbols and pictures for their toy bins, label them with simple words and make sure to give everything a place of its own — yes, including Peppa Pig.

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Tote Things Up

Make storage easy and make cleaning up even easier. Personalize a few totes with your kid’s favorite toys. Bring them down when it’s play time, then toss everything inside and hang them back up when it’s quiet time. Simple as that.

Monogram them with the name of each child or divide by activities by labeling them as "homework" or "sports."

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Frame off Areas

You don’t always need a completely different room to designate play space from sleeping space. Sometimes, all it takes is an empty picture frame. Yes, really. Here the frame sections off the craft corner from the bedroom, complete with art supplies and a few masterpieces.

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Repurpose a Photo Ledge

There are fewer things we love in decor more than a good upcycle. Take this picture ledge. Sure you can keep it as a way to display your favorite works of art, or you can move it down to toddler height and use it as a way to store your kid’s favorite craft books, art supplies and their own works of art.

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Keep Toys Within Reach

Nothing is quite as terrifying as the idea of a curious child mountain climbing up the side of your furniture to retrieve their favorite toy. Prevent a disastrous tumble by hanging all your toy storage in baskets that are close to the ground. The key ingredient: rails and s-hooks, that make unhinging baskets a pinch for little ones.

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Color Coordinate

If you’re looking for a hyper aesthetic way to organize, especially for kids who can’t read labels quite yet, we highly suggest color coordinating bright toys and objects in clear acrylic organizers. Just make sure to put everything back or it could get out of order (and we mean fast).

iDesign Clear Linus Divided Turntable Clear $25.00

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Put a Peg in It

The best part about peg boards is that you can easily rearrange the pegs as your needs grow and change. One minute: it’s a way to store spare bottles of baby powder, the next it’s an area for all their favorite knick-knacks.

Autumn's Corner Premium Pegboard with Solid Oak Frame $95.00

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Wheel Around the Supplies

Sure, one day you might’ve told your kid that they’re only allowed to color on the kitchen table, but before you know it, your entire house will turn into an art studio. Keep art supplies close by at all times with a wheeled cart.

Made By Design Three Tier Metal Utility Cart $35.00

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Create Cubbies

Sooner or later, your kid will probably encounter cubbies at school. Take the same mentality home by creating areas for each kid to hang their jackets, store their spare mittens and put their backpacks. Mornings: hacked.

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Make Toys a Decor Moment

Sometimes, toys are just too pretty to leave hidden inside storage containers and baskets. For the ones you want to highlight, put them on full display, lining the tops of storage units and decorative shelves. Bonus points if you can coordinate the colors of your toys with storage.

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Stuff Away the Stuffed Animals

If your kid happens to collect stuffed animals faster than cold symptoms during flu season, this solution is exactly what you need. The creative bean bag chair zips open to provide a place to toss plushies. Then, zip it up and, voila, it’s the perfect reading nook.

Creative QT Stuffed Animal Storage Bean Bag Chair $27.00

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Utilize the Closet Door

No matter how much you think you might need for your newborn baby, there’s always more: more bottles, more diapers, more toys. And with so much to have on hand at all times, it can be hard to find storage that tackles everything. Add storage to closet doors so you can keep things nearby without causing excess clutter.

Elfa White Door & Wall Rack $110.00

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Slide It Out of Sight

Never underestimate the space under your kid’s bed. It can be such an area of opportunity, especially for the toys the grab often. Use foldable crates that are lightweight and resistant to tumbles.

Hay Foldable Crate $9.00

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Make It Wall Art

With so many toys, games, clothes and books floating around, adding art and decor to the equation can feel daunting. But there’s no need for canvas artwork when you can just use what you’ve already got for an art moment. This mustard storage unit houses compartments for all your favorite toys, giving them a place of prominence in any room — plus it's in the shape of a house, which just adds to the decor.

Ferm Living House Wall Storage $55.00

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Do It (All) Yourself

If you’re fairly familiar with wood panels and a hand saw, DIY exactly what you need. An adventurous kid? Cut up some sturdy wood for an inside treehouse with drawers for toys. More of a homebody? Make a faux house that doubles as a desk with cubbies.

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