I can not believe that summer is coming to an end and the kids are all going back to school. I know the weather will be great for several more months so I hope you enjoy this time of year! Also if you are sending your kids to college for the first time or they will be graduating soon, I am sure you have thought about converting your kids room into an office for yourself, a reading room or another sibling has claimed the room now!
When your kids go off to college you want to make sure that they know they still have their bedroom to come back to but you want to organize and declutter their room since they do not need all of the items in their room. Here are a few tips and ideas for you to organize and convert your college kids bedrooms:
- Before your kids go off to school, I hope both of you were able to go through and clean up their bedroom while they were packing up the things they need for school. After they leave, go through their room and do a thorough cleaning of their room. If there is any furniture that is damaged or no longer needed, this is the time to dispose of it or donate the items if you feel it could be used by someone else.
- Organize and collect the items that you and your kids feel is memorabilia and put them in clear plastic bins. Label them for example as “John’s memorabilia”. This will not only help with organizing their bedroom but it will save you from dusting all of the items!
- Now that your kids are adults and off to college, I feel this is the time for them to take ownership of their items. What do they feel is important? What do they feel they can let go of? This is a major step in their lives and I know many of them are ready for the change and the challenges of college. The quote of “less is more” is very important here!
- As you go through the bedroom, you may find dishes and silverware that you have been missing due to your kids took some food to their room and the dishes disappear there. Or you find items that the kids say that they lost and after you organize the room, you find them. And my favorite part of organizing is I always find money! The kids and parents are excited for the find and they say organizing is fun!
- One of the most important ideas here is to make sure that your kids feel like this is their home and their room but is now organized and cleaned up. I have worked with many families with kids who have left for college and have returned for breaks and they LOVE their “new” rooms and really appreciate all of the work and organization that was put into their space.
When I help families to organize, declutter and set up a new space in a college kids room, I make sure that all of the family members are in agreement on how we handle the change. This is a great time to also use the 8 month rule of storing the items away or packing them up and moving them out of the space. And at the end of the time, if the items are not needed or wanted, consider disposing or donating the items. Especially after the first year of college, their high school years will seem like a million year ago!
I hope you all have a great fall season and if you have any questions or need help moving forward with the project of converting your college kids bedroom into another space, please contact me and I would be happy to help!