Small kids room

[meetoo]

Does anyone have any ideas/websites with pictures of how to set up a very small kids room? I have a 3 bed apt with 3 kids. The kids bed rooms are tiny. 8x8/8x9. I have 2 girls sharing one room and my son in the other. We will be here another 1-3 years. I would really like to get the bedrooms functioning better. Right now they are a mess all the time. :( 

My 2 DD's (age 8+3) are currently sharing the 8x9 bedroom. It's very tight.  We have bunkbeds, but they are kinda large, I've been debating getting a set from IKEA instead. Even if I could shave a foot off it might be worth it... We have one large dresser, but I really kind of need 2 in there. There is also small closet, a hamper, and a nightstand in there. My youngest keeps all her toys downstairs, my oldest has a HUGE stuffed animal collection that she loves and I have no idea what to do with. Other then that she doesn't have a ton of toys.  There is also not a lot of wall space. The bed is against the only plain wall. The other wall has a double window, then the other one has the closet. The last wall has the door. 

My sons room is slightly smaller. I think for him a loft bed would do the trick, not sure the ceilings are tall enough though. He has a HUGE lego collection that is currently being stored downstairs, but I would love to get in his room. I also would like to make a homework area for him. He has attention problems and it can be hard to get him to focus in the main areas of the house. 

Oh, and needless to say we are on a budget . Anything we can make/refinish/get cheap is ideal. 

[PenelopeJune]

I need help in this area, too! My 4 year old daughter and 6 year old son share a bedroom, and it functions as their playroom, as well. Well, in theory it does. In reality, it is one huge messy crapheap that no one wants to play in.

Have you checked Pinterest? I've been trolling Pinterest for days for good ideas. Use the search function for variations on 'kid rooms'.

[basilico]

When my brother was young he had a bed (loft bed?) that had a small ladder built in on the side by the foot of the bed and a desk that pulled out from the side by the head of the bed.  When the desk was pulled out, the whole thing made an L shape.  You could also crawl under the desk and bed which we would play house in.  (It wasn't built as a playhouse but since there was the space underneath and we were kids, it turned into a one).  There was a little book niche in the side as well.  I'm sure they make things like this still but you could probably build one fairly easily or repurpose something like an entertainment stand or solid kitchen table, or both together!  Fit a smaller entertainment stand under a kitchen table, build up the sides on the table for the bed, add a hinged wood slab for a desk that can be propped up. 

Maybe for the girls you can have drawers under the bunk bed that pull out?  They could even just be the rubbermaid type pull out drawers.  Depending on how high the bed it, it could be one deep drawer or a few drawers. 

Just brainstorming... :)

[meetoo]

Oh pinterest is a good idea. I had my sister over to help me brain storm and she also had a loft bed she isn't using!!! SCORE! I think I can do my sons room for under 40$ and make it cute. I'm starting today. :D

The girls room is trickier.....I think no matter what I do it's going to be squished..... I'm going to seriously declutter the toys that is in there and see if that helps at all. 

[greenemami]

We have 3 kids with 2 similarly sized rooms too-I am actually in the process of repainting/reorganizing to make better use of the space now!

For your dd's stuffed animals, have you seen those nets or chains that hang from the ceiling for stuffed animals? I am considering getting one, though I'm not sure where I could hang it yet where it wouldn't be either a strangulation  hazard or climbing risk for my newly 2-year-old!  Otherwise, perhaps you could put some shelves up in the room to display her favorites?  I am also hoping to get a couple of tall bookcases for each of the rooms to hold both books and baskets of toys, etc, to hopefully prevent clutter.  You probably already know that these tiny rooms look SO dirty and cluttered with even a few things out and it can get really frustrating really quickly. 

Another idea, if the closet is big enough (mine are not) could you put some storage in there? I.d. those plastic drawer bin things might work for some toy storage or maybe even socks and undies? Or add another low closet rod for your littlest one's clothes to eliminate the need for another dresser?

[meetoo]

Greenemami: Good to hear someone else in the same boat. It's soooooo hard to keep the rooms clean. It's really hard to organize because they are so small, then when 3 things get left out it looks a mess!  I thought about a net for her stuff animals but I have no where to hang it. :(  I really am stuck on their room. I'm going to put a shelf in the closet and declutter the rest of the toys and see what happens......

I did start on my sons room and I'm almost done! I took out a full bag of garbage, a bag of clothes to donate, and 2 bags of toys to donate! I have all his clothes in his closet now. I put one very small dresser in there for sock/undies/jammies then I have the rest of his clothes on one of these hanging things

Hopefully it works. My DH is on his way to pick up the loft bed. I'm going to set up all his lego's and an table to work on under there..... I need to buy some spray paint to paint his shelf to match the new bed and some new baskets to put on the shelf.  I'm so happy it's ending up much cheaper then I thought. All I really need to buy is some spray paint, some baskets for his toy shelf, and something to store some books on the bunk bed......I'll try to remember to post some pics when I'm done. 

[basilico]

Meetoo, what luck that your sister had that loft bed!  Definitely post some pictures when you get everything set.  I'm sure a lot of us could use inspiration and ideas for organization!

[daisymama12]

I put a dresser IN the closet in my sons room, and that saves a lot of space. All clothes are in the closet. 
If you can't find a dresser that fits right get one of those wire basket things on wheels, or stick shelves straight on the wall. Closets have a lot of space that can be used below the hanging clothes.

[meetoo]

It was such a blessing she had the bed! Saved me 130$. 

I still have some spray painting to do then I will share. 

[meetoo]

Ok for the girls room I was going  to store all the toys/hamper in the closet, but now I'm wondering if I might be better off trying to fit all my oldest DD's clothes in the closet instead and taking the dresser out. It might feel bigger if I did that. Maybe I could store toys under the bed? Not sure it will be worth it......

[holidaymama]

Do you happen to have a linen closet between the bedrooms? When we were in an apt, we used the linen closet for toys and the hallway just ended up being a little play area with their kitchen and work bench.

I am a huge fan of keeping a dresser in the closet. We have done that since we added a second child. Our boys have always shared a room, and we now have the ikea metal bunks which are pretty small. What about two lofts in an L shape for your girls so that they could play?

What if they all slept in the same room and the other was for playing? Just a thought.

Good luck!

[oldcrunchymom]

Put all the clothes in the closet and ditch the dresser if at all possible.  Put the stuffed animals in one of those ceiling nets.  Use the space under the bunk bed to store stuff in the flat bins.  If you can, run shelves along the upper parts of the walls (so they don't take up floor space) to put things on.  PURGE at least twice a year.  My kids' rooms were the same size as yours (actually my son's room was even smaller!) and those are some of the things we did to keep them usable.  My son had a loft bed with a desk underneath and that helped a lot!

[EarthyMamaofDaisy]

My kids share one of the tiniest rooms ever.  We have an Ikea metal bunkbed and they keep their stuffed animals on it.  Under their bed are the bins of duplos and those little Sterilite plastic snap on lid containers with different categories of toys.  In the closet is just enough room for one of those bookcases that can hold the fabric square bins.  We have my DD's dresser and on top she stores her fairy colection.  We also have one of those 3 drawer Sterilite dressers for misc other toys like Hot Wheels track and the Littlest Pet Shop buildings go on top of that.  My DS has a little plastic dresser in our bathroom because all the room that's left is for them to play in.

[meetoo]

my sons room came out so cute! He loves it! Just waiting for DH to hang up his rings, then I will take a few pictures. I have not even started on the girls room......I'm really going to try to get the dresser out though. Not sure what else yet.....

[mommy22IN]

I'm in the same boat, but my kids are younger.  My DD is 3 and my son is 14 months so I have a toddler bed and crib.  they share 1 dresser, but don't have a closet so everything is in their dresser.  I've found some ideas on Pinterest that I like, but still don't know how to organize the room for them so its not a mess all the time. 

[meetoo]

Originally Posted by mommy22IN 

I'm in the same boat, but my kids are younger.  My DD is 3 and my son is 14 months so I have a toddler bed and crib.  they share 1 dresser, but don't have a closet so everything is in their dresser.  I've found some ideas on Pinterest that I like, but still don't know how to organize the room for them so its not a mess all the time. 

My kids shared a TINY room at that age. It was about 8x8 and one TINY (did even have a door more like a few shelves in teh wall). We also had very limited storage in general there. What I did was get a bunch of those wire shelves from Lowes, they were very inexpensive and can be cut to size. I hung them all around the room. If I recall I had 3 layers of shelves. It was ugly but very functional. it housed extra clothes, most of their toys, art supplies, etc. The kids slept in two toddler beds and then there was a small dresser. They really didn't play in there, but it functioned as a sleeping/storage area until we could move somewhere a bit bigger. 

[meetoo]

I have some pictures if anyone wants to see PM me. Also it's been almost a month and he is keeping his room fairly clean!!!