Aging Up & Organizing Your Kid’s Room

Do you suddenly have a teenager living in your home? Then it’s time to update their room!

There comes a time in every mom’s life when you realize that your little kid isn’t a little kid anymore. With that comes a need to update and reorganize their room:

• Picture books give way to chapter books
• Board games and puzzles get edged out by electronics
• Shoes get bigger, skirts and dresses get longer

. . . . it’s time to redesign their space and make this room fit for a teen!

A room is everything for a child – especially a teen. In that safe haven, they explore adventures in reading, discover their taste in music, and build close bonds with visiting friends. They turn to their closet to evolve their style. The room also needs to focus their creativity and learning to develop their hobbies and tackle that homework.

Every kid is different, and needs a new room that reflects their growing personality and independence. A room makeover can be a great activity to do with your teen. There are many ways to approach it, so take some time to share your plans and ideas.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are five examples from recent room makeovers Cary Prince Organizing did. May they inspire you to set your teen up for success at home and in life!

Case #1: My Own Teen!

I am currently going through this process with my own teen. Together, we conducted a major edit of his library, slashed through shelves of board games and puzzles, and did a deep dive into his cubbies of treasures from his earliest years of childhood. It was a fun walk down memory lane!

A good first step is to review together which items – books, games, etc. – your child has outgrown.

This room makeover is still a work in progress because my son’s decided he wants to add special lighting and get new furniture. However, what has been done includes:

• Transitioning most of his clothes from folded to hanging
• Switching out children’s hangers to adult ones
• Clearing out those drawers of all those small clothes, and
• Aging up his drawers and shoe shelves, giving his larger shoes a proper place

Case #2: The Closet Refresh

Closets are a natural place to start with updating your kid’s room. Sometimes the closet just knows it’s outgrown its use and is in need of a refresh.

Before

After

In this case, we:

• Raised the rod for the clothes
• Introduced baskets to contain more seasonal items, and
• Added smaller bins to contain all those teen girl accessories

In Process

Useful tip: Throughout the room, reconsider how shelves and drawers can support your older child. Determine and label with a sticky note the purpose of each shelf and drawer according to what your teen needs, whether it be storing school uniforms, making extra room for those blue jeans, or incorporating new spaces for electronics.

Case #3: The Multi-Purpose Closet

For another client and their teen, we had an expanded, dual closet to work with. In these cases, you can designate one area for storage and give another area a more functional purpose. Here, my team and I completely overhauled the closet, gave the teen much more hanging space, and even added a vanity so she had her own special place to get ready.

When revamping closets and storage areas, I love using modular closet systems that can grow with your teen as they get taller and clothes get bigger. Below is a peek inside how my team and I remodel a closet. Once we attach the wall brackets, then we install the hanging rack, shelves and drawers. The components are easy to move around, including shelves that can be placed higher or lower to reconfigure the space. We finish off by covering up the bracket holes for a sleek and polished look.

Case #4: Decluttering and Relocating

Kids like collecting small items. While aging up a room, you may find that your child is ready to part with several items, but many little items often remain.

Before

Part of aging up a room involves corralling the little toys and tchotchkes, arts and crafts items, as well as beauty and grooming items (hair bands, cosmetics, etc.). With a clutter-free space, your teen can have a haven for themselves and their homework.

After

For this teen, the room now feels more open and spacious after we organized and stored her treasured possessions in less prominent areas.

Case #5: Repurposing Childhood Items

Sometimes tweens and teens are ready for a more sophisticated room but still want to cherish many childhood books and toys.

After

In this final example, we helped age up a room for a tween by finding creative ways to honor his favorite possessions, while still establishing a clutter-free zone. We introduced labeled bins for storing his toys and tchotchkes, and freed up space on his desk, making it a more inviting area for homework. Also, a mounted wall shelf is a great way to corral those favorite books.

I hope these examples inspire you with new ways to update your own kids’ rooms. I’d love to know how your aging up process is going. If you have any questions or comments, please share them in the comments section below.

Also, to view these room makeovers in greater detail, check out this video >>

Wishing you and your teen much success in “aging up” their room!