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Tag: Kids room

Zipit Bedding® is fun and easy + a Zipit Bedding® Giveaway
*The Zipit Bedding®, information, and giveaway have been provided by Ontel. All opinions are my own.

So it turns out this is National Make Your Bed Day. Officially an unofficial holiday. I could not find where the holiday started, or why, but anything to get the family making their beds more. I’ve tried so hard to teach the kids to make their beds. I know it’s such a simple thing, and so easy to skip – I do it too! – but it’s a great beginning to a good daily routine.

Despite my desire for nicely made beds that include a fitted sheet, a flat sheet, and a nice quilt on top – the kids have had other ideas. One child likes to sleep in ball of blankets and sheets. One despises the flat sheet on top. One sleeps with the 2 sheets, but usually in weird ways, making it difficult to make. Finally my little Prince came along. He doesn’t fight the flat sheet, actually enjoys it, and sleeps fairly calmly at night. He enjoys his bed made, but it’s kind of hard for his little hands.

I decided we’d go ahead and give the Zipit Bedding® a try. I’d seen these before, and thought it was a pretty novel idea. My kids of course love sleeping in sleeping bags, and that’s what the Zipit reminds us all of. The difference is it’s tailored to their bed, with a fitted sheet. It’s also got pockets on the side for keeping special bed time items
- toothfairy money
- reading light
- notepad and pencil
- hotwheels cars. our current hidden treasure
Now the we’ve tried the Zipit Bedding® for about a month, I’m seriously considering getting the Princesses each their own as well. It would make bed making a lot easier in the triple bunk.

Do you enforce made beds, or let it slide?

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ends 9/18/2015

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September 11, 2015
A trip to Ikea

*This post may contain affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Home Maid Simple!*

Last Saturday I decided to head to Ikea. Mark had to work like every Saturday, so I invited my sister to tag along. It was their BYOF – bring your own friend – day after all. I was really looking forward to some workshops with other bloggers, and getting some much-needed items for the kids bedroom.

Specifically, on my list was a new laundry basket. I finally had enough of their little 1 ft by 1 1/2 ft basket overflowing after one day. Before going to Ikea, I checked out some hampers on Wayfair, but I just wasn’t sure without seeing them in person.

Plus any hamper that has a price tag like this one had better wash and dry my clothes as well!

It took us way too long to get out of the house, but we finally made it to Ikea around lunch time. So we started by grabbing some absolutely delicious lunch. The kids enjoyed some chicken strips and fries, my sister ordered beef ribs that looked amazing, and I had the Atlantic Saithe.

We were hoping to make it to the cooking demo after lunch but it took us a little longer to eat than we planned, and then we got distracted trying to find the workshops.

I seriously loved this room set up…but definitely not with all the white and small kids.

OK so we finally made it to the workshops in time to see Melanie and Steffany from Find It, Make It, Love It. From the papers description I wasn’t expecting the craft to be something I would necessarily want – birthday calendar and candle plate picture frames. BUT I was seriously wrong.

Just look at those picture frames! This turned out to be exactly what I was looking for for a photo project I’m working on – post on that sometime next week. These gals are so cute, and are full of so much creativity I wish I had!

After we finished up these super simple craft tutorials, we headed over to the next workshop with Autumn from It’s Always Autumn. I didn’t get a great picture during this one, but I did learn some great tips from her. Especially on the props part. I was easily able to translate a lot of what she was saying for photo’s of people to my food photography. I just don’t need quite as much space when I’m working with food. In fact, if you saw the Oscar Eggs Benedict yesterday, the plate that’s on I bought while at Ikea…and it’s actually a candle dish!

Finally we made it out of the workshops and displays – does anyone else get lost in Ikea? – and headed downstairs to the purchasing area. We picked up a number of things, including the candle dishes for the pictures and a new bath mat, before finding the laundry baskets. YAY for awesome laundry baskets!

Don’t act so surprised, I get excited over weird things like laundry baskets. Things that make my life simpler, my families life simpler, and our house more manageable are cause for joy and excitement. I mean just look at the difference between these two.

Now normally I will not spend money on something for the home that I can get at a fraction of the cost if I sacrifice look. This time I decided to sacrifice cost and get something a bit nicer. Not only did it make a difference in the dirty clothes being an eye sore, but it set the tone for the rest of the girls closet.

The kids have been playing with their toys, and PUTTING THEM AWAY ever since I got the laundry basket and reorganized their closet. They can reach their toys to get them out and put them away. It’s been 5 days, and their room has taken a total of 5 minutes each night to clean up. A huge difference from our normal hour of whining and hiding messes under the bed.

Like my new laundry hamper? Ikea’s BRANAS Laundry Basket for $39.99.

Don’t live near an Ikea? I found a very similar Wicker Basket on Wayfair. It’s a set of 2 and only $51.99.

March 13, 2014
Tips for Kids Sharing a Bedroom

Not every home has the space for kids to have their own bedroom. If you’re one of those families, check out these tips for kids sharing a bedroom in this guest article from Nicole at Confident Foundation. This post contains affiliate links, and I will receive compensation if you make a purchase after clicking on these links.

These days it might seem that having a room all to themselves is a right of passage for kids just as soon as they are born, or at least as soon as they get old enough to ask for one. There are many advantages to having children share a room, however, even when you have to tackle challenges like having a boy and girl together or fitting everything into a small space. Here are the best tips to make the most of a small, shared room to maximize the potential and minimize the bumps!

Store and Organize Vertically

In small rooms, floor space is especially tight, and if you’re needing to fit in two beds it becomes even more so. Of course, there’s always the old standby of the bunk bed that you can turn to, but often when children share a room they’re too young to be sleeping in a bunk.

One of the best ways to store and organize vertically is by utilizing bookshelves for far more than books. Bookshelves can be used to store toys, books, games, and with the purchase of a few baskets even essentials like diapers and clothes! You’ll be amazed at how much more clean and open the room feels if you add in a few large book cases. Far better than huge toy boxes, with shelves things are easy to see and access, making it much more likely that they will actually get used. Be sure to secure them to the wall with brackets, not just straps, in order to ensure the safety of your little monkeys! You might also consider having a small step stool in the room to help them reach high shelves, rather than climbing on the case itself. Another option is to secure many different shelves to the wall at different heights.

Take Full Advantage of Closets

When it comes to children’s clothing when you hang them up they are considerably shorter than adults and leave a lot of empty space underneath. Be sure you’re taking full advantage of this space by also thinking vertically in the closet! There are a couple of different ways you can do this–for example:

In my son’s closet, I again took advantage of shelving options by adding in a small case and storage bin. On the side of the storage bin are sacks with all their blocks. This is a great place to store things like games, puzzles, doodle pads, and more! Since in my daughter’s closet I don’t have as much empty vertical space I turned to boxes. Using two empty cardboard boxes we did a few different craft projects and created a dress up clothes and dress up accessories trunk. It keeps all the tutus out of the way most of the time, and gives me an easy way to haul them out into whatever room I want when it’s dress up time!

Maximize Your Space Options

When you’re considering how to tackle storage for clothing take stock of what you have available. If you have large closets and one dresser, hang all the clothes that you possibly can. If you have the opposite hang only clothes that would get wrinkled easily. Store all the rest in drawers or on shelves.For the clothes that you have in drawers and baskets, roll them — don’t fold them! You might have learned this trick for traveling but it works just as well for everyday life too! It’s amazing how many more size 4T pants you can fit into a drawer when they’re rolled rather than folded and piled on top of each other.

Store extra blankets, out of season clothes, and clothes that are too large for the moment underneath beds.

Less Really is More

When you have little space to work with embrace simplicity. It’s far too easy to allow the room to become overly cluttered and chaotic feeling. Box up any toys that aren’t currently being used and loved. Set a reminder in your calendar to swap them out in 6 months. Teach your children of keeping only things that they loved and enjoy. Each time you rotate toys help them pick out any they would like to donate or sell. This also applies for books–although it might be hard to think you could have too many books they can quickly overtake a room. You can always take advantage of your local library to continually have fresh books in your home without it eating up all your space.

Let Them Express Themselves

Let each child have at least one “wall” for themselves. On it you can hang decor they like or that fits their personality. Although gender-neutral colors work best when you have a boy and girl together, they can still use their favorite things without it clashing. For example, walls themed with flowers are a nice offset to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. The most important thing is to let them have a space they feel is all their own–and less about making it to the cover of Better Homes and Gardens.

About the author:

Nicole Elliott is the girl behind Confident Foundation (previously Wyoming Girl turned…) where she blogs about Organizing in Small Spaces, Parenting, Recipes, Travel, Beauty, and whatever else tickles her fancy that day! She has moved cross country 6 times in the past 8 years and her two children have successfully shared a variety of small rooms since her son was born in 2010.

February 27, 2014
Tips for Personalizing a Teens Room

Hi! I’m Lisa from Shine Your Light, where I blog about home improvements, food and family life. Thank you Adelina for having me over here today!

My kids are growing at the speed of light and I suddenly find myself the mother of two teenagers and a tween. They each have such distinct personalities and since we moved to our current home three years ago I’ve had fun creating spaces for them that are functional and also reflective of them. I am a huge believer in the power of paint to completely change the feel of a room, and to breathe new life into old things, and in decorating the kids’ rooms I am always looking for ways to repurpose what we already have.

My daughter Hannah is like her mother – she loves to create and make a big mess. When she’s working on a school project the glue, glitter, markers, scrapbook paper and every other art supply in the house are spread far and wide. Likewise with her clothes and shoes – she is very visual and likes to see how this pair of jeans would look with that shirt – some days it looks like a tornado made a quick entry and exit through her room before 7am. This girl needs all the help she can get to keep her space organized. When we pulled her room together I kept in mind how she works and gave her lots of open storage space for clothes and art supplies by taking the doors off her closet.

Our house needed a lot of cosmetic love but one huge bonus were these built in shelves the previous owners installed. Tons of potential to keep a messy marvin more organized!

We had already chosen the room color from our one splurge for the room – a throw pillow from PB Teen that I bought on sale a few years back. There are so many fun colors in it and Hannah decided she liked that turquoise blue for the walls.

When it came time to spruce up the closet, I showed Hannah a few paint colors for the inside and let her decide.

The hot pink was a little shocking at first, but seriously, how could a kid be in a bad mood in this room?

Once we filled it up the hot pink-ness wasn’t so dramatic! The open shelving provides tons of space for art and craft supplies. The boxes on the second shelf are just cardboard boxes that I covered with scrapbook paper, and threaded a ribbon through the side for a handle.

I spray painted white just about anything I could find to store all her “things” in. One of Hannah’s favorite parts of her room is a big chalkboard that I painted a border around, and then added a little shelf at the bottom to hold chalk and catch the dust. Her friends write on it every time they come over and it never gets old.

Hannah’s room doesn’t always look this tidy, but it’s easier to clean up a room and put things away when there is a place for everything right in front of you. Hannah and her friends spend a lot of time in this space, doing their homework together, braiding hair, doing nail art, having sleepovers. I love that they hang out here!

Hannah will be in high school next year (I can hardly believe it!) and we have been talking about ways to make her room a little more “mature”. I’m on the hunt at thrift stores and Craigslist to find a cheap office chair I can makeover into something like this – wouldn’t that be fun?

Over the course of my 15 years of motherhood, in 4 different houses along the way, I have learned a few tricks for creating a space that is both functional and fun for kids.

1// Let your child have a few choices. Give them a few paint colors to choose from that you can live with too.

2// Keep the curtains and comforter/bedspread neutral and you can get years out of them, even as your child grows and their tastes change. Hannah’s comforter is from Target and is still going strong after being bleached countless times! Her white curtains are also from Target. We added ribbon to them with a hot glue gun, which will be easy to remove in the future.

3// If your child wants some kind of theme for their room like Spiderman or Tinkerbelle and you are theme-resistant, buy sheets and a pillowcase with the theme on them. The room won’t scream “theme” but the child will be so happy!

4// Provide plenty of storage that is easily accessible. Even a 2 year old can learn to put their socks or toys in a basket, and a 15 year old boy is more inclined to put his football uniform on a shelf marked football. 🙂

Here are some other ideas for creating a cheerful and happy kids’ space:

1//Spice rack repurposed as nail polish storage at Sweet Caroline. 2//Make a colorful banner to cheer up a space/ image source unknown. 3//Use Christmas lights to make a fun light garland, from Rebecca’s DIY. 4// Change up plain curtain panels with ribbon. 5// What’s more fun than your mom letting you write all over the walls? /image found here. 6// Tissue paper pom poms are inexpensive and easy to make!

Thanks so much to Adelina for inviting me to talk about kids’ spaces with you today, it’s been so much fun!

February 26, 2014
Tips for an Inexpensive Kids Bedroom

Grab these quick actionable tips for an inexpensive kids bedroom. This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you click through and make a purchase.

Hey everyone, I’m Steph from Crafting in the Rain, and I think it’s so fun that Adelina has asked me here to share my girls’ room with you!

I almost feel like I should give you a couple of disclosures before I jump in here. What I’m going to show you is not a high end, designer bedroom shopped from a catalog. It’s also not a knock-off, DIY, cheaper version of previously mentioned $$ bedroom. I have my fair share of complaints about the room even…(eventually we want to scrape ceilings, replace carpet and baseboards, paint everything, and I wish it was bigger)

BUT, I feel like this can be a very useful post because I’m going to show you how we are using the space the best we can, and with cheap or free storage solutions that anyone should be able to come up with. Additionally, these pics were all taken with my phone because by the time I thought about getting out my real camera, the girls had come home from school and it didn’t look quite as good anymore 😉

Ok, here we go.

Storage solution 1: Boxes, boxes, boxes

In the girls’ room we have boxes from Ikea, magazine file boxes, random cardboard boxes that have been decorated with colored Duck Tape, shoe boxes, and a few plastic boxes. When possible, use boxes with lids so they can be stacked.

What they hold: small toys, craft supplies, “treasures,” school papers, jewelry

Storage solution 2: Wall mounted bookshelves

Use as much vertical space as possible in a small room (I’d like larger shelves here soon) I made these bookshelves a few years ago when I first started blogging, so the pictures aren’t great, but here’s where I posted about them. The bunk was also against this wall, so the placement isn’t ideal now.

What they hold: Books that the girls are currently reading, journals.

Storage solution 3: Bookcase

There are two bookcases in the room…one at the end of the bed, and one turned on its side under the wall shelves. At the end of the bed, most of the before mentioned boxes hang out. The sideways one has 3 baskets in it that hold the majority of the girls’ books. The baskets keep the books more contained than just trying to line them up next to each other.

What they hold: Boxes, books

Storage solution 4: Use under bed space

Remember having to clean your room as a kid, and you’d get busted for just shoving stuff under your bed? I say set your kids up for success and use that space! There are several options too…you can build your own wood boxes with wheels, buy plastic under-bed tubs, or take cardboard boxes and cut them down shorter so they fit!

What they hold: Littlest Pet Shop, Barbies, houses and cars that go with them.

And in case you’re interested, here is the tutorial for the ruffle curtains.

So thanks for having me Adelina! I hope I’ve given you all some good suggestions for taming kids’ rooms. What are your tips for keeping kids’ rooms organized?

February 25, 2014
Organizing Chaos with Thirty One

WOW! What an honor to be doing a guest post for Home Maid Simple! Adelina asked me to do a post about home organization, using Thirty-one products.

A little about me, My name is Rachael. I am a Thirty-one Independent Senior Consultant. I have been with the company for over a year and it was one of the best choices I made. I am married and have 4 boys here on earth. I am an advocate for pregnancy and infant loss awareness since I lost a baby boy and my only daughter in 2009. They were both born still in consecutive pregnancies. Through their loss I have become a stronger woman and I strive to break the silence among the PAIL community to let other women know they aren’t alone.

One of the things I love to do is help women pick up their lives after a loss, and one of the best ways to do that is bringing organization into their homes. Giving them something they can control when they feel like they have lost it control over everything. Of course it is not just the bereaved who need organization in their lives! We all do! Organization is such a beautiful thing! It makes life easier, makes the chaos at home a little less crazy in the busy lives we live today.

Who doesn’t love a well organized home? How many times have you looked at that play room or the kid’s closet or under their beds and thought to yourself “I sure wish I had a way to make that look pretty. It’s such an eyesore!” Trust me in a house full of boys I have uttered that same thought more times than I can count! I mean I love my children dearly, but organization is NOT their strong point! So I set out to get my home together. One room at a time.

One of my favorite Thirty-one products for home organization is the Your Way Cube. And now you can even get a lid for it! That makes it even more awesome! It comes in several patterns and you can personalize them too. They fit perfectly inside the Ikea cube shelves. We also have a slightly smaller version of the Your Way Cube called the Your Way Cube Jr. It also has an available lid. This is great for smaller spaces, smaller toys that you always seem to step on in the middle of the night on your way to the bathroom in the dark…..

There is also the Your Way Rectangle. I organized my entire DVD/BluRay collection using these. And they too have lids available now! Having the lids on them is so great because I don’t have to dust them! Score! Less housework for me, which means more time for my kids! 🙂 Adelina here…isn’t that brilliant! I wish we had done that before packing them into cd sleeves.

There are SO many great products in super cute prints that Thirty-one has to offer! Whether you want to organize your pantry, your home office, your play room, laundry room etc. I can help you find a solution and bring beautiful organization into your life! I promise once you tame the chaos that disorganization brings into your home, you will see a difference in your day to day. I have kids who are on the Autism spectrum and while they do not do well at organizing, they do thrive when they are in an organized environment. And you will LOVE the power that you feel when you take that room back! If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me through my Thirty-one website.

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Isn’t Rachael amazing? I honestly look up to her so much. With all the trials and heartache she has had to endure, Rachael focuses on helping others. We held a Thirty-one party on facebook that was a ton of fun! You can go check it out and read through the different posts for more ideas. We learned all about home and car organization. Follow this link if you’d like to help me earn some free products!!

As part of this series on Children’s Rooms and Organizing, Rachael is sponsoring our giveaway this week! Thank you so much Rachael.

February 24, 2014
Dreaming of Kids Rooms

I decided to start my new year off with a room makeover for the kids. I haven’t actually tackled anything in there yet, but it is the first home project I’ll be doing this year. It seems every time we move, we have to completely revamp our toy storage and organization system.

I’ve spent a lot of time just staring at the girls room, and trying to figure out what I can do to make it work for all of us. The kids get so overwhelmed when it’s time to clean up, because in order to get something out, they usually have to pull out every toy to find what they want.

I have some idea of how the room is going to look when I am done, but that’s just

Just a quick sketch of the layout I’m planning.

I’ve been browsing online for more ideas of room setups, and toy storage. Here’s a couple I’m going to try and recreate.

I love this Stuffed Animals on Velcro idea! I found it on Pinterest, and haven’t been able to find a direct source for it (if this is your photo, please let me know!) If I put a strip above each mattress the kids can sleep with their stuffed animals, and keep them off the floor. It will make bed making easier too.

On my sketch the doll house is sitting right inside the door to the room. I found this doll storage again on pinterest (no credit again), to hang over the door. Giving them quick and easy access to play with and pick them up.

I’ve had this lazy suzan shelf on my pinterest board for awhile now. I think the girls would really love having this in their reading area. The cork board provides a place to hang all their art, and school projects.

Source

In my email early this week, I got these fun tips from (affiliate) Zulily that I also loved. Tip #1 is my biggest need! Easy access of the most used toys!

I can’t wait to get started in the girls room! Of course we’ll have to go through all the toys and clothes first, and get rid of any old/broken/unused items first, then we’ll have fun putting the room back together.

What are your tips for kids rooms?

January 15, 2014
Princess’ Room

This is the room I was dreading! But I finally made it in, and am pretty happy with the results! I seem to have lost the before pictures, but take a look in your kids bedroom and I’m sure you can imagine what this looked like with 2 toddler girls living in it!

Under the bed everything went in boxes and then were labeled. We have blocks, trains, baby dolls, little dolls, and barbies

beds made and floor vacuumed!

toy drawers organized, but they still need labels – bottom has animals, middle has balls, and top is all the miscellaneous toys that don’t have a place.

books on the bookshelf, and dresser cleaned off.

shoes in a wonderful shoe rack from IKEA. large toys in closet, musical instruments out of reach!

Stuffed animals and only stuffed animals in the big bin. Dresses gone through, and too small ones removed.

Fun kitchen play area! I really like this area (although it’s hard for me to get in and clean) because it allows the Princess’ to pretend like they are really in their own kitchen, and their imagination flourishes!

The last thing I did in here that is not visible go through all the girls clothes and boxes of clothes. We put a box together for storage for Princess V, and then moved Princess V’s clothes to Princess C’s drawers, and then pulled out stored clothes for Princess V. It was lots of work, and sometimes had to be redone (I had some “little” help). But I am so excited for the organization in there. Last night, lots of toys were all over the place again, but because everything had a place, clean up was 3x’s as fast as it has ever been before!!!

December 13, 2010