There are tons of kid storage perks with this box (or set of boxes).

• Boxes stack together
• Boxes can be rolled as a tower
• Large interior and colorful exterior
• Extra storage compartments
• Zippered side pockets
• Tags can be inserted into holders so your kids (and you) can identify the contents

Learn more about this Haba box.

[Image via Maukilo]

Post from: Blisstree

Haba Kid Storage Box

Now, room dividers don’t work in every space. You obviously need a space that’s large enough to occupy a room divider. Also you need to have your furniture set up in a way that can accommodate the divider. That said, if you can manage a room diver can really work wonders to split spaces, provide privacy, and some even contain extra storage perks.

Here are some basic room divider tips:

• The younger the kids the sturdier you need. Frail dividers and kids just don’t mesh. You may need to do some handy work and attach a divider to a wall.
• For older kids try for thick layered dividers or dark colors. These block some light from nighttime reading or homework, plus offer even more privacy. Or at least the illusion of it.
• Don’t try to use items not meant for room division as room dividers. No one needs a bookshelf falling on them in the night. Actually if you live in an earthquake prone area it’s really wise to attach any stand alone item like a room divider to the ceiling with chain hooks. (I used to live in Cali).

Some ideas for little siblings: Note that as your kids grow, these dividers will need to be changed out for older kids more developed decor tastes, but in the meantime these are really cute.

Tri-Panel Room Dividers in white board and chalkboard styles. Short, no large topple over risk, and way fun.

Playhouse Prop: This is less privacy based and more sectional in nature. You can have your children’s beds on one side and their play area on the other. A great fun way to divide up space in a larger shared room. The pictures below show front and back views. As you can see their is some nice built in storage on the back side. Plus, you could add more.

Quiet Dividers Sound Absorbing Space Divider: I love these. These flexible dividers come in short and tall, block sound, and have easy magnetic attaching. Basically you buy them as panels. Best of all when used in a curved design, no extra support is needed – they’ll stand fine. They come in a variety of colors as well. The pistures below show them in a playroom – classroom setting, but they’d be great in a bedroom.

Ideas for older kids:

Arc Top Photo Screen Room Divider: Earlier on, this works well for art projects and later it’s perfect for teens and all their friend photos. It comes in black, a cherry red, and honey as well as natural shown below.

This Case Study 420 Storage Unit is my favorite. Mod, but not too mod, and all that storage is awesome. Plus it has a nice older kid feel to it – not a baby divider at all. You have to call to learn more, but what it looks like to me, is that it can be customized with shelving on either or both sides. This would make it work two sided for both siblings.

Ideas for all ages:

Nomad from MIO is something I’ve been obsessing over for a while and it would make a stunning room divider. It’s a green option, made from recycled, double-wall cardboard, and is utterly cool. Here’s MIO’s description:

“Nomad is a modular architectural system that can be assembled into free-standing, sculptural screens, temporary partitions, rooms or even displays without hardware, tools or damage to existing structures. Available in nine colors, Nomad can be arranged into open or closed configurations; creating private environments or light and airy dividers. The Nomad system can be configured to create entry-ways and corners, easily adjusting to any indoor space.”

Color Options include: Olive Green, Grass Green, Forest Green, White, Slate Grey, Dark Grey, Ochre, Orange and Red.

Take a look. It starts out like this…

And goes to this…

Last up are the very good looking screens from dVider. These are customizable white room dividers. There are a multitude of easy to mount, removable vinyl decals to choose from. Really your design options are endless. Following are some custom designs from their gallery, but note, you choose the decal so your divider can match any decor. If you’re really feeling nice, your kids might enjoy a few decals each, to swap out once in a while.

Visit dVider to learn more.

Ok, that covers room division. Next up some nice storage options for kiddos that share a room.

Post from: Blisstree

Youth Room Dividers for Shared Bedrooms

Besides our killer night games, I hated sharing a room. My sister was a total mess and I’m the type who alphabetizes books and CDs. Our space was small, and there was never any privacy. I loved music at night, she’d cry and cry if the stereo was on. My fave game as a little was to go to my grandma’s house and pretend her guest room was my real true, all-to-my-self abode.

It doesn’t have to be torture though. Had my mom put any thought into our space we maybe would have been ok. My mom put zero thought into our space and that’s probably why at the age of ten I stuck fat tacks in the eyes of my sister’s Billy Idol poster – I was that mad.

The upside is I spent years thinking it over and I have some ideas about space devision that might help your co-rooming littles.

From a previous co-rooming kid – what we HATE: (otherwise known as what you the parent should be thinking about)

• Having matching sheet sets – rooming together does not make us like-minded.
• Sharing a bookshelf, rather than having our own.
• Being blamed for what is clearly not our mess, even though it is in our room.
• Having to turn off the light when we still want to read or turn off the music when it helps us sleep.
• No clear closet division.
• No privacy to get dressed.
• When you’re banned from your room because you bunk with a younger sibling who has an earlier bedtime – this pretty much cuts you off from all your stuff. Why not just go to bed too?

With that in mind here are some tips about what you can do as a parent:

Ask your kids advice about decorating. Siblings usually have some sort of plan about what might make sharing a room better. The type of beds they want, shelving, colors, and more – try to involve both of them.

In addition to the above, don’t ignore what sounds like an insane request. For example, my sis and I had bunk beds. When I was 13 my sis and I realized that a lot of our fighting came from both of us wanting the top or bottom bunk at the same time. We begged for and finally received a whole other bunk bed set. That might sound nuts to you, to put four beds in one room, but it seriously calmed down our fighting. We had a tiny room too – we didn’t care about the extra floor space as much as having our own beds.

Set real ground rules. Sharing becomes highly overrated when you share a room. I shared my whole space, why should I also have to share my stuff. Make rules surrounding each child’s items. Just because they’re items in a shared room does not mean that the kids shouldn’t have to ask each other to use said items.

Bedtimes are tricky. Honestly I suggest having kids close in age room together so that if your household has set bedtimes they can be the same set bedtimes. Being banned from your own room at 8pm is really lame. Another option is to keep some extra toys and books in another place, like a cabinet in the living room. This technique is also useful if you have one child who gets up at the crack of dawn, and another who likes sleeping in.

Allow sharing siblings some time apart, or time together in another room. My mom used to let one or both of us sleep in the living room from time to time. Sometimes we’d both want to and other times one of us would use the bedroom to full capacity while the other watched movies all night. It provided a good break.

Deal with habit issues: If one kids likes to read or listen to music, get them some personal equipment so that they don’t bug the other sibling. You can get inexpensive personal reading lights that attach to a bed, or ear buds for a music lover.

Set privacy boundaries before your kids have to bring it up: Before your kids even mention it, you should set a decent amount of morning privacy time. Either give each a very nice bathroom time slot, or better yet, allow them each a set bedroom privacy time slot. Like, little Bob gets the bedroom from 7-7:30 and Kyle from 7:30-8. I don’t know the perfect age to start allowing some privacy like this, (not a doctor) but I know that personally, I would have liked this from at least the age of 7 or so on. I also know that I hated that I had to even ask – hence the you take care of it before the kids bring it up deal.

In the next post we’ll look at some cool organizing products for kids who share their space.

Post from: Blisstree

The Hardest Organizing You’ll Ever Do – Sibling Shared Room Organizing