How to Keep a Teenager's Room Tidy

Tidy and teenager are two words that wouldn't commonly come up in the same sentence. While it is no secret that teenage bedrooms often appear disastrous, the true disaster lies behind their closet door. When asked to clean their rooms, most teens will simply dump all of their mess in their bedroom closet, instead of actually taking the time to place things where they belong. The first instinct of many parents is to scream their lungs out until their children give in and decide to clean their space in the right way. While screaming matches can be effective, there is a much simpler solution ... organization.

Organization may seem like common sense to adults, but teenagers are not in the same frame of mind. Teens will never take the time out of their day to map out a closet organization system, unfortunately, the task will fall on your shoulders. The good news is that mapping out a closet organization system for your son or daughter is quick, simple and most of all an effective strategy in keeping your teenager's closet tidy.

The first thing you will need to do is to draw a picture of the closet. Once you have your drawing, you will have to assign a function to each usable space. It is obvious that the clothing rod is used to hang clothing, but have you thought about the unused space on the floor? If the closet has enough space, place a shoe rack on the floor. Shoes laying all over the closet floor are the bulk of mess in any teenager's closet. By placing a shoe rack on the floor, you don't give your teen a chance to create a shoe jungle on the closet floor, they are now forced to place their shoes nicely on the rack.

Most closets have a shelf right above the clothing rod, if your teen's closet has this feature put it to use in the most efficient way. Shelf dividers are inexpensive and easy to install, but don't underestimate the power of a little division. Shelf dividers are a closet's best friend because they don't allow your kids to just throw their jeans and shirts on the shelf and walk away. Since shelf dividers don't make it easy to shove unfolded clothes on the shelf, the divider literally forces your teen to take the time and fold their jeans and t-shirts and place them on the shelf.

If you have a daughter, chances are that her closet is jam packed with purses, long necklaces and scarves. Hooks are a necessity for a teenage girl's closet. Hooks make it easy for your daughter to throw her scarves, bags, and necklaces on the hooks rather than on their closet floor. The key to keeping a teen's closet tidy is to make the process simple for them. By making it no more time consuming than it would be to throw their shoes on the floor and fling their t-shirts to the top of their shelves, you are guaranteed a cleaner closet.