Bringing order to kids' chaos

We've all seen it: the house that's overrun with kids' stuff because the kids run it.

Disorganization is everywhere. The rooms are like an obstacle course filled with video games, dolls, bats and balls.

With the kids out of school for the summer, the clutter is bound to multiply.

So why is this happening? And what can you do about it?

"I think more parents are both working and hypertasking more," says Christopher Lowell, the TV personality and author who has a new series, "Work that Room with Christopher Lowell," on the Fine Living Network (www.fineliving.com).

"Kids are rewarded more, and part of that reward is toys end up everywhere. It seems that the more successful parents are, the more toys are cluttering the home. Toys used to be just upstairs; now they are upstairs and downstairs. I think parents feel as guilty about working as hard as they do."

Who's in charge here?

Child psychologist Dr. Jeff M. Bauman agrees some blame can go to the parents. Both parents working outside the home may mean less supervision.

"You can't get mad at the kids if you don't supervise them," he says. "If you see kids taking over lots of the area, they are in charge of the family. And that's not the way it should be."

Parents can try to change messy behavior by providing the proper tools to get organized and by being good role models, he says.

"The children have to have a place for everything," Bauman says. "Each evening they should spend 15 minutes to police the area."

Parents should also compliment kids when they pick up after themselves.

"Say something like, 'Thank you for picking up your shoes. That really helps me.' Soon the kids will be picking up after themselves without you having to ask them to do it."

Knowing their places

Lorrie Browne, an interior designer who started a self-help design Web site (mydesignsecrets.com), says the biggest problem she sees is a lack of a specific place for kids to put their stuff.

She suggests clients use everything from bins on rollers to lockers by the door the kids use most often. She also likes open shelves with cubbyholes that can be used to stow baskets or colorful bins for their toys and games. When the kids grow up, most of the bins can be removed and the shelves can be used for a TV, books and other things.

"When kids get older, they are often not fond of sharing the space with siblings," she says. "The blame game starts about who didn't put what away. Name tags, color coding or distinct cabinets separate the space for accountability."

Small-space solutions

Lowell agrees that children need designated areas like they have in preschool classrooms.

And, yes, you can do it in a small room. Lowell suggests building shelves wall to wall and floor to ceiling. Fill them with bins. Or you can float the bed and surround it with bookcases.

One good example of how to organize a room with limited space comes from Lowell's "Seven Layers of Organization" (Clarkson Potter, $19.95). The featured project was a room shared by two toddlers. Lowell says children need to feel equal and need common, well-defined study and play areas.

The beds, which extended into the room, ate up space, so he repositioned them against the wall. The bookshelves, which were too high to reach, were replaced with lower, more accessible shelves, and storage was added under the beds. Lowell and his team selected Legos as the theme and used a palette of bold, primary colors. The "dots" on the "Legos" were made with 1-inch slices of a Styrofoam tube.

To give the boys privacy, bookcases separated their beds, which are resting on Ikea's Lack shelving units that were laid on their side.

Teaching moments

Bauman, the psychologist, offers solutions for two common problems:

• Laundry all over the house? Don't pick it up, and don't wash it. When your child runs out of clean clothes, he will learn the lesson. Try putting a basketball hoop over the laundry basket.

• Too much stuff? Have a clean-out party and get rid unused toys. Pack them up and go with your child to a charity where he or she can see the good the gift did.