The Secret to Encouraging Your Teenager to be Tidy
They sleep a lot, leaving very little time to help out on the domestic front. Right? Wrong
Think your living space will never ever be as neat and tidy as the ones below when you have a teen (or two, or three…) throwing a spanner in the works? Here’s a simple (and hopefully argue- and stalemate-free) five-step plan to help the minors in your life get mess-free.
2. Supersize their storage
You don’t want to give your teen any excuse for why their school uniform is sprawled out on the sofa downstairs, so fitting enough storage for all their paraphernalia is key. Don’t have the budget for introducing more storage right now? A simple hack that can work wonders for stopping uniform-gate is allocating a single hook and hanger to the back of their bedroom door. Just make it clear that’s home for their uniform.
A quick shout-out has to be given to the study space and en suite in this room. If you give your (very lucky) teen their own ‘studio’, they will hopefully keep all of their belongings in there and not anywhere else in the house. If your teen’s sleep space is big, this can be achieved by putting up stud walls.
Take a look at these smart over-bed storage ideas
You don’t want to give your teen any excuse for why their school uniform is sprawled out on the sofa downstairs, so fitting enough storage for all their paraphernalia is key. Don’t have the budget for introducing more storage right now? A simple hack that can work wonders for stopping uniform-gate is allocating a single hook and hanger to the back of their bedroom door. Just make it clear that’s home for their uniform.
A quick shout-out has to be given to the study space and en suite in this room. If you give your (very lucky) teen their own ‘studio’, they will hopefully keep all of their belongings in there and not anywhere else in the house. If your teen’s sleep space is big, this can be achieved by putting up stud walls.
Take a look at these smart over-bed storage ideas
If their room is on the smaller side, even just adding a compact sofa will give the vibe of a studio. Hopefully by treating your teen to a grown-up space, this will have the affect of making him/her act like one – cleaning up and being houseproud (one can only hope, right?).
3. Bring on the baskets
(and boxes)…
And, yes, definitely more than one of each. In the living room, for instance, you can have a big basket for the jumpers and jackets they take off when they come in from school, and then a few smaller ones for all those headphones, earphones and chargers. That way, you won’t have those unsightly balls of wires cramping your style. And you’ll want a box for all their school books that would normally end up cluttering the dining table.
There needs to be a basket (a laundry one specifically) in the bedrooms, too. The rule will be that dirty clothes will only be washed if they are in the laundry box (not on the floor). A few episodes of no clean underwear or socks and they’ll make sure everything is in that basket.
See these stylish containers for a clutter-free home
(and boxes)…
And, yes, definitely more than one of each. In the living room, for instance, you can have a big basket for the jumpers and jackets they take off when they come in from school, and then a few smaller ones for all those headphones, earphones and chargers. That way, you won’t have those unsightly balls of wires cramping your style. And you’ll want a box for all their school books that would normally end up cluttering the dining table.
There needs to be a basket (a laundry one specifically) in the bedrooms, too. The rule will be that dirty clothes will only be washed if they are in the laundry box (not on the floor). A few episodes of no clean underwear or socks and they’ll make sure everything is in that basket.
See these stylish containers for a clutter-free home
4. …and a tray
Want to put an end to dirty bowls, plates and mugs gathering under beds? Getting the teens in your life a tray like this one can help. They just need to pile their crockery and cutlery on it and bring it down to the kitchen. You can come to an agreement of doing this once a day – this tactic will hopefully make it seem that the task isn’t too much of a chore.
Want to put an end to dirty bowls, plates and mugs gathering under beds? Getting the teens in your life a tray like this one can help. They just need to pile their crockery and cutlery on it and bring it down to the kitchen. You can come to an agreement of doing this once a day – this tactic will hopefully make it seem that the task isn’t too much of a chore.
5. Create a place for everything
If you want to make it really easy for your teen(s) to be tidy, try to ensure they have a home for all their bits and bobs. We’re talking shoe racks for their shoes, and baskets and boxes as mentioned before, but also try tables with drawers so they can sweep the surfaces clean in one fell swoop. Hooks in their room or in the hall to hang up their bags, and even something like these brilliant large-scale bulletin boards to keep their school schedules and notes organised and neat, are all smart moves.
Check out these amazing shoe racks
If you want to make it really easy for your teen(s) to be tidy, try to ensure they have a home for all their bits and bobs. We’re talking shoe racks for their shoes, and baskets and boxes as mentioned before, but also try tables with drawers so they can sweep the surfaces clean in one fell swoop. Hooks in their room or in the hall to hang up their bags, and even something like these brilliant large-scale bulletin boards to keep their school schedules and notes organised and neat, are all smart moves.
Check out these amazing shoe racks
Keep it fun, not serious
On a final note (and not part of the 5-step plan), most teens won’t stick to the new tidy routine all of the time, but it’s definitely a move in the right direction to help them clean up their act (no pun intended!). They also don’t typically respond well to commands, so it’s important to allow some leeway and to be more relaxed, for instance, about the state of their room. After all, your teen is an individual and he or she may just be less neat then you and that’s OK. A gentle reminder that they need to respect your views on a happy (and organised) home is the way to go.
Read more:
10 Bad Habits That Are Making Your Home Messier…
Tell us:
Have you managed to put your teen on the neat and tidy track? Let us know and share your tips in the Comments below.
On a final note (and not part of the 5-step plan), most teens won’t stick to the new tidy routine all of the time, but it’s definitely a move in the right direction to help them clean up their act (no pun intended!). They also don’t typically respond well to commands, so it’s important to allow some leeway and to be more relaxed, for instance, about the state of their room. After all, your teen is an individual and he or she may just be less neat then you and that’s OK. A gentle reminder that they need to respect your views on a happy (and organised) home is the way to go.
Read more:
10 Bad Habits That Are Making Your Home Messier…
Tell us:
Have you managed to put your teen on the neat and tidy track? Let us know and share your tips in the Comments below.
This is definitely a good place to start. It may sound obvious, but the fewer things they have, the better the chance you have of achieving a tidy home. They might not want to go down the charity shop route, so get them on board by suggesting selling at least a few shoes/games/coats, etc, online. There are lots of apps available (just ask them), which means that with a few simple clicks on their smartphones you will have got rid of a lot of clutter (and they will have gained some pocket money). There’s probably no way you’re going to convince them to get rid of that pesky games console, so do what the homeowners have done here and make a house for it under the TV.