In part 6 of our series, large family organization tips we are going to look at the girls room…

In this room, we have four girls sleeping in here.  We had a few different bunk beds over the years, one with a double bed on the bottom and a single on top.  That way we could fit a couple of little ones on the bottom, while having an older one sleep on top.  I never liked that set up, I wanted each girl to have their own beds with their own special places.

 In our household it is hard to keep anything that you don’t want others to touch, especially the babies.

I wanted to make sure that we incorporated a special spot for each of the little girls.

The teenage girls have moved down into the basement, they didn’t want to be sharing a room with the younger girls, which is fine, we just are not going to be doing any pictures for their rooms.   They need their space, especially in a household this size.  It is hard to get away from little ones always being around.  The basement was a nice choice for some solitude.

Again, I thank my ingenious husband for his awesome ability to visualize what I want and then build it from scratch, no plans.  Amazing man he is:)

We came up with these quadruple bunk beds.  They are heavy duty and super durable.  We will be having these bunk beds for the rest of our lives.  You can climb, hang do whatever you want and they are absolutely not going to bend or break.  A requirement for this large family household.

As far as making beds around this household, we make it as easy as possible.  We use a plastic sheet to cover the mattress for all little children, then use a fitted sheet and a comforter to cover up with.  Makes it much easier to make the beds with little ones. Plus if someone has an accident, it is much easier to wipe a plastic sheet then try and clean a mattress.

As for integrating a personal space,I wasn’t sure how to make some sort of shelf for each girl.  Then when I made my “less than $10 ledge shelves” I knew that was what I wanted for their rooms.  We don’t keep any toys in their bedroom, as I would be cleaning it up all day long.  I allow each girl to keep their “personal favorites” on their shelves along with their purses, favorite books to read, and money.  Dad likes to give his change to them and I like to pay them for special jobs.   They in turn use their money for “treats”  sometimes one will buy a package of gummy worms to share, or  they have even bought a  $5 pizza while out doing some running for everyone to share.  Nice, giving girls.   

We don’t store any clothing in this room.  Can you imagine a room for 4 girls how the closet must look if I sent them to get their own???  For the younger half of our family I do have a family closet for their clothing.  It made things easier for me when they were all little, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up on the laundry,if I was delivering it to many different rooms.

The only other thing in this room, not pictured is a television.  I keep nothing else in here.  For awhile we were storing their doll houses and pieces in the empty closet, but since I have grown tired of a daily messy room.  We moved the doll house down to the basement to play with down there.  This room actually stays clean for the most part.  Amazing.  I just remind each girl every morning, to pick up any toys that are theirs or they will end up in the trash.  Most of the time they are quick to pick them up.  It just takes doing a routine and them getting older.

How do you go about simplifying your bedrooms to the bare minimum and simplify cleaning?  You have to ask yourself, and your children maybe, do you really want to spend the majority of your time each day cleaning up that stuff?  How much time of our day is wasted picking up things that don’t have any place in our lives?  When there is too much of things in a room, it gets spread around, trampled on, lost, and can just be a big pest.  With fewer things, the stuff is enjoyed more and usually better cared for.  It is easier to manage a few things that a lot of things.

When my first set of children were young, I never followed this rule.  I had their rooms all decked out with all the neatest toys, all arranged neatly.  They had porcelain dolls lined up on shelves, train sets under their beds, and toy boxes filled with toys.  And do you know that I spent most of my days, cleaning up their rooms and it seems that they more just made a mess instead of playing with their toys?  Now that I have my next set of children, I give them a small box of toys and they play much more contently with just those toys.  Clean up in their room takes about 30 seconds of my time.  But a plus of having very little toys is that it is easier for them to pick up their rooms.  I could of never asked my 2 year old to clean their room when there was toys jammed into every corner, that was overwhelming for any person.  But a room with one box and I say place all your trucks into the box, turns it  into an easy task for a 2 year old.

Start today, bless others with your stuff.  Everything that you own, ultimately belongs to God.  How materialistic have you become?  Are we utilizing the gifts, money, that God has given to us wisely?  Do we feel the need to spend it on toys and material possessions that are not pleasing to God? Materialism in our culture is a constant battle to fight.  We need to redirect our paths and purpose in life to serving and blessing others instead of accumulating for ourselves.

Up next….the little boys room