Christmas is coming, which means parents everywhere will be thinking about maximising the space in their home to make room for extra guests, decorations and hopefully, whatever Santa brings on Christmas day. I always feel overwhelmed by Christmas day by the sheer volume of stuff and people under my feet, and by the time it’s all over I’m desperate to clear the decks and put everything away again. But what if you could get ahead of the game and stay on top of clutter by getting some of the everyday chaos out of the way right now? One way to make more space is to have a clearout of your children’s toys. Even those they don’t play with any more but don’t want to get rid of because of the sentimental value. That’s where children’s storage beds can be a parent’s best friend.
This post is in association with Bedstar and I have been paid for my time in creating it.
Children bring clutter – clever storage can help
When my kids were little I never seemed to be able to find enough space to put things. Having a child means bringing a whole raft of new items into your home, and I found as a new mum that there was never enough space in their rooms for all their toys, books and clothes. Which meant that it all encroached on my own living space, and I was left to relax on my sofa each evening with a nice view of the latest train set layout, or a giant jigsaw puzzle half completed on my carpet. So like most mums, I started looking for storage solutions that would help. One of the things I found to help just a little bit with the chaos was a cabin bed; if you’ve never owned one, let me tell you, it’s a fantastic solution to increase storage space in your child’s room.
Get more storage space with childrens cabin beds
Children’s cabin beds are a great option for getting some of the clutter that’s in a child’s bedroom out of sight. Clever storage compartments get toys and books off the floor, and drawers under the bed can even be used to house bed linen or clothes to keep everything looking just a little bit tidier. Children will feel special about having a grown up bed, and heaven knows us parents can use all the help we can get when trying to stay on top of things in the house. Some cabin beds even have space built in underneath for kids to create a den to play in with their friends, or where you could put in a desk for somewhere they can do their homework.
Tidier bedrooms make for less stressed kids
And it’s not just parents who have a lot to gain from a cabin bed. Children also benefit from having a bit more storage space in their rooms. Did you know that decluttering and tidying lowers your cortisol levels? Lower cortisol levels are associated with calmer children, whereas being surrounded by clutter can increase their stress hormones. Learning to tidy up with a parent is a life skill your kids will thank you for in the long run, as it’s a self-regulation tool that they can rely on for the rest of their lives. It makes sense to get this skill into your child’s way of working early, believe me, as it’s difficult to stay on top of bedroom chaos once you have teenagers!
Choose an ottoman bed for older children
I bought an ottoman bed for my daughter as part of a room makeover I did for her 11th birthday. She wanted a double bed, and a move away from the pink fairy theme she’d grown up with as a young child. We painted her room teal, installed fitted wardrobes with full-length mirrors (for the fashion and makeup styling she was now interested in) and added a small sofa where she could hang out and read a book, or feel like a grown up with her friends.
By this time she was too old for some of her baby toys (in her mind – I would have had her playing with her dolls house till she left home!) and she certainly didn’t want to sleep with the 100 or so soft teddy bear toys she’d accumulated over the years. It didn’t matter to her that most of them were dubious-looking characters she’d picked up from the school teddy tombola, I still couldn’t make her part with them. So I looked at ottoman beds to kill two birds with one stone. Off went the plush toys to live safely under her mattress, along with a few Barbie dolls and some Playmobil she couldn’t bear to lose.
It was such a breath of fresh air to see her room decluttered and neat that I ended up buying an ottoman bed for my spare bedroom too. It now houses all the blankets and spare pillows we’ve accumulated over the years, plus the duvets that aren’t in use for half of the year. Each season we just raise the mattress (there’s a power mechanism that helps lift the top part of the bed easily), fish out the summer or winter duvets, and pop last season’s bedding back in. The rest of the time, you’d never know they were there. Which is bliss for me, because the amount of stuff we own never seems to get less, even once the kids are older!
So there you have it. A nifty solution to all the clutter that arrives in your home once you have kids! I’m also pleased to reassure you that those much loved teddies aren’t just abandoned to the bottom of the bed now that my daughter is 18. In fact, I noticed that the biggest of them all came out from under the mattress just last week when she was in need of a cuddle with an old friend.