Room
Kids Bedroom
A child's bedroom is the first space someone gets to run themselves, so every hook, rod and bin in here has to work at their height and their reading level rather than yours. Build it so a five year old can put the blocks away without calling down the stairs and the room mostly holds itself; build it for your reach and you will still be tidying it when they are fifteen. Start on the floor, because the floor is what everything else in this room is failing onto.
The 6 micro zones, in working order
A micro zone is one session, not a whole day. Finish one before you start the next.
- The Bed and Sleep Zone (30-45 min)
The place a child winds down and sleeps, and nothing else. - The Toy Storage Zone (60-90 min)
Holds the bedroom toys so a small child can put them away without asking anyone. - The Study Desk (45-75 min)
One clear surface where homework actually gets started rather than avoided. - The Clothing Closet (60-90 min)
Holds the clothes that fit right now, at a height the child can dress themselves from. - The Dresser Drawers (45-75 min)
Folded everyday clothes a child can get themselves dressed from without asking. - The School and Activity Launch Zone (15-30 min)
The square metre by the bedroom door where tomorrow morning gets assembled the night before.
For this room
- {'label': 'Where to start', 'text': 'Clear the floor first, working out of the Toy Storage Zone. The strip under the bed, the closet floor and the space under the desk all get much easier to judge once you can see carpet, and the room stops looking like one enormous job.'}
- {'label': 'Cleaning note', 'text': 'Make Shine a two song job in here: one song for surfaces with a damp cloth, one song for picking the floor up. A child sustains what they can finish while their attention lasts, and a clean that outruns the music teaches them that cleaning never ends.'}
- {'label': 'The trap', 'text': 'Doing the whole room while they are at school. It is quicker, and it costs you the point, because a child will not maintain homes they did not choose and they will notice exactly which animal went missing. Do the dull parts alone, and make every keep or go call with them standing next to you.'}