Space Savers and Room Organization

We have one kid's room in our home and it's pretty small. How do we maximize this space for our little ones?

We took the sliding doors off of the closet and put them in the storage shed since one was always falling off and the kids were always banging them around. This made the room feel more spacious and allowed us to fit more into the closet and access it easier.My in-laws brought out a bunk bed set in May that belonged to my husband so Ali moved into the top bunk and Jer eventually will sleep on the bottom and Justus will take his crib. Justus currently sleeps in our room in a Pack n' Play.This changing table has gotten more use as a clothing or blanket shelf than as an actual changing table since I change diapers on the living room floor. I have clean blankets on the top shelf, the kid's underwear tubs on the middle shelf, along with doll clothes, and To-Grow-Into bins for Alathia and Jeremiah on the bottom shelf. Underneath the shelf there is space to store extra packages of diapers.I love the hanging shoe caddy (a yard sale buy) and the basket bins (also a yard sale buy). They keep things easier to find than the plastic tub we were formerly using for Jer's clothing, and yet I don't have to open drawers to put laundry away.We used to have a small dresser here instead of this wire shelving unit. The small dresser held odds and ends, clothes-to-grow into, infant stuff, etc. My brother was giving this shelf unit away and I gladly snatched it up! This holds double what the dresser held, and is easily accessible.

Ali stores her non-hanging clothes here now and is responsible for putting the clean clothes away on the appropriate shelf. I store pull-ups, wipes, extra duckie blankies, and Justus' really warm clothing on this shelf as well.

MoneySavingMom, aka Crystal, once mentioned activity tubs on her blog that her mom had made for her. I copied this great idea and made some for my daughter, who doesn't take naps fall-spring. I also keep toy sets and activities up here out of the kids' reach. We often pull down an activity when they are getting cranky or bored and then when they are done with it, they can choose a different one and put the other one back. Keeping half of the toys out of the kids' reach makes them more exciting for them and helps keep clutter and toy mess down in the house. This freebie from my friend Shiloh is so handy for keeping all of the kids' socks/belts/tights, baby shoes etc. organized and accessible behind their bedroom door. I keep their devotional book and all of our Christmas cards in here (we pray for 2 families a night) so I can reach over and grab them from the rocking chair during bedtime family devotions. I have learned that if things are NOT accessible I will not use them so my goal in my homemaking and organizing is to have easy access to the things we use frequently!

I didn't take pics of the toy box or rocking glider which are in the bedroom but they somehow fit in there with all of the other stuff. Under the crib and under the bottom bunk there is a lot of space for storage. I have some extra toliet paper and a kid's tent stored under there but not much else since they like to hide under the beds for fun! But if we didn't have a storage shed out back this space would be utelized for outgrown and growing-into clothing.

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Justus' clothing is in a shallow plastic tub under our living room couch. I grab diapers and wipes (also under the couch) and change him there on the floor and have the clothes handy. If I need fancier clothes, I get them out of the closet in the kid's room.
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As always, keeping clutter to a minimum helps maximize a small space. When I did my "Pioneer Living" experiment I discovered that life was wonderful with only 5 toys and 5-10 outfits per kid. Since that experiment the toys and clothes seem to have multiplied once again (how do they do that?) but I continue to try to take loads to the shed, rotate the toys, and only hang on to the outfits that fit the kids well, are durable, and look nice, keeping the amount they own to a minimum.