Extra Tips: Jen Doman

Professional organizer and Mission: Organization guest Jen Doman offers eight great web-exclusive tips.

• Keep the floor carpet free if the wood is in good condition. This makes easier work of cleaning up spills, plus sweeping is a lot easier than vacuuming.

• Try to make a game out of organizing. For example, reward the child for an organized room by allowing them to choose the meal for dinner or the movie for movie night.

• Have them program alert reminders of important dates and/or to-do lists into their computers, cellphones and iPods.

• Use see-through bins and boxes whenever possible so that the child/teenager can easily see what's inside.

• Create a separate homework zone, away from the bed, if possible. This will enable school-related items to be contained in one place instead of being scattered all over the bed or floor.

• Avoid wall damage by having the child use nontoxic putty instead of tape or thumbtacks to hang up posters.

• When organizing it is critical that the child/teenager thinks the system makes sense for them, rather than the system making sense for the parent.

• Explain that keeping the room organized will enable them to have more space for themselves as well more room to entertain their friends.