How do you clean your children's rooms, and how often?

[Cornflakemum]

Have 2 DSs aged 11 and 8 and their rooms are a disaster zone. There always seems to be so much STUFF lying around which means that when our cleaner comes she can't/won't do more than a quick hoover of the bits of carpet which are visible.

They're both into Lego, and like to keep the models they've made on display for ages (or in DS2's case... FOREVER) It's a dusting nightmare.

I sort of feel DH and I are a bit to blame as we've never got them into a good routine of tidying up every day etc. It tends to end up a big blitzes with tears ever few months

Can you explain how you keep kids rooms tidy-ish please?

What rules/ routines/ responsibilies...?

They keep asking to have more friends for sleepovers, but I point out that they can't even see the floor, let alone put a spare mattress down!

I go around ds1's room when he's away visiting his father.

I go round with a binbag and remove all the rubbish.

Put all the books back on the shelves.

Tidy all the toys/other stuff up.

Vacuum up thoroughly.

Damp dust.

This is done every 6 weeks.

In between times, I make him tidy up, vacuum and dust a bit.

The bedding is changed regularly.

If he refuses to tidy, I threaten to bin everything and fetch a black bin bag. That generally helps things along a bit because he knows I mean it

Erm-just keeping on top of everything on a daily basis otherwise it would be a nightmare! They make their beds each morning and bring down any cups etc in their room, flush their toilet, put their clothes in the laundry. Everything else has a home:Lego models on shelves and toys in storage boxes in their cupboards or under the beds, books on the shelf.

If there's not enough storage-start binning things when they aren't looking ;)

I haven't in a loooooong time. They get paid if they tidy and hoover their room, but if they don't choose to, I don't do it.

So from time to time we have to force them to blitz their rooms.......

Mine are nearly 12 and 10. They used to have nice clean tidy rooms when they were younger

I TRY TO GET THEM TO TIDY EVERY WEEK SO ALL TOYS IN THEIR PLACES SO I CAN HOOVER AND WIPE EVERYTHING DOWN.
I ALSO HELP WITH A QUICK PICK ON THE WAY TO BED CLOTHES IN HAMPER, TOYS OFF FLOOR BOOKS ON SHELVES.
I HAVE 2 DS 10 AND 6, THEY SHARE A ROOM.

sorry for shouting

Mine are 10 and 11. Once a week I get them to dust their rooms and pick everything up off the floor, I then go in and Hoover. Cups, plates etc have to be brought back downstairs daily. They mostly put their dirty clothes in the laundry basket, but sometimes I end up going round picking it up off their bedroom floors. They strip their own beds when I ask them to and remake with clean bedding.

Once a year, usually just after the school summer hols, I go in and blitz their rooms. Rubbish and broken stuff to the tip, stuff they've not used or played with for ages goes to the charity shop.

In between the weekly dust / Hoover session I keep their bedroom doors shut while theyre at school so I don't have to look at the mess.

Normally, properly every half term/holiday and work around toys etc in between.

Every week its hoovered and dusted and bed clothes changed.
DS aged 9 has a whole wall of built in cubbyholes (similar to expedit ikea stuff) plus a cabin bed and built in wardrobes so he has no excuse for not putting away stuff. I don't mind if hes actively playing with something but I can't stand rubbish everywhere.

Mine are 6 and 4 and we tidy up every saturday morning in our pjs. We all tend to do one room then the other. I am about to have dc3 and want them to learn to help. Ds can also hoover his own room. All washing goes in baskets. I wash their bed clothes about once a fortnight unless they need it earlier. I admit that i don't dust but tend to wipe bedside tables and fingerprints of beds, walls and door.

The playroom is where the bulk of the mess is and we do that about every other day and hoover it too. One of the things that has helped is to not let other children upstairs. I just got so fed up with them totally trashing the bedrooms. DS has his lego in his room and DD has her sylvania families, you can imagine what that could look like after an enthusiastic play date.