Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Decluttering Kids Toy Rooms

We all know the feeling. You walk into the toy room or your kids bedroom...or the living room, and you think "how did it ever get this messy?" And as soon as you start to clean up....you give up because you can't remember where everything went or how it all FIT in that spot, or you just get to overwhelmed. Here are a few tips that I've found to help keep this rooms that your kids spend time in clutter free!

1) Invisible (floating) bookshelves! These are all the rage and make for a neat conversation piece and way to ORGANIZE your books! Not bad, right? They are easy to make, offer book storage, and if done right, can add interest to your room.

2) Vintage Lockers: Vintage lockers are one of my favorite ways to add storage to my room. You can find them for fairly cheap at thrift stores, and you can store anything in them! Dedicate each different locker for a different thing - you could even add shelves to it to add even more storage room!

3) Have a yard sale: How many of the toys sitting in your house do your kids really play with? Sometimes the best option is to have a yard sale or donate to your thrift store. When you get rid of all the extra things you don't need, it is so much easier to organize, find things, and you automatically feel more light headed and neat!

4) Clean every time a mess is made! Instead of waiting for it all to pile up, clean as you go, it will be much easier!

5) Dedicate one day a month to working your super mom powers and giving the room an ultra cleaning session! Dust, vacuum, sweep, and everything else that goes along with it!

6) Baskets: I consider these organized chaos. Dedicate one basket for each different type of toy...barbies in one, legos in another, coloring books in yet another, label them and you have easy, and cute storage that you can pull out when you need them!

7) Ladders: Vintage ladders make for adorably unique storage. Lean them against your wall and set stuff that isn't played with much, or is more valuable, on the steps. There are a lot of great things you can do with this technique!

8) If you have a special toy room, it's good to only choose the most important toys to keep in your little girls or boys room. Or if you have a boy and a girl, possibly let your girl keep her more "girly" toys in her bedroom and your boy his "boy" toys in his bedroom and keep the toys they both enjoy in your toy room.

9) Always keep creative supplies in your toy room somewhere! Coloring books and crayons, pencils, markers, washable paints, creativity is so good for kids and lets them express themselves and grow!

10) A unique way to keep your weekly sports and classes in your head is to take a old mirror with a unique design, paint it a color that matches your room, and spray the inside with chalkboard paint. You now have an adorable and unique chalkboard to write reminders and dates on it! Don't forget the special I love you notes!

With these tips, your on your way to a fabulously clutter free room! Good luck and let me know how they work for you!

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