Tackling Clutter # 1: TOYS!

I've been a little MIA because of the holiday weekend, the gorgeous weather, and the fact that I've been trying to determine what I want my next "series" to be here on the blog. The My Monday Round-Up series was fun for me, but I need a switch. I've tossed around several different ideas and because I got such a positive response from the before + after {of my mom's} office space post, I've concluded that for the entire month of April, every Monday will focus on tackling clutter. Each Monday I'll focus on one space/item at a time. Today I'm going to focus on TOYS + how to eliminate/store them efficiently, so that they're used regularly + out of the way when not in use. I realize this won't appeal to everyone, but don't fret. This will be the only "kid" related post in this series. I was going to do kid STUFF in general, but that is far too broad for this one post, so I'm going to stick to toy organization. If you have kids, then you know that this is probably what stresses you the most. So many toys, so little time. Am I right?

I've posted before about how I organize Emerson's toys, but even since that post, I have gotten rid of a lot in an effort to declutter and minimize. The more I watch her play, the more I realize she really only plays with the same 4-5 toys anyway. I'm willing to bet that your kiddos are the same. I will preface this by saying  that I did not donate ALL of her toys. I did keep in mind that in a few months or even years, some of the toys she owns now will be beneficial for years to come. With that being said, let's begin.

This picture was taken just a couple of months ago actually. It shows one of two bookcases in Emerson's play room. {DIY Tip: want to bring some 'pop' to your bookshelves, add a fun wrapping paper to the back of the bookcase +reinsert the shelves}. Furniture wise, her playroom houses 2 identical bookshelves, a side table with hidden storage, a daybed {used as a couch}, an IKEA Lack table + kid's chairs, + a leather recliner {not pictured}. The side table houses some of Trey's items that he doesn't want her to get into {the bed is right next to the table, so there's no possible way for her to get into it}, and aside from under the daybed, there is NO hidden storage in here. That means that all of the toys are visible, but that's okay! They are organized in a fashion that makes them visually pleasing to the eye, as opposed to an just being an eye sore, as toys typically can be. I keep 90% of her toys in this room. As I've mentioned before, she has 2 baskets that house a couple of toys {one in her room + the other in the living room}.

Go into every room where your children have toys and collect ALL of the toys. Before moving forward with the tips outlined below, all toys should be in one location. It will be overwhelming at first, but just hang with me. 

Toys Tip 1: Create 2 piles. Pile 1: what gets used regularly {like daily or on a weekly basis} and Pile 2: what goes mostly/always untouched {this is the donate pile}. If it's too gross to donate, then you don't need it and you should trash it. If you haven't seen it in ages, chances are your kids won't miss it. You will have 2 pretty large piles, if you're anything like me when I first started this. Emerson is only 1.5, so I didn't really ask for her opinion on what I kept/donated, but I would advise that you do the same, even if your kids are older. YOU KNOW what they use and what they only touch occasionally. Feel free to let them help, but they'll be kind of like my mom was last week...wanting to suddenly keep something they don't particularly even use just because they "might" want it eventually. No. No. No!

Toys Tip 2: Once you've decided what can go, DONATE IT IMMEDIATELY. Do not hang on to the bags {or boxes} of stuff for two reasons: you're kids will find it and suddenly act interested for like 5 minutes, AND it distracts from the tidying/decluttering process. Getting unwanted/unused items OUT of the house ASAP helps to see what you have left to work with and eliminates extra unnecessary "stuff".

Toys Tip 3: This is my favorite one. Utilize baskets, crates, or anything of that nature. You can see below that I use these white crates from the Dollar Tree. I bought 8 of them; 4 for this bookshelf + 4 for the other. Typically, I'd say narrow basket colors to 1-2 colors as not to get too overwhelming to the eye {if they're visible anyway}. I like white because it just screams crisp + clean. Like I mentioned, I use wicker baskets in her room + in the living room to conceal her toys because it coordinates with the decor in each room. The toys are still easily accessible to her, but they're hidden from us when not in use. You can see the living room basket tucked behind the arm chair in the picture below. It was purchased at Target. It literally holds like 5 toys right now. Her playroom toy baskets are brighter and more colorful because her playroom intentionally incorporates a lot of color.

Toys Tip 4: To piggyback off of tip 3, organize the crates by style of toy. For example, her legos all go in one basket, her art supplies go in another basket, her baby doll related items go in the same basket, rubber balls go in one, and so on. Her Legos used to be in a big Lego bag, but it wasn't the cutest thing and the handle broke. Plus, now they're much easier for her to access {and dump everywhere, lol}. I organized her books in crates in the playroom to keep them all looking tidy. I occasionally go through and organize them by size, but that gets a little tedious when my toddler pulls them off the shelf constantly. Having them all in a basket, at least keeps them together and orderly even if they're not sized accordingly. ;)  Below I've shown her drawing utensils basket {she has another one below it with art supplies, like paint + brushes} + her puzzles crate {which we actually just donated all of her puzzles because she doesn't used them. Now it holds all of her rubber balls that go with her ball pit tent-don't ask}.

Toys Tip 5: Books are considered toys around here, sort of. We read books A LOT, so she has A LOT of books. I got most of them from thrift stores {usually like 25-50 cents a piece} and/or from my baby showers. Just today, I went through all of the books on these shelves and on her rain gutter shelves that are in her room and donated probably 40+ books. She still has quite a few, but they're all ones that we've read within the past month. Any books that are just hanging out collecting dust, donate them! Books with special meaning go in a special basket on top of the bookshelf for us. All of her other books are free reign, but there's certain ones that I don't want susceptible to toddler rips + marks. If only there were a way to mark-proof the walls + rugs {palm to forehead}.

 

Now, I didn't mention all of the bigger items, like the exersaucer, the push toys, etc. These are so space-consuming, I understand. Honestly, I tried to purchase items that were collapsable for that reason. I keep a lot of Emerson's "baby" items under the daybed, or stored in the attic wrapped in garbage bags for future use by future babies. Just today, I went through and realized that some of the bigger baby toys that I was holding on to really didn't get used much when she was a baby-baby anyway, so I donated them. Honestly, Emerson liked being held... all.the.time. I did keep her exersaucer {non-collapsable}, her swing, her bumbo seat, and her play mat. Those items we used pretty regularly. Everything else went adios. If you have an itty-bitty still, then don't worry if their items are out and about. This was my living room when Em was little {pre-farmhouse dining table too}. Some stuff just can't be "hidden" and that's okay. I will say though, having a corner or a specific place for it for when it's not in use helps it to feel less central. 

And just for kicks, here's a before and after of her playroom. Holy brightness Batman!

 I hope this has been helpful. I threw this one together somewhat last minute, so forgive me. I was intending to do our linen closet for my first post, but wasn't able to get pictures in the daylight in time, so I'm hoping to do that next Monday. Like I said, this will be the only KID specific post related to decluttering, so if you didn't find this one particularly helpful, come back next week...it's sure to be relatable to all. :) XO!