Without a doubt, it?s a challenge to declutter kids rooms and keep them organized. Between toys, clothing, school supplies, electronics, and everything else, there?s just not enough space to keep it all under control. Fortunately, I found an article on the oregonlive.com blog that captures some great tips and ideas used by local moms to organize all the stuff associated with their kid?s lives. Check out the list below.
Noelle Crombie says it took the birth of her third daughter to motivate her to get organized ? that and the regular arrival of huge boxes of toys and clothes from Gramma and Grampa.
? She stores art supplies in a built-in cabinet in the dining room. ?That way, everything the girls need for craft projects is at hand but behind cabinet doors and inside drawers so I don?t have to see them.?
? She re-uses small glass condiment jars for storing beads, shells and other crafting supplies. Craft supplies, including glue and string, go into one of the cabinet?s built-in drawers.
? Use baskets from Goodwill to store dress-up clothes. ?Three girls means a lot of frilly dresses, ballet shoes, scarves and fancy hats,? she said. ?They all go into a couple baskets in a corner of the dining room.?
? Regularly weed out toys and books. If something doesn?t get played with for a while, tuck it out of sight. ?If the girls don?t seem to miss it after a few weeks, it goes into a box bound for Goodwill,? she said. ?I regularly weed out unwanted or neglected toys, games and puzzles so there?s room for new stuff when the next box of stuff arrives from Gramma.?
? She stores large toys ? a dollhouse and wooden kitchen ? out of sight. She said these toys took up a lot of real estate in her dining room and kitchen and yet her daughters rarely played with them. ?Now they are wrapped up and stored in the basement,? she said. ?Ironically, getting them out of sight has meant that both get played with a lot more. Every few weeks the girls ask to play with their kitchen or the dollhouse and we bring them upstairs. Once they?re done, we bring them back downstairs.?
? Same goes for the girls? board games, puzzles and toys. She picked up a metal shelving unit off Craigslist to store her daughters? things and put it in the basement. ?Now when they want to play Jenga or work on a puzzle, they bring it upstairs,? she said. ?When they?re done, they pack up the games and return them to the shelf.
? Staying on top of the girls? clothing ? three different sizes, four seasons ? is a big job. She sorts clothes by size and season, then stores them in plastic bins with easy-to-read labels.
? Look for alternatives to plastic bins. ?I wanted an alternative to the containers that were multiplying in my basement so last year I picked up a couple free wooden dressers off Craigslist,? she said. ?Now each drawer serves as storage for camping clothes, winter hats and scarves, and swimsuits. Each drawer is labeled clearly so when it?s time to pack for a camping trip or an outing to the pool, the girls get what they need from the dressers.
? The dresser also has a drawer filled with rainy day activities ? basically small, easy-to-do crafts. Noelle said, ?They?re my go-to answer to the cry, ?Mom, I?m bored.??
When it comes to managing clutter, Kjerstin Gabrielson, mom of a 9-year-old and 12-year-old, offers these tips:
? Take a ?clothesline? approach to kids? art, using clothespins to hang unwieldy creations, rotating them in and out.
? Use a sturdy magazine rack to organize kids? assignments. She has a bin for each kid?s schoolwork, one for her ?volunteer duties? and one for their magazines.
? Use pushpins and a bulletin board to organize your tweens? necklaces and earrings.
? Have the kids paint a small garden bucket and use it to store toothbrushes, floss and toothpaste and such next to the bathroom sink.
Helen Jung relies on a couple of tried-and-true items to keep her daughter?s things organized: hooks and shoeboxes. She uses hooks in closets and on walls for easy storage of backpacks, coats, dress-up clothes and sweaters. One trick: Install them low enough so her daughter can put her own coat away.
She buys plastic shoeboxes in 5-pack bundles and uses them ?for a zillion things.?
?They hold crafts tools and art supplies; all my thank-you cards, envelopes and loose greeting cards that I buy to have on hand; all the pieces to my daughter?s tea-party set; other small toys.?
Amy Wang, mom of two boys, admits taming clutter is a struggle. ?Asking me for anti-clutter tips is like asking a wolf how to eat vegetarian,? she said. ?Clutter is the fifth member of my family.?
But here?s what?s worked for her:
? Make the most of closet space. ?I noticed a lot of empty space under the hangers in my kids? double-wide closet (they don?t own a lot of clothes that require hanging), so I bought a four-cubby stand and moved it into one half of the closet for easy cleanup of random toys ? just open the closet door, throw things in the cubbies and shut the closet door.
?In the other half of the closet, I placed a three-drawer dresser where I stash clothes the older boy has outgrown until the younger boy is ready for them.?
? Use a hanging shoe organizer in the closet for storing hats, gloves and other items that don?t get regular use.
? Stash school library books in a designated spot next to the boys? bedroom door ?so they stay visible all week as we go in and out of the room.?
Her older boy sleeps in a loft bed, creating more space in the boys? shared bedroom. ?In the space created underneath, we put a second bookcase, which got a lot of books and toys off the floor,? she said.
? Make use of the space under regular beds. ?My older boy has a Bey-blades ?stadium? that I got tired of tripping over ? it?s more than a foot across. Fortunately, it?s only a few inches high. So now it lives under the younger boy?s bed.? Source.
Another standard rule that applies to declutting kids rooms (and all rooms) is to donate or trash what isn?t used for a long time. Kids grow up fast and they will get bored with certain toys, clothes, etc. So keep an eye open for things that haven?t been used or worn in a year or two. These are things that could be passed on to younger nieces and nephews or donated.
Do you know other parents who might benefit from these tips to organize and declutter kids rooms? If so, click on the social buttons below.
Source: http://homedecoratingmadeez.com/how-to-organize-and-declutter-kids-rooms/192779/
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