Clutter Busting: Drowning in Toy Clutter

Whether your children keep their toys in their bedroom, family room or playroom, first I want you to come to terms with the size of the room. Although we may think that the smaller the room the more clutter there will be, that is not always the case. Often times more clutter accumulates in larger rooms, simply because it can! With smaller rooms it can appear more cluttered, but often will take far less time to keep it maintained.

The first step in any organizing project is to create a plan. What is working? What is not working? How much time do you have to finish the project? Do you have a budget? etc.

The next step is to minimize the amount of contents in the room. Decisions must be made as to what to keep, give-away, and toss. I recommend having an exit strategy; decide what you are going to do with purged items before beginning the process. Children are often better at getting rid of items than we give them credit. Whether it is for a thrift store, women & children’s crisis center or a local foster child, if you find a worthwhile cause, they will probably do a great job at letting go! If you are planning a yard sale, place price stickers right on the items and then box them up. Come yard sale day; all you will have to do is open up the box and collect your money!

You will be surprised how children will play with more, if they have less. When their rooms are cluttered, it tends to overwhelm them and they will play with the same easy-to-reach toys over and over. Overwhelming a child with too much stuff will stifle their creativity.

While de-cluttering, I would recommend keeping one “memory box” for your child and allowing them to keep some things, but to keep this at a minimum. Speaking of boxes, a word of caution about storage containers: the first step in organizing a room should not be to run to your closest store and buy boxes, bins, and containers! You must minimize first, so you know what you actually need to store.

Once you have minimized the room, it is time to maximize the space. You can inexpensively take a small room to an organized space by using simple, inexpensive, storage systems. Place a shelf across the top of one wall for display items. Purchase under-the-bed storage systems, and use the top shelf of the closet to place bins. Turn a linen closet in the hallway into a toy closet. Get creative! In addition, I find it helpful to rotate toys. Have a couple bins of different toys and bring them out at different times, or rotate them in and out of different rooms.

I realize how tempting it is to de-clutter and organize your children’s spaces while they are not home, but please try and resist this temptation. Children really should be involved in the process when it pertains to their items. Make purging and organizing fun. Put on a fun CD and spend some quality time with your child as you reclaim your home from all those toys!

Have fun!

Betsy