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| I wish this was my house |
When we started our search for a new home the biggest priority
was a playroom! I know that this is a
luxury but after cramming our selves into a small apartment with a million and
one toys to say we where overwhelmed was an understatement.
First off, our son’s train table was in the living
room. It served two purposes; it allowed
us to play with him and keep an eye on him while he was young and not have to sacrifice
missing our favorite shows in the evening.
Judge me if you will but there are only so many times I can play Thomas
the Tank Engine or build a Hot Wheels® highway before I go a little batty. As he grew, well, the table is just too big for
his room so it had to stay along with every known small car, train car and Lego
he needed to go on the train table.
Secondly, we had toys everywhere - dinning room, living room, office
(which eventually became baby’s room) and even the bathroom. Eventually, I let it all take over and that
is all on me, bad mommy.
If this happens to you, I highly suggest moving. It was a godsend! I realize that this is not realistic for most
of society so here is my top 10 list of ways that I have kept the clutter at
bay, which happens to me in out nice new house that has tons more room than our
old house.
Top Ten List of Keeping Clutter at Bay
1. Bins, Bins, Bins! aka Toy Organizer
I love these things and wish these could be counted twice,
but that would be cheating so I will just say it one more time – Bins! Get different colors if you can because not
oly do they look cute I can say things like, “Put it in the blue bin,” or “your
cars should all be in the red one.” Less
confusion = less yelling, from everyone.
You can also make it a game – how fast can you put all of your blocks in
to the yellow one!
2. Toy boxes
All shapes, all sizes, and not even the cute ones. Again, I use the large storage bins with lids
for these because they are see through and they stack.
3. Charity!
What a great way to teach giving back to the community by
giving away toys that you would like to see go to a new home.
4. Sold
I am a big fan of ebay, our early childhood PTA resale
(happens several times a year) and craigslist.
Why not have a garage sale? We
did that this year and my oldest loved the interaction with potential
customers, learning about money and of course his cut from the profits.
5. Bookcases
Creative use of garage sale finds and curb shopping has
allowed us to keep a lot of toys up out baby’s reach as well as keep them off
the floor.
6. Shelving
Cheap and durable or cute and hand decorated. If it can be nailed to the wall it is a great
way to keep nice things out of reach and safe from clumsy hands as well as off
the floor (notice a theme here)
7. Plastic shoe storage bags
Love all the pockets that the plastic shoe holder bags that
hang in a closet or over a door have!
Wonderful to keep Hot Wheel cars, Legos or art supplies in and because
they are see thru it is easy to find things and keep it off the floors.
8. Buckets
Yes, buckets, little ones, big ones, tin ones or plastic ones. Just like the storage bins they come in all shapes and sizes and for the crafty people you can create a whole wall of them or better yet nail a few under a shelf to keep art supplies or school supplies in.
9. Organizers on Wheels
I keep all of my first graders Legos in one of these and
since it rolls, it can be rolled right out to the table or space that he wants
to work at. One drawer is dedicated to
instructions, the big bottom one is for large pieces or things he is working on
and the rest is filled with all those little Lego pieces.
10. Utilize unusual spaces.
Under the bed may seem like wasted space as well as that
place under the stairs you never us but it is a great place to put games and
other toys that can be stored in the original box they came in. Plastic bins also slide nicely under the dark
recesses of seemingly unusable space.
And, instead of tracks all over the floors (or in boxes since they can’t stay on the floor permanently), my kid can now create all-new Hot Wheels® track layouts with WallTracks™. His cars can perform stunts, speed, turns, and tricks, powered by gravity and set up any way he can imagine - and, not on the floor.
I love that part – not on the floor...
I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hot Wheels® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hot Wheels® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.
