The girls have had both of their birthdays in the space of a month and our house is currently representing a small toy store! So with great reluctance, as I am a procrastinater when it comes to decluttering, I spent a number of hours last weekend clearing out the girls play room. I went through all their toys and the tonne of arts and crafts to make room for all of the new things.
A play room wasn’t on our wish list when we were looking for our forever home. But the house we found and moved into 7 years ago had a downstairs study. Without a second thought this become the play room for our eldest, as our youngest wasn’t born then. The contents have grown a lot since daughter number two came along!
Below is the before picture. As you can see it was full to the brim:
In the picture below you can see what I ended up getting rid off. I can’t believe there was so much stuff in there! Mind you most of the stuff in the bin bag was torn scrunched up paper and broken toys. If I couldnt work out what it was it also went in the black bag.
The stuff to the left of the bag I have decided to keep but up in the loft. This is just in case the girls have children themselves and then I can be cool grandparent with ‘old fashioned’ toys to play with. I can’t believe I’m thinking like this, the girls aren’t even near the age of 10!!!!
After Operation Clear Out you can see how it looked below. The new toys in their new home:
I also want to show you some of the great storage ideas I have come across over the years. The first is the storage boxes in the IKEA unit. These are from The Great Little Trading Company and we purchased them over five years ago. We have four in total and they have lasted so well. You can find them on their website.
As the toy collection grew I designated a box for all the different collections that were growing:
- The blue star cube holds the marble run
- The green spotted cube holds all the jigsaws
- The pink spotted one (shown above) holds the Barbie, My Little Pony and Monster High dolls. It also holds all the dolls clothes and shoes.
- The other green spotted cube (shown above) holds the pretend food and the numerous tea sets the girls own.
The red star storage box that holds all the nerd guns is a new edition. I found this in Wilkinson. I think I have a storage cube problem, just like my basket obsession! If you don’t know what I’m talking about then you need to read my basket case post.
This box from Wilko helps to keep all the Nerf guns and supplies in one place. This means everything can be found quickly. Especially when a Nerf war breaks out, usual started by husband 10 minutes before bedtime!
My other favourite storage boxes are difficult to see in the pictures above but they have really changed the way I store the kids little bits and bobs.
As you can see they can store so much stuff and because of their size they can slot into drawers and shelves really easily. I found these in The Range but they are also available at Hobbycraft. They are really reasonable priced at £2.50 each. A great investment.
The girls can get to them and open them easily and just grab what they want. So if they are colouring they will get the one that holds the felt tips, pencils and crayons. If they are doing writing or arts and crafts they grab the one with the scissors, stencils and rubbers in. The one that holds the card games is great, the girls just grab the box and take it to wherever we are playing games. The last one holds all the beads for the bead designs, and there are a lot of them. They are like loom bands, you have no idea how so many of them are in your house!
Just having the shelves like this all across one wall is a really big help. They are the perfect size for holding the boxes of arts and crafts, the Lego boxes and all the colouring books we have too. We also have a lot of board games but they are not in this room, I have them stored somewhere else which is close to where we play them. I will show where this is in my next post, so don’t forget to pop back next week.
In the future I think this room will turn into a bit of a den for the girls and we will probably get something for them to sit on, move some more books in there which are currently in their rooms, maybe a small TV so they can go in there with their friends. But for now, it’s all about the toys, arts and crafts!
How do you store your kids toys? I would love to know so please leave a comment below.
Let’s get organised!
Jo
X
Wow I love this! Really like the craft supplies in their little boxes. I recently had a toy cull/organisation session but I feel like re-sorting them after reading this post 😉 #picknmix
Thanks for the comment Meg. The craft boxes are so good & easy just to grab. X
I need to get some plastic drawers for my kids arts and crafts items. And we have so many board games, we need a shelf. Your post has inspired me! Also, I’ve kept some of my childrens toys for when they have children so I can be that cool grandparent, too! I like to thiknk ahead haha. xx pic n mix friday linky.
Thank you for your comment Sarah & it made my day knowing I had inspired you. Also glad to know I’m not the only sad one thinking a long time head too!! X
Oh my goodness I am in love with you storage and in awe of how organised you are. I love your boxes for holding your art bits too. Brilliant and now I need to follow your lead….#Marvmondays
Hi Emma, thank you for your comment and your kind words. I just love organising and unfortunately the kids are having to be organised whether they like it or not . Hope these ideas are of some help to you. Jo. X
Wow that looks organized I have given up because they get all messed again. Will try these boxes, amazing post #MarvMondays
Thank you for your comment. It doesn’t normally last looking this good as the kids are whirlwinds!! Jo. X
I love this level of organisation! I think it helps to be able to keep a space tidy, when everything has its place. I do love an IKEA unit! #MarvMondays
IKEA is the best isn’t it?! They just know how to make storage look good. I so function a lot better when I know everything has a home, whether it gets back there everyday is another thing though! . Jo. X
Loved this! I find it easy to get the toys organised, but keeping them organised is another mission in itself! I struggle to stay on top of things! #MarvMondays
Hi Amy. I am like you, I love getting the, organised but the kids certainly have other ideas about keeping them tidy! After a long day at work and spending time with the kids the last thing I want to do is tidy everything away! Thanks for commenting. Jo. X
Great ideas here, the plastic boxes are ideal and easy to store too!
#MarvMondays
Thanks for the comment Vicky. The plastic boxes have been perfect. Especially just to grab and go when we are going out or away. Jo. X
I am moving house soon and I will finally have a playroom, I am so excited about this!! I really do need to be more disciplined about storage, thanks for the ideas! x #MarvMondays
Hi Julia, thank you for your comment. Playrooms are soooooo good! It is nice to be able to put the toys somewhere at the end of the day and just close the door!
Wow this must be super satisfying, when you finished of course! Jin well done 🙂 #MarvMondays
*Job well done! Sorry, still adjusting to my new phone!! Popping over to add you on Twitter x
Thanks for your comment Charlotte. Yes it was super satisfying to see everything neat and tidy and in the right place but I know it’s not going to last long!!
I find that they want to play more with the toys when they are organised. We’ve adopted a system like this recently and it’s brilliant – Ben can quickly grab whichever set of toys he wants. I love the Kallax unit! #MarvMondays
Thanks for the comment Naomi. You are so right. It helps the girls see what’s there and they seem to play with their toys more because they know pretty much all the pieces are together in one place. I love IKEA a bit too much, but think this is because the closest store is over 2 hours a way so we indulge when we visit! X
What a fab looking room!
It’s so easy to accumulate isn’t it!! For us it’s a permanent battle to de-clutter… #BloggerClubUK
I just don’t know how they get so much stuff in there! It feels like Mary Poppins bag, never ending! X
Great post!! I am always looking for new organisation ideas for Hollys room!!
L X
http://workingmumy.blogspot.com
#bloggerclubuk
Thanks for the lovely comment Lisa X
We have those GLT cubes too. They are so well made and last really well. I love this post! I am currently staring at a similar IKEA unit thinking I must clear it out!!
#HomeEtc
Thanks for the comment Carly. They cubes sre great, made so well and so study. They have held so much over the past 5 years and still going strong. X
Looks great! Such a difference! I really love those storage boxes. I will need to check out Hobbycraft.
The boxes are great, they hold so much stuff! I highly recommend them. X
I think one of the biggest mistakes we made was trying to hide all of our toys – it meant we just spent so much time tidying up!
The best tip I could give anyone is to just embrace it. Make the toys look at home in your interior. An organised mess if you will. That’s how we’ve been justifying it anyway haha!
#HomeEtc
Thanks for the comment Karen. I know what you mean, once out of sight you always want them out of sight. The girls have stuff in their rooms too which are always out on display and are always played with but what I like about the big boxes is I can just scope up the mess on the floor and it’s all in one pile! X
I have this one shoe box full of nick nacks that belong to my daughter!! Crayons go in tubs…it is not that organised. I bet you felt amazing after doing this and all the boxes and tubs are really reasonable. Inspiring post lovely!! xx #bloggerclubuk
Thanks for the lovely comment Sarah. It was a nice feeling when everything was sortedd. My happy place is when everything has a home, and this certainly helped get me there! X
That’s an amazing way to organise kids toys. i especially love your plastic boxes idea. All duly noted for the future with our son x #bloggerclubuk
The boxes are great! They are just the right size for the girls to pick up and carry but hold a lot of things. Thanks for commenting X
We have the same collapsible boxes as you do. We are visual people so being able to see straight into a box is fantastic. Try iheartorganizing for more inspiration. #HomeEtc
Thanks for the comment Helena. I think I’m already following iheartorganisng but I’m off to check, always looking for ideas. X
We use an Ikea storage unit with boxes for toys too, so easy to group them together. I need to do a big sort out soon as they have grown out of some. Thanks for linking to #PicknMix
After I’ve sorted out I do feel so accomplished, but getting started is soooo hard work! Thanks for the comment and I love linking up to #PicknMix
I love your storage units! You are so well organised and have given me some ideas for when we re-do the boys’ bedroom!
Thanks for linking up to #PicknMix, hopefully see you there again tomorrow.
Stevie x
Always my pleasure Stevie, and good luck for when you do sort the boys rooms! X
Great tips – I love how you’ve dealt with the craft stuff – my son’s craft box is just a big mess at the mo and needs some attention. Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂 #bloggerclubuk
Thanks for commenting Laura, and really glad you found the post inspiring. X
Looks so neat and tidy! Always feels good having a good clear out. (Though a cautionary tale – I put my children’s old toys up in the attic like you, in the old cottage we lived in then – but mice got them, they seemed to like chewing Barbie’s faces!) #HomeEtc
I do find a good clear out therapeutic. But oh my god about your toys in the attic! I’ll send the husband up to check everything is ok . Thank you for commenting. X
Well done! Clearly out the kids toys is never a fun task. I’ve been putting it off myself for a few weeks/months now, although Chrismases and birthdays always seem to be the natural time to this (otherwise you just cant fit the new stuff in right!). I love the way that you’ve organised your girls arts and craft bits. My little one is massively into arts and crafts at the moment too so I’ve just picked up a few clever storage bits from GLTC (huge fans and part of their testing team) to house all her bits and pieces in, but I think the Hobbycraft storage would be fab for holding all her art work so will check these out in our local store. If you fancy having a look at our arts and crafts set up I just wrote a post on my blog which you can check out if you need more ideas 🙂 Thanks for sharing this on #MarvMondays. Emily
Thank you for the comment. I do love GLTC and sooo jealous you are part of their testing team, I bet that is so much fun! If you don’t mind me asking, how did you become part of their team? I am always looking for ideas so going to go and check out your post now! X
Love it – you can’t beat a bit of organising to make you feel like you’ve achieved something! (And what is is about husbands and nerf wars before bed time?!) #HomeEtc
Oh so glad to hear it’s not just my hubby that likes to wind the kids up just before bed!! Thanks for commenting Sue. X
I do love Ikea units, they’re so sleek and brilliant for storing all the childrens rubbish aren’t they. We have a similar system but because our two are toddlers, it often gets messed up. I love how you organised those boxes though! My hubby has OCD and he’d be dribbling over those if he saw #bloggerclubuk
IKEA is just the best isn’t it! We don’t have one that local to us so I do tend to binge shop when we visit their store. Believe me mine does not stay like this, especially on the weekends and during play dates!! But having the boxes does make it so much easier to tidy up. Thanks for commenting. X
Those craft supplies in their boxes fill me with JOY!!!! I LOVE that so much — the neat freak in me just loves things to look like that.. it’s a shame that the twins haven’t inherited that gene and would literally mess it all up, as soon as look at it!! Great post Jo — it’s so satisfying to have a good clear out isn’t it? Thanks for linking up 🙂 #HomeEtc — Caro x
Oh I’m glad I could help you feel happy and joyful Caro, and thank you so much for your kind words. I feel your pain that your children don’t appreciate your tidy genes, It appears only 1 of my daughters has inherited my neat freak everything has to be put away geekiness, but that doesn’t stop her emptying her dressing up box in 30 second flat!! X
It’s so nice to do a big toy clean out from time to time! We had a play room too & it’s the best. We recently got new couches for the sitting room & we moved one of the old couches into the play room for the kids. It works really well for them. I too organize the toys by types – it makes it easy when they want to play a certain game. Keeping the toys in the right boxes can be challenging though! Thanks so much for joining us at #BloggerClubUK
Thanks for commenting Becky. I’ve been thinking about moving a couch in too, as I think this room will become the girls den as they grow up to hang out with their friends. Totally agree about keeping the toys in the right boxes, especially when it’s been a long day and all I want to do is to be able to see the floor again!! X
Yes to this – and it all looks so tidy and amazing! Love a good sort out 🙂 Storage is my BFF for keeping a slightly tidy home 😉
Thanks for linking up #HomeEtc xx
Thank you for the comment and glad you liked it. Storage is my friend for life, just need to get the kids to get it too! X
Love these ideas Jo- O’m almost at my wis end with the girls toys (they are similar to yours- 6 and 3) when we moved to our house we had one box of toys, and now they just take over everywhere! I got them all organised last summer but they have descended into chaos again and I can’t face sorting it all out again! You’ve inspired me though and I am going to attack it today! Pippa xxx
Thanks for the comment Pippa. I know what you mean about the toys taking over! I must admit I have to be strict with myself and twice a year I have to kick myself and crack on! When I get started I get into it, but I still procrastinate terribly!! Good luck with your next declutter. X
You really inspired me this week. In fact me and my sister tackled my daughters play room and closet. We were rude since we threw all her stuffed dolls and other toys in black garbage bags so she will not notice whats inside. I then chucked everything out for collection.
I think that moms at one point in time they should do this and throw away all childish toys in garbage. Nowadays children are more interested in other stuff.
Even my friend she is planning to do the same, since she remember her mom doing this to her.
Great pics.
Thank you so much for your comment Kim, and so happy to hear my post inspired you! Getting rid of the kids toys without them knowing is defientely the best way to do it, if my two knew what I was getting rid of they would not be happy! I do try to pass on the most decent toys to charity shops but the bin men certainly have a busy collection day after I’ve had a decluuter!! X