I’m not sure about you, but I despise an unorganized space. I do not function well when a space is not put together. In our house, the toy room (we call it our play room) is the absolute hardest space to keep organized.
From a very young age we have taught our children to pick up after themselves (around 18 months old). This doesn’t mean it has gotten easier as they have grown; if anything, it has gotten harder! They will pick up their toys after some enticing or the setting of a timer and the threat of a trash bag coming for their stuff, but they rarely put everything back where it’s supposed to go. Because of this, I have spent hours that probably add up to days organizing and re-organizing the play room so it’s VERY easy for them to remember where their toys go. Through all of this trial and error I have come up with some advice I would love to share with anyone who is in a similar boat.
Let’s be real with ourselves
My biggest tip for those going crazy (like me) in your unorganized toy room is… Train yourself to be okay with every little thing not being in its place. The more important thing is that your kids are learning to do independent tasks; this means things will be out of place sometimes. With that said, I make it a point to gently explain to my kids we aren’t JUST trying to get our toys off of the floor, but we are wanting them to be in their homes so we can find them next time we play. Don’t be fooled into thinking since I’m telling you this I do it perfectly. Remember when I said I hate an unorganized space? Well, I struggle with this most in this specific room.
The next tip is another one regarding training your mind… Remind yourself there are many other spaces in the house where you have full or close to full control. This helps me tremendously because I can focus my attention on getting these other spaces the way I want while giving my children control over their space. This works hand and hand with the first tip because when your attention is shifted to something you can control more closely, you are able to train your mind to be okay when the toy room is not perfect.
Practical Organization Tips
- Bookshelves!
Get bookshelves for your toy room, but not just any bookshelves.. Get some with deep shelves that are sturdy and tall. Of course you are saying, “Well, duh it needs to be sturdy!” That means I don’t have to discuss that one, but let’s talk about why it should be tall. I’m not sure about you, but I have young kids (my children are under 7). Young kids, especially toddlers, like to get into anything with small pieces. Then, they dump those pieces all over the floor and promptly put some in their mouth, OR move on to something totally different leaving those pieces everywhere. To combat this, I put anything with small pieces on top shelves or on the very top of our bookshelves. Now, when it comes to the deep shelves, read the next tip to answer that.
Here are a few great bookshelf options:
Reclaimed Pine Bookshelf: https://amzn.to/2SmXGrU (A really nice shelf for a rustic-like look)
Ash Gray Tall Bookshelf: https://amzn.to/3yBxHxy (A more modern style bookshelf)
Open Ended Bookshelf: https://amzn.to/3vrvgvh (We have these to store our baskets on with toys. I do not recommend actually putting books on them unless they are in a container.)
- Storage baskets!
I was (and still am) the person who wants everything that is not a decor item or furniture piece to be put away somewhere you cannot see (for example, in a cabinet or dresser). The problem with this in the toy room is when the kids cannot see their toys they seem to forget where they go when it’s time to put them away. This may sound strange, but it’s definitely the case in this house and I’m assuming we aren’t completely different from every family in the world. Our solution is to put all toys in small to medium storage bins (on bookshelves) that are fairly shallow in depth or totally clear so you can see everything in them. The exceptions to this are: dress up clothes (see large hamper link below), stuffed animals (see next tip), and larger toys that we either set straight on our shelves or on the floor depending on how large they are.
Here are the storage baskets we love:
White Woven Baskets (5 pack): https://amzn.to/3vhvANi (We love these for small to medium sized toys)
Clear Storage Bins with Lids (20 pack): https://amzn.to/2T746eU (We use these for small puzzles, legos, etc)
Large Woven Hamper: https://amzn.to/3oJoDlE (We use this for dress up clothes; it holds a ton!)
- Store stuffed animals in kids room!This is a huge tip for us! I am not sure I know a household without a crazy number of stuffed animals. You receive them as gifts constantly and if your kids are anything like mine, they struggle to get rid of any animals and they remember who gave them each one. Some of our solutions to this have been: telling everyone to stop giving us stuffed animals (haha!), having the kids get rid of one to replace a new one they receive, and storing all of our animals in storage containers with lids that roll under the kids beds (they are allowed a few on their beds, of course).
Great under the bed storage options:
Storage Containers with wheels: https://amzn.to/3yGcLFq (These are the exact ones we have)
Slightly Smaller Containers: https://amzn.to/3yDPjsv (These do not have wheels like the others)
Closing Thoughts
Now you know some ways we organize our toy room and I hope you have gained something from this post. If you reorganize your toy room with me in mind, please share on Instagram and tag me! I would love to see how these tips have helped you!
Oh, just a few more products I wanted to share that we love in our toy room, but also our homeschool space:
Clear project cases: https://amzn.to/3ftEJNn (These are awesome for school materials, coloring supplies, or magazines)
Bungee Chairs: https://amzn.to/3bW79xj (These are comfortable and perfect for a toy room, media room, or child’s and/or teen’s bedroom)
Blessings to you,
Marissa
@sewist_marissa
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sewistmarissadesigns
sewistmarissa.art.blog 