[ddahl]

LOOKING FOR SOME CREATIVE STORAGE IDEAS FOR ALL OF THE TOYS WE HAVE. I HAVE SHELVES AND BASKETS AND HUGE ZIP LOCKS BUT THE CONTINUAL CLUTTER ABOUNDS. WITH BABY NUMBER TWO ON THE HORIZON, I HESITATE GETTING RID OF MORE THAN I ALREADY HAVE.


DOES ANYONE HAVE A WONDERFUL STORAGE SYSTEM THAT CAN PROVIDE A PICTURE.... OR TWO???

COME ON GIRLS! SHOW MAMA YOUR CONTAINED CLUTTER!

[lakimnafite]

You do not want to see my 'contained clutter'.. I am much better at the clutter part than the contained... But I look forward to seeing some options because I WANT to have contained clutter.. really I do....

[Mykidsmom]

That was my thought: Can clutter be contained??????

We are having a room added to our home as I write.

Looking forward to the organized people posting.

[votemom]

for clothing, i use large rubbermaid bins. i label the ends and stack them in our basement storage room. i usually keep one in the child's bedroom closet for seasonal stuff they may need.

for toys, i clear stuff out regularly. if it's something that's really special and was a favorite of a child, i keep it and put it in storage (yep, bins again).

if not, i pitch it or pass it on. my older kids always played with far fewer toys than we had. and so with the girls this time around i'm being rather diligent about not ending up with a bunch of toys that they don't even play with. it makes me crazy.

we have one big toybox in our family room and every night the room gets completely picked up. besides the toy box, they have a kitchen set that we re-org with all the stuff that goes with it, and they have a dollhouse that we do the same thing with. finally, i have a clear plastic tub for all the books.

they play so much better (and longer) each new day when i pick up and organize every night.

so - all that to say - nothing creative or brilliant at my house. haha.

[kretzklan]

I don't have pictures, but I try to get some and post them. Here are a few things that work for us:
1. For books, I use the old plant stands. They are circular and have numerous shelves around the outside. I painted them to match each room and they hold a TON of books and keep them contained.
2. For all that ART...I hung a metal strip (it's flashing from roofs - bought at Home Depot)..actually glued it to the wall around our playroom. Get the magnets and voila! You can hang everything you want to show off and then put it in bins as the display gets full.
3. For small toys - I used a 2x4 and large hooks and then hung metal buckets from the hooks. Each bucket is labeled for what goes in it...art supplies, hot wheels, barbie clothes. And, it looks really cute!
4. Bigger toys go in see-through rubbermaid type containers and are stacked on shelves with labels.

I am also a BIG TIME purger. If the kids haven't played with it in 6 months...out it goes. I get a high off giving things to charity (or my niece).

Organization is an ongoing battle for most of us...good luck!

[ddahl]

Kretz! You must post the pictures you creative little gal! Sounds totally adorable! I have been purging buts its generally followed by splurging so I am doomed! LOLOLOL

[tbristow]

Are we talking in the room or the ones you're saving for the next child (or grandchildren)? We have overhead storage bins now installed in the garage for the plastic containers (works great for all the Christmas junk too). I may actually get a car in there someday!!

[momraine]

Ideas my organized friends have used (I am not organized so I don't have pictures) Under the bed bins (you can put risers under the bed to make it taller, but with my kids because of missing legs on the kids we have low beds so that doesn't work for me), rotating toys. My friend has her kids toys devided into catagories. It used to kill my daughter when she went over there but her friend was used to it. For instance if she wanted barbies that day, she rolled into the living room a plastic thing with drawers. The dolls were in one drawer, the clothes in another (all outfits together with even the shoes in zip lock bags) and other accesories in the third drawer. Until nap time she could play with nothing else. Then during nap time my friend would move the barbie drawers back to the garage and her daughter could pick out something else. Like say the kitchen. This was a big kitchen unite and a box of toy dishes and foods. This would be the only toy allowed until bedtime. Thgere were a few favorite toys kept in the bedroom, but very few.
Another friend had hooks on the walls and hanging from the hooks were these cool bags she made. They were basically a circle of fabric that had something to do with what was inside. (the dinosaur bag had dinosaurs in it, a bag with roads on it contained the cars and when it was open was also the play mat, the barbie material held barbies, etc) The edges of the circle had a drawstring. So you had this flat circle on the ground, but then you could pull on the strings and it turned into a bag which could be hung on a hook.
I look foreward to other ideas.

[MamaChinch]

Bins and baskets for everything. Not so organized, although I do oraganized abotu once a week so she can find things. Books are in wicker baskets lined with canvas, toys in bins. I rotate her toys, but there are still so many! ugh! I have one of those bins with 4 shelves of brightly colored bins. Since she is only two, the bins ands baskets are easiest for her, she can dump and them put them away. She has four pink basket in her room for toys. I do not have room to get more creative than that! I am with Dixie...any ideas will help!!! he he!! I also have closet organizers in her closet with two top shelves that I store her things on. Here are some pics, but what I do is probably just like everyone else. (contianed clutter!)

[jeni-b]

Toy rotation is my best suggestion. With toys that are currently played with I have 3 areas - area 1 (her room) has a toy box and the bottom drawer of her dresser contains her dress-ups
Area 2 - the living room, where I have an antique crock that she can stuff full of lacing beads, puppets, leap pad, and other things that are allowed in the main living area
Area 3 - the playroom, organization there is a large shelf that goes all the way around the room for display and easy access to things like doll house little people and blocks, then a toy box to contain things that don't need sorted
We also have a basket in each room for books and puzzles.
Every couple of months I switch the toys around so that she plays with more of her stuff.

Clothes - I keep rubbermaid tubs in the basement of all the things she has outgrown or are out of season. We also keep a basket in the floor of her closet for things she outgrows. When the basket gets full I decide if it is something we want to keep or give to charity.

[srhbj]

I love the idea to hang art around the room. Never would have thought about that. For us, we hang my daughter's art pictures on her bedroom door and my computer room door. As for toys, I have found that the plastic tubs work wonders for keeping things cleaned up and neat.

[angelkisses0102]

Forget clutter...even contained...clean that crap out and get rid of it! We have already had Faith Farm Ministries here once this month...I have a ton of stuff for Bella and will schedule another Faith Farm pickup. Kids can only play with so much. I have them choose the toys going to the kids who have no toys...DS filled a Target bag with beloved cars yesterday to give to those kiddos. DD has gotten rid of more than she kept...by choice.

[Bcelli]

FIRST - thin the herd. If you don't need it or desperately want it, pass it on to someone else who might desperately need it. Then -

Containerize! Containerize! Containerize!

Everything needs a bin or container. Clear works well since you can see what's in it, but then sometimes you don't want to see it. We have three clear, underbed storage containers with wheels and hinged lids under each boy's bed. For one son, a bin is filled with stuffed animals. For another, off season clothing. Just whatever fits and works best for whatever particular kid. We have upholstered storage ottomans in each boys room with cars, animals, whatever tucked away in there. Each has 3 small book cases just for books. They also each have a toy box inside their closet with additional shelving there as well. In the playroom, a train table with storage trundles corrals most of the toy issues. Inexpensive bookcases keep books, DVDs and videos stored nicely. And just inside the back door where we enter from school are 4 hooks along the chair rail and two clear plastic wall files - one for each boy. Backpacks, lunch bags, coats go on the hooks. Paperwork from school goes into the wall files. This all has been a process slowly born out of necessity and we are still trying to work it all out. But as the old saying goes, "A place for everything and everything in its place." It sure makes life a lot more manageable - and by default, much more enjoyable.

I highly recommend any of the home television channel programs about organization and wasted spaces. There are some amazing tips to be found. And certain Scandanavian home stores have great deals on many organizational pieces. Good luck.

[CTgirl00]

For those interested in hanging things....we used a magnetic paint and painted a strip along our basement (now a finished playroom) wall. We then painted our wall color over it. So, DS, can hang his artwork with magnets along the wall - we painted the strip at his level, so he can hang his own artwork, play with magnets, etc. He loves it! On the other wall we did magnetic paint and chalkboard paint - another fun idea. Not organization ideas, but perhaps helpful???

[TweetyMom04]

Recycle the toys, books, etc. For every new one the Boys get, they choose which they will donate to a local charity or a local playgroup - part of the school system they grew up in from age 2.5. In so doing, they learn to help others.

I cannot find the picture, but I've got a rolling 6 bin cart, under the open stairs. Yes it is on wheels and stands about 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 3 - 4 feet high +/-? There are 3 red, 3 blue plastic bins, large ones. I keep books and heavier items on the bottom. They have puzzles in one, cars/trucks/planes, etc in other one, farm/animals/bulldozers/etc., in another one., you get the idea. They've learned responsibility to return play items to the bin. They love cleaning up their toys b/c they can find the item (s) again, easily

They have a toy box (soft sided) in their room of stuffed animals. In the storage room are the 'over flow' of items. Stuff they play with, but we cannot fit it down stairs in the bins. We rotate these items out with those downstairs. When they stop playing with them, donation time.

I do the same with outgrown clothing or gently used. Donation, donation, donation. Again the Boys learn to help others.