We have this room….
It was mostly a place that has held our overwhelming collection of  home school books, and kids toys.  It is a room right off of our living room and where our kids tend to THROW their toys. Its the place where everything gets stuffed if we don’t know where else to put it! Maybe you have such a place like that?

I am on a quest to get everything in order in my house, making sure there is a place for everything and everything in its place.

Here is a picture of this room BEFORE I got started on it.  Very bad I know….

I started by purging out at least half of the books on those shelves. I was determined to use only two of those shelves that you see and then move two of them to other places in my house.

As you know it is worse before it gets better….

Here is the room cleared out. I had to remove things in order to start over…

So far I only have gotten the kids toys in order, and haven’t been able to get the shelves finished. We have had three weeks of sickness, so the organizing projects have been on hold.

But….

Here is the end result of the kids toy area. I purchased this toy shelf with bins and the book holder at Target on sale a couple weeks ago. I am so happy with the results. I placed a couple of my boys car mats on the floor.

I have to tell you that since doing this simple change my little guys have played better and we have kept the toys organized like never before.

Why This Organizing Method Works For Kids

• It’s open storage and the kids can quickly see where everything is and where to put it back.
• Books facing out encourage reading
• It is kid friendly and at their level, so they can interact.
• The rugs on the floor encourage creative play
• I have removed all electronic toys from this room, and everything out is simple and interactive toys. Blocks, Puzzles, Legos, Cars, and Books.
• We do have electronic items, but we try to limit them, so I don’t keep those in full sight as to encourage other play.

My secret to keeping toys neat and tidy

It doesn’t look like very many toys does it? Well, there is more, but we have found when too much is out our kids don’t play with much. So we have bins of toys stored in other places, and once in a while we change some things out. Sometimes our kids will ask for a toy and we will get it out, but we always rotate it for something else. (This is my trick for keeping things neat and quick to pick up.)

What’s Next For This Room?

• Finish up the bookshelf organizing
• Hang a chalkboard for the kids
• Move all our family games into this room
• Figure out a seating solution
• Small table for the kids.

I will keep you updated and show you the end result when I finish.

I am linking this post up to Decor Chick Real Homes, Real Messes, Real Life Link Party

Welcome to The Cottage Chick, if you're new here, you may want to subscribe to receive my free updates through your feed reader or in your email inbox!