With the holidays just around the corner, I need to start making room for the onslaught of toys, clothes and gifts
coming our way. You see, my children have four sets of grandparents, a
great-grandparent, three sets of Aunts and Uncles, One set of parents and the
old man himself, Santa. Needless to say, Christmas is RIDICULOUS. Every year at
this time, we start to weed through the outgrown clothes and the seldom-used
toys, donating as much as we can and thinking about organization and storage solutions. Here are some ideas:
The first step would be gather about six bins, bags or boxes
and label them as follows:
Garbage
Give Away or Sell
Put Away
Storage
Last Chance
Repairs
As you sort through the clothing and toys, place items in
their appropriate bins. Work on one area at a time, to sort and purge items.
Consider how you can maximize storage capacity by looking
under, over, inside and behind things. If you put a shelf over the closet door
or a window, you can make good use of otherwise wasted space to display
collectibles. Rolling containers that fit under a bed are ideal for toys or
clothes.
Take a look around the house to see what you may already
have. Clean jars, shoe boxes and baby-wipe containers are perfect for small
toys, and putting them to good use provides a valuable lesson in recycling. Or
clear, plastic boxes are an efficient solution to the multitude of little cars,
meal toys and other tiny objects that are too small for the large toy chest.
Low, open shelves are a functional addition to every child's
room, whether along a wall or inside the closet. This allows easy access to
favourite toys and games.
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| via house to home |
Every item in a household should have a place where it
belongs. Add a variety of stackable bins in small, medium and large sizes to
give everything its own place. Labeling the outside of the bins makes it easier
to find what you are looking for. For children who can’t read yet, paste a
photo or picture on the bin for easy recognition.
Keep some toys in a plastic bin in a storage room and rotate
them monthly with toys currently in use.
Plastic three-drawer units organize art and/or school
supplies.
Make bed-making easier by eliminating the top sheet. Instead
of being used, it always ended up pushed into the abyss of the end of the bed.
Post those novelty basketball rings above anything you want
your kids to slam dunk stuff into rather than the floor: garbage cans, laundry
baskets, etc.
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| crate shelves |
Have your child plan their wardrobe one school week at a
time. Store outfits within five stacking cubbies or on five combination hangers
(hangers with a bar and clips to hold pants as well as a top) to streamline
their morning routine.
Try to put things where they make sense and group together
related items. Involving your children in the reorganizing of their space will
give them a sense of ownership and will hopefully, encourage them to keep their
rooms tidy. Fingers crossed;)
