Has your home become overrun with an unbearable amount of kid clutter? You know what we mean- Barbie shoes, LEGO bricks, art projects and more. A cluttered playroom in one home might be the sign of kids who are actively using their toys for creative, imaginative play. For other kids that clutter could prevent them from engaging with their playroom at all. Let’s tackle the kid clutter. Check out our favorite tips.
Create a rotating art display.
Hang a gallery wall composed of empty, low-profile frames with the glass removed. Run a string across the frame and attach artwork with clips. Want to put up something new? Switch out something old.
Have an inbox and an outbox.
All papers coming home from school, daycare or activities can be sorted: needs action (forms to be filled out, homework to be completed) or needs sorted (completed school assignments, artwork). Have a dedicated area where forms or assignments that need to go back to school or activities can be easily found as well.
Your home is for living, not for storage.
If you’re not done having kids, save for the future. Don’t let the stroller or crib you’ll need again someday take up valuable space in your home- get a climate-controlled storage unit.
Establish landing areas.
Make sure you have a dedicated space for shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, sports gear, and coats. You know, all the things that get tossed to the floor or kitchen table when you get home. This doesn’t have to be an elaborate, Instagram-perfect mudroom with coordinating monogrammed bins. Use the space you have wisely..
Take charge.
Set aside space in a common area to be a charging station. There are some great, affordable charging stations for sale that will wrangle your cords and keep them out of sight. If your kids use chargeable devices for school, have them place those in the charging station when they come home, and they’ll always know where to find them.
Do a pre-holiday purge.
No matter how well you organize toys, you’ll most likely eventually reach a point where you just need to reduce the amount. Make room before a gift-giving holiday like Christmas or birthdays by going through toys with your kids. Even very young kids can get in on this process. Bring everything out into the open and sort it together so they’re part of the process. Use categories such as: keep, donate or sell, trash, and move into storage.
Set up rotations.
Kids can get overwhelmed with the number of toys they own. The clutter can keep them from actually playing. Set up a system where toys get rotated in and out of storage. This gives them a chance to explore something they haven’t played with in a while.
We hope these tips will help you turn your home into a place with plenty of room for playing and growing and fewer struggles over clutter.
