Work In Progress: Sarah's Adventures in Home Organization, Toy Edition

Tidy. I love that word. I love its efficiency, so immediately evocative of familiar, comfortable surroundings and industrious, practical individuals. Yet, though "tidy" I love, tidy I am not. I'm inherently given to clutter and chaos, abandoning a project to fix myself a bowl of ice cream and picking it up three months later. Frankly, I'd rather spend my time organizing my thoughts, because that's its own Herculean task to be sure.

But then I married this guy who is, shall we say, fastidious. He craves clear, clean, open surfaces and gets distracted by un-vacuumed carpets. My method (or rather, lack thereof) for loading a dishwasher completely perplexed him.  Many times I have needed to remind him that I am a vortex of entropy, and he's certainly very patient considering. As with many things in our marriage, we've taught each other the benefits of our respective life approaches.

Still, as I've gotten older, I've itched more and more for a pared-down simplicity that pairs well with proper organization. A place for everything, etc., etc. So, with that in mind, I've determined to get. My. Home. Organized!

It's daunting, sure, and I promise you the process will be a long one, but I'll bring you along for the ride, okay? First up - toys!

[caption id="attachment_2139" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Shelf and Baskets from IKEA (Where else? And does anyone else mentally sing "IKEA" to the tune of "The Dance of the Robe" from "Aida"? Right?)[/caption]

This is where the majority of our toys are stored, apart from a few large items and stuffed animals.  And up until  a week ago, their insides looked like this:

Not pretty. And worse, not functional. Play time consisted of my children emptying the contents of all the baskets, quickly becoming overwhelmed, losing interest, and investigating the kitchen, bathrooms, and desk instead. Then, all the toys were scooped back in to start the cycle over again. It was unproductive for them and frustrating for me. I had in my mind to fix it for quite a while before I finally did. But oh, how I did.

First, I knew I needed a game plan. While the above photo certainly doesn't suggest it, I'm a big believer in limiting the number of toys your children have access to. It prevents over-stimulation, encourages longer stretches of play, and fosters imagination and pretend skills. So, I knew I wanted to get rid of quite a bit, and that I wanted to store toys that could be rotated in and out of play as well. Unfortunately, I needed a storage solution that could stay out in the open, at least until the rest of the apartment is likewise streamlined. Luckily, a pin came to my mind of covering cardboard boxes in fabric. (Pinned here, if you're curious.) With the materials on hand, I jumped right into the project and soon had this:



Pretty cute for 20 minutes work, I'd say. I now had my storage box that fit perfectly above my kitchen cabinets, and I had my resolve. It was go time. I went through each basket one-by-one, sorting toys into donations, storage for future children (they had outgrown it), storage to be rotated into play, toys being kept out for the time being, items that were not toys at all (and every time I'd shout, "She doesn't even go here!"), and trash. At the end of it, I had this:

[caption id="attachment_2137" align="aligncenter" width="496"] I love how the caterpillar at the top right is smiling as if to say, "My home is beautiful now. Thank you."[/caption]

Much better. And how has it held up, one week later? I'm thrilled by how much more the kids actually play with the toys - blocks are made into towers and roads, cars are driven over them, and it is well with my soul. Unfortunately, because there is now so much more space after a basket has been emptied, that basket also becomes a toy. They are collapsible, and my kids take every chance to break them down and make them into bridges or baking trays for cakes. I like the ingenuity, but it's taking its toll on the baskets themselves - we'll see how they hold up. Also, my oldest is a lot more aware of grouping like toys together when clean-up time comes, not to mention the fact the clean-up time itself is much faster. Still, toys do get strewn all over the apartment, so perhaps it's time to implement a "one toy at a time" policy. We'll see how that goes, but overall I'm pretty happy with the results! What are some toy-organizing, or general home organization tricks that have worked for you and your family? Any spaces in your home that need a good gutting? I have my eyes on the spice cabinet and my nightstand next...