Situation: A dining room that was transformed into a kid’s playroom. The challenge was too many toys. This created several issues which resulted in toys that were never put away.
- There were toys that were no longer used and taking up precious storage space.
- With too many play options, the kids were bouncing back and forth between activities with no real focus.
- Because new toys were constantly added without removing old toys, storage for every item was impossible, there was simply not enough space for everything.
Solution:
- We purged and donated toys that the kids no longer used.
- Keeper toys were reduced in half with half stored in the playroom for easy access and the other half stored in Rubbermaid tubs on shelving in the garage.
- When the children grew tired of certain toys, they were rotated out or donated and replaced with a few of the ‘new’ toys from the garage tubs.
- We placed toy collections with multiple small parts up high and out of reach of the toddler. He was able to play with these items only with supervision and when there was time to oversee that he put them back into their designated containers. When they were behind closed doors, he forgot about them anyway.
- I repurposed the shelving unit on the right in the ‘before’ photo and moved it into the hall closet where it fit perfectly without removing the shelf above and it became a very useful haven for backpacks, purses, shoes and craft materials.
