Project Simplify: Kids Stuff

I have really loved taking care of some of these Hot Spots ...Simple Mom's Project Simplify has been most inspiring to get some of these problem areas knocked out!

This week's assignment was a big area of need in our house, which is why I took care of it last weekend ..two days BEFORE she assigned it as this week's Hot Spot :)

SO..I dont have any BEFORE pics of the Kids Stuff ..but I do have after pics and have been enjoying the organization of that for a week now!

We dont have a huge closet, but we do have a playroom so the only thing in my boy's room is their clothing and some books. That really helps keep the toy clutter to a smaller geographical location...

The boys closet BEFORE ..

{picture here ...the after pic with lots more clothes, stuff sticking out drawers and no empty hangers :}

The boys closet AFTER ...

The blue bins at the top of their closet is one of our Parent Control Stubstances ...their train set. If they have all the pieces down for that at once they end up spreading all over the house, always cluttering up their bedroom (so I take back what I said about there not being any toys in their room ..this is the only thing have in there ..the trains stay in their bedroom)

 The keep their laundry hamper in the closet, it keeps it from being a roller coaster ride down the stairs :)

In the drawers we have pj's, undies/socks and all their pants. Their shirts are all hanging. I personally find that much easier than folding.  I have two levels of shelves ..the lower shelf is specifically for clothes they choose for themselves. Those shirts are ones they can play in and are accessible by independent little boys :) The upper level is next season's stuff, and also shirts that I prefer they dont play in.

This is the room and the extra hangers we had left after we decluttered their clothes! :)

Decluttering their toys has been a perpetual process - I am constantly decluttering that area. Especially since Christmas I have been stealthily getting rid of toys that are broken, junky or not played with. With what we have left, I have half of it out and the other half in a bin in the garage. Its our version of toy rotation, only bringing it out when they start asking for specific things I know are in there.

I leave out categories of stuff that I know they love the most ..cars, dress up, blocks, trains, etc. We were still having a lot of trouble keeping that stuff picked up, so as part of this week's decluttering I did another brutal toy overhaul.

This time I had them chose from those categories their 10 favorites of each of those things (except blocks, the open ended toys stay as is).  They have 10 cars, 10 "people" (my boys LOVE gijoe guys, and other figures like that), 10 of their favorite dress up items, etc.  I was alittle concerned they would complain about it but ..not a whine.

When we were all done choosing our favorite things, we "celebrated" having simplified all of it and we dumped ALL the bins in the of the playroom floor! :) Then we saw how fast we were able to pick it all up, it was super fast :) This was a great lesson for mommy and boys :)

I also have a shelf of toys that are Parent Controlled - things they have to have permission and or supervision to use. In those bins is paint, playdoh, construction sets, etc.  They can reach them, but they know they cant get them without permission.

In the process of simplifying the kiddo's stuff I learned I learned a few things that I would like to remember for when I attempt this again ...

* Kids really do like simplicity ...it has been notable how there has been no complaints whatsoever about the limited toy options. I swear they are playing outside more, playing with eachother more, complaining less about picking up, and playing with what they have more often. Its not just for me :)

* Give them a voice ..I was a bit surprised when I called my 6 yo in to help me declutter his pants. He had a ton but apparently he had serious reasons for why he didnt wear certain ones (aside from Sunday, or when looking nice is important, he chooses his own clothes). I learned he prefers jean and not "brown" short because they "embarrass" him ..who knew? That helped eliminate several pairs of shorts that would have otherwise been taking up room :)

* Every pair of jeans we started out the fall with have holes in them now :) ..that means we now have that many pairs of cut off shorts for the summer. These are perfect play shorts, and as we have learned ...gives Ty more options for "not brown" shorts :)

* Because these boys are growing SO fast, I am keeping a basket in their closet or on my dryer (its on my dryer right now) for putting things away that are outgrown or need to be goodwill/garage sale'd. I have found that having a basket close by, it cuts down on the dreaded clothes overhaul every few months.

This was a great week for decluttering and simplifying!  ..cant wait for next week!

{One are we area simplifying is our BUDGET ..check out our PearBudget GIVEAWAY !}