Welcome to week 8 of A Bowl Full of Lemons 14 Week Organizing Challenge. This week we are organizing the playroom/toys. If you don’t have kids, spend the week organizing your “hobby” items. Examples are knitting, scrapbooking, sewing and collections.
If this is your first time participating in the challenge, welcome! Each week, you will receive a new challenge & you will have 7 days to complete it. If you are not subscribed to my blog & want reminders for the weekly challenges, you can sign up here. The first thing you need to do is print out your 14 Week Schedule. You can hang it on your fridge and check it off as you go. Print it out here.
WEEK #8 CHECKLIST: (Print out the free Playroom checklist HERE)
THE PROCESS
- Keep
- Donate
- Trash/Recycle
- Other Room
- Go through everything on the shelves, baskets, floors and drawers, dividing into 4 categories. Purge as much clutter as you can. If your kids haven’t played with something in a while or they’ve grown out it, let it go. Also if a certain game or toy is a major source of clutter, purge it!
- Wipe down toy shelves
- Clean inside & outside of toy bins
- Clean toys
- Wash stuffed animals on gentle cycle (check care tag)
- Play Food
- Littlest Pet Shop
- Shopkins
- Barbies
- Arts & Crafts
- XBox
- Wii
- Legos
- Games
- Polly Pockets
- Dress Up
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Monster High
- American Girl
- Bitty Baby
- Build a Bear
- Rainbow Loom
MANAGING TOY ORGANIZATION:
We’ve been using this system for about a year and I can honestly say the mess has stayed away. There are 5 key points to remember, if you want this type of organizing system to work for you.
- Teach your kids to clean up every evening. If they don’t know how or are not going to be held responsible for this chore, the system will not work. If they skip a day, 1 day will turn into 2, and 2 into 5. Then you have a mess on your hands. Repetition is key. Don’t give up.
- Label each box clearly. If they see what’s supposed to go inside, they are more likely to organize correctly.
- Use boxes with lids. I’ve tried organizing toys in “bins” with no lids and the problem with that is when it’s time to clean up, they will just throw the toys into the closest bin (because it’s easy). You can find boxes with lids just about anywhere. You may even have some at home. This small investment will save you so much time & headaches in the future.
- Keep it simple. Kids need simple!
- Re-organize the bins at least once a month. Sometimes a stray toy or 2 will get thrown into the wrong bin and before you know it, the box labeled barbies is now everything but barbies.
Here are several blog posts that will inspire you to get your Playroom & toys organized.
HOW TO SHARE:
Share your progress on Instagram using the hash tag #abfolorganizechallenge, blog about the weekly challenges – sharing your before and after pictures and/or share over at my Home Organization 101 group here. Hold yourself accountable and finish all 14 challenges!
NEW TO THE CHALLENGE?
If you are just joining us, visit the challenge details page here, to learn what it’s all about.
CHALLENGES:
Week 1: The Kitchen
Week 2: The Laundry Room
Week 3: The Pantry
Week 4: Master Bedroom
Week 5: The Office
Week 6: Living Room
Week 7: Bathroom
HAPPY ORGANIZING!
I’ll see you back next week for another organizing challenge.
Tags: playroom, toy organization, toys
14 Week Challenge, 2015 Home Organization 101, Blog, February 2015, Organize, Other Spaces, toy organization, Toy room Posted in
9 comments
9 comments on “Home Organizing Challenge Week 8: Playroom/Toys”
Is the shelf from IKEA? We have the same in our playroom so wondering specifically what storage bins you used to go inside of it (the striped ones). Also, where did you buy them?
Where did you purchase the stripe clear plastic bins?
Where did you get those striped bins?
Thank you for sharing! I have a hard time keeping the toy room clean, so this will definitely help!
I’m going to pin this to my Pinterest board to save for later.
Where did you purchase the shelving unit?
This post has my A type personality drooling over here. This just looks fantastic. If I had just finished this project I would be standing back with a cup of coffee just admiring it.
This is one of my go to sites for organization! Thanks for presenting this storage solutions for children’s playspace!
FYI. The blue striped bins are from Target. You can order them online. http://www.target.com/p/circo-storage-tote-rugby-blue-stripe-large/-/A-14767353#prodSlot=medium_1_9&term=blue+stripe+bins
Hi where did u purchase the storage unit?
Every time you share about toy organization and keeping things clean and neat, I just stare and admire the beauty! I thought I had done well-we have clear Sterilite bins (Show Offs) but they are different sizes. Then we have the odd shaped items sitting on the shelves which further creates a messier look. It works for us, but you’ve inspired me to re-think whether we could fit everything into tubs and all the same size. Most of ours are the shoebox size; so we could pare back and fit things into those. Thank you for sharing this serene sight!