Playroom organization tips?

[MrsK]

NO! DON'T GO TO THE STORE! Purge first. People usually find that they have more than enough containers. Don't start by accumulating more clutter. You need to know what you have before you know what you need..

[MrsK]

Can you put the sofa in another room?

[MrsK]

For the classic books. ...they will always be in the library or free on Kindle. Maybe try one on CD and see how the kids do having it "read" to them.

[MrsK]

As for "best practices".... organizing is a personal thing. A system that works for one person won't work for another. You need simple systems that you can stick with. If it's cumbersome, you won't do it. The systems you have now require a lot of steps to maintain. That's why you have to keep digging in and redoing it.

[poky]

Yup, what MrsK said.

If your DH doesn't want to get rid of the couch, find somewhere else for it, where it will get sat upon. If there isn't anyplace, get rid of it.

The storage should be simple. Are legos only in a couple of those trofast bins? If you dedicated that whole trofast thing to lego, then it would all fit easily, and it would all be in one place. Then all random toys could fit in the angled colored bins, maybe? Or there and on shelves? Or maybe the lego will all fit in the angled buckets, and all the other toys could go in the trofast? Regardless, stop using little bins with lids for lego, and keep all lego together. If the kids don't care if they're not sorted by color, then you shouldn't, as long as they all fit in the designated lego bins that are easy to get things into and out of.

Regardless, put like things with like and purge as you go, and figure out where to put things based on how much of that thing you have and where it'll fit easily.

I know you know how, and can do this, just focus on maintainability; if it's something used often, it should be easily accessible, and shouldn't take effort to put back away where it belongs. Don't stack things in front of other things, unless the front things are used often and the back things are hardly ever used. You can go up a little more; the kids are getting taller.

[spotty_dog]

NO! DON'T GO TO THE STORE! Purge first. People usually find that they have more than enough containers. Don't start by accumulating more clutter. You need to know what you have before you know what you need..

Oh, no worries! I've more than learned that lesson, I'm a sucker for cute baskets and things but then end up with nothing to put in them. I meant after I do the first level of cleaning and sorting THEN I am willing to make the 15 minute drive and pick up shelving or other bigger items I've hesitated to consider in the past, depending on what remains homeless.

Can you put the sofa in another room?

Nope, that's the reason it's in here. Attic family room and living room have more than enough seating; other rooms have no space.

For the classic books. ...they will always be in the library or free on Kindle. Maybe try one on CD and see how the kids do having it "read" to them.

I find that I just don't reach for eBooks like I do for physical books. The Gutenberg ones also tend to be text-only, where my kids are much more likely to persist with books that are nicely illustrated. I'm also building a Kindle and Google Play library though. Unfortunately I think DS has an auditory processing disorder. Some audiobooks are loads of fun -- thanks for the reminder that we need some new ones for car rides! -- but some narrators or sound effects make the content incomprehensible to him.

[spotty_dog]

The storage should be simple. Are legos only in a couple of those trofast bins? If you dedicated that whole trofast thing to lego, then it would all fit easily, and it would all be in one place. Then all random toys could fit in the angled colored bins, maybe? Or there and on shelves? Or maybe the lego will all fit in the angled buckets, and all the other toys could go in the trofast? Regardless, stop using little bins with lids for lego, and keep all lego together. If the kids don't care if they're not sorted by color, then you shouldn't, as long as they all fit in the designated lego bins that are easy to get things into and out of.

The little bins system arose some time last year when DS was getting frustrated and not building because he couldn't find stuff. He would persist a little longer if I sat with him and helped him dig in the big bins but OMG I didn't want to do that every day. So we researched Lego storage systems, determined that the choices were size/shape or color, and he insisted that sorting by color would make it much, much easier for him to build. And, when there's enough clear space for him to get in there, he does get more done if he just takes out the bins with the colors he wants to use. It's just that it's on me to do the sorting.

Almost done with the first level of purge/sort/clean. Updated photos coming.

[poky]

Ah, so it matters to him that they're sorted...but not enough to do the sorting himself? Gotta love that. Looking forward to seeing the progress!

[MrsK]

Wait until you are at the 3rd level before shopping.

[MrsK]

Re:legos...maybe put out fewer? If you have one bin of Legos, it might be more manageable for him to sift through. You could even do one smallish bin with dividers so he can sort them himself.

[MrsK]

Can the sofa replace something else in another room? Why does your husband want to keep it?

[spotty_dog]

Okay, done to the first level of clean. This is what I consider an adequate job of weekly cleaning: everything obvious has been purged/sorted/donated/moved to a more appropriate room. The floor is clear and the surfaces clean. I moved the telescope to DS's room and the Calico Critters to DD's.

Click for large view - Uploaded with Skitch

Click for large view - Uploaded with Skitch

Click for large view - Uploaded with Skitch

Click for large view - Uploaded with Skitch

[spotty_dog]

Can the sofa replace something else in another room? Why does your husband want to keep it?

I think just because it's a useful piece of furniture and if we're going to want a seating surface we may as well use the one we already have?

[MrsK]

I think just because it's a useful piece of furniture and if we're going to want a seating surface we may as well use the one we already have?

It's not useful if it's never sat on...

[GreyhoundsRUs]

We have no couch on our playroom and it's been fine. We have 1 beanbag chair and 2 Anywhere chairs (for the kids).

I'd put a 2 totes by the bookshelf for library books or have a special bin on the bookshelf for them.