There are no more toys in our kids’ bedrooms. There are no more toys in the kitchen. There are no more toys in the living room. They have migrated on the winds of the Northern Wind called Mommy.
Our toys have been relocated to one central location – the new “play room” in our basement/den area. One spot – not spread all over the house. It’s amazing, I’ll tell you.
I was inspired by Large Family Logistics that bedrooms should be for sleeping and privacy. When I started thinking on that, it made sense to me. I don’t go to my bedroom to play. I go there to sleep or because I’m about to have a break down and need a minute.
When my kids had toys in their room, it was easier for them to disobey…because at a young age, they think if you can’t see them, it’s totally okay for them to disregard what you said. But when their toys are located in a communal area where everyone is, it keeps them accountable (which is also why our computer is in the living room on full display.)
Honestly, I felt like I needed to have toys anywhere the kids might want to play – so it was making this house a little disheveled. But I don’t keep books anywhere I might want to read – I keep them in one spot and tote them as needed. If I want to paint my toenails in the kitchen sometimes and sometimes in the bedroom, I don’t need polish in both spots. I do however, need toilet paper at both toilets.
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up says not to “separate storage.” Things one of type should be stored together. Unless you or I live in a colossally huge house, going to get something that we might need can’t take us a huge amount of time. And it might even take us LESS when we actually know where everything is stored. Can I get a witness?!
So, I decluttered the toys and now we are keeping toys in one spot. I know I got rid of at least half of what we had…maybe even more because I’m still discarding stuff as needed.
I’ve noticed that my children LOVE this change. They seem to play better together and enjoy what they have more. They know where their toys are – because everything is there.
This has made is SO much easier for us to clean up after play time is over. We have one room to conquer – not every room in the house. Everything has a place and we know where it goes when we’re done.
If they want to play with a toy in the kitchen, they go get it and bring it with them. And take it back when they are done. I’ve had NO complaints about this…but honestly, if I did I would probably just laugh – get your exercise on, kiddos! 🙂 I’m kinda sarcastic when the whine breaks out here.
I know you might not have the space to dedicate one room to a play area – we are very blessed to have this basement room to use as needed. But you DO have the ability to make ONE area for play instead of having stuff stored all over the place. It should make it easier for you to clean up, easier to keep things contained, and easier for you to keep stuff under control. You can’t know what you have when things are stored in every room.
As we finish up decluttering our home, we’ve decided to make this house into a home so I’m actually decorating our house like I’ve always wanted to. So, our basement is a work in progress and already looks nothing like what is pictured here.
**You can follow me on Instagram to see our house progress.**
Now, I’ve been told this doesn’t work if you have teenagers – but I’m not at that point in our life. I only have small children (6, almost 3, and 10 months) so I’ll tackle that when I get there. I still think toys in one area is a good idea, no matter the age. But I do know that later on, they will want their “own” storage areas.
I have been wanting to read that. We have recently downsized from a 1600sqft house to 1200 and increased our family from 3 girls to 4 girls! We thought the new house’s sunroom would work for playroom, but alas they did “add-on” correctly and if we put space heater in there this winter discovered water 🙁 So toys out…storage room for things that can stand semi-temp changes. We now have three places for toys!!!! Gotta figure it out. But living room- blocks, puzzles, games, books, and learning toys from ABCJLM/MFW preschool. Hall shelf has cars and animals in baskets….my girls don’t play with these often but I keep thinking what if I ever have a boy I’ll want those! And in their room are baby dolls (in a doll bed), stuffed animals, dress up (one drawer tub) and instruments (in box of closet)….really the instruments are in there for my sanity. My brother gave them a child sized accordion! I try to have them stay in living room because my kids get more mischievous the more i have. My oldest was such an angel my 3rd who is two is so creatively destructive!!! Need to keep an eye on them.
I have tried to follow up on instagram but it doesn’t allow me to. I am katiefernan316
Hey Katie – I think I fixed it. 🙂
Oh man. You really hit home on this one. Just recently, I had a hairy conniption and took all my daughter’s toys and threw them into a garbage bag and took them away. She leaves them EVERYWHERE. I couldn’t even see her floor. She’s 3 years old and I don’t trust her to play in the basement alone. So while I could totally do a toy room down there, she can NEVER, EVER be alone (she will find a way to kill herself). He (almost 6-year-old) brother is fine for playing alone. Has been for quite some time. But my daughter is sooooo different. Still lots of training to be done!
My friend has a GREAT idea, though, but I need a bookshelf. She makes these things called “clutter locks.” See picture: http://i.imgur.com/vgER95u.jpg
She just bought baskets from the dollar store and “locks” them away. This forces her kids to put away one basket of toys before they take out another basket. Right now, I have all those colourful bin things… and they’re SOOOO annoying because my kids just take out everything and leave toys lying all over the place!
So I really want to switch things over to the way my friend does it!
*Update* Just in the time that it took my to write that, my daughter managed to go into the bathroom, fill up some toys with water, and dump it all over the bedroom. Ugh.
LOL She sounds like a free spirit. 🙂
We are lucky enough to have a “bonus room” in our house, that we use for the adult toys – sewing machine and video games for husband, and in the room directly adjacent, is what is the actual living room of the house, and our toy room. It is absolutely the best decision we made. I can see, hear, and interact with the kids playing from my sewing nook or from the kitchen (on the other side of the toy room). When we upgrade to more space, and it inevitable that we will, I will be looking for something similar.
Sounds like a great set-up!
We did this at our old house. It was really small for us so we had 4 boys in one room and 2 girls in the other. No room for toys with all the bodies! We made a toy library in the garage and I put down an area rug and lots of shelves. It was dark though and the kids didn’t like to go in there. I wasn’t good at staying on top of the organization of it all and pretty soon we had a mess again. I haven’t found a solution in our new house, though we are busy konmari-ing the toys to get a manageable amount. We do have a toy spot in our sunroom, but it’s not climate controlled so is only useable a few weeks each season.
Oh a sun room would be divine!
I love this idea. I’ve been following Marie Kondo’s book as well and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your series of posts on the topic! This week I’ve been working with the kids on purging their toys. (One of my sons, who is 6, is not liking the process and suggested I purge Kondo’s book, LOL.) We have toys everywhere… bedrooms, living room, kitchen, school room, garage, etc and I’d love to consolidate but I’m not sure where/how. With 4 kids, our house is full and we don’t have a basement, attic or bonus room. I may need to get creative! I’m starting to think about the large storage closet we have under the stairs… hmmmm…. Thanks for the inspiration!
Yeah – Andy got a pen and colored in my Marie Kondo book. LOL
We have a 1000 sq ft house but we do follow this principle. For mommys sanity I like the toys out of our living room so that I can relax after kiddos bedtime so they are in his room. When we move I hope to place them centrally in the den though. Good thoughts!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh relaxing time. Blessed.
Yes, I think it’s great to not have toys in the bedroom. As they got older there were things we wanted them to be able to protect from little hands and that changed a bit. I wonder how you are able to monitor their play when you are upstairs making supper or something and they are down playing? For our family it’s important that I be able to hear attitudes and issues before they become huge to teach them how to handle things appropriately and promote friendships among them. But I know I am in the minority on this .
I can hear – our kitchen is in such place that I can hear everything going on downstairs. 🙂
sounds like you have the perfect spot!
Too much mess makes me crazy, so I have done this almost from day one. We have a very small house, so our toys are in the living room, but we keep it manageable by only having a couple of options out at a time. The rest of the toys are stored in the closet, which the kids are not allowed to get into. I also keep a small amount of books out, and some art supplies, which are in the dining room by the table. For us, rotating toys and only having a few things out at a time, as well as keeping them in one spot, are the key to keeping the mess manageable, and to keep clean up from being overwhelming for the kids. I completely agree with keeping things in one spot; in fact, my husband and I recently did this with our clothes, instead of having clothes in a dresser and a closet, we put everything in the closet, and it is so nice to have everything right there and to only have to open one door!
I loooooooooooooooooove closets!