Cleaning Kids Room: Toy Storage Solution

You’ve always dreamed of having your own family. Kids running all over the house, laughter everywhere, the joy of having little ones. Then it happens and after 9 long months, you finally bring home your bundle of joy. But with that little bundle comes a mountain of stuff. More than you could ever imagine. And guess what? That mountain of stuff continues to grow for the next 18 years.

So how do you manage it all? How do the clean the kids’ room, organize the stuffed animals, organize the legos, etc.? What kind of storage bins do you use? Cleaning kids’ rooms are all about being able to wrangle all of the toys and books and clothing…oh my. But how do you do this you ask…I’ll tell you. One of my favorite things to do is to put some sort of shelving in the closet. It could be an extra bookshelf or some sort of metal shelving. The goal is to create flat spaces to be able to store stuff. This removes the stuff and clutter from the inside of the bedroom and puts it behind doors and into the closet. In order for this system to truly work, you will need to use storage bins for all the toys and stuffed animals and the like. The storage bins will then be stored on the shelves bringing the clutter out of the bedroom and into the closet. Genius huh? Board games and anything that is big and cumbersome can sit directly on the shelves without putting them in bins. Now you have cleaned the kids’ room, organized the stuffed animals, organized the legos by putting a shelf in the closet and using toy storage bins. That’s one way.

(This client put a small bookcase in the closet for her teen daughter’s belongings.)

Organizing Stuffed Animals

Stuffed animals are one of those things that multiply like gremlins. (Am I dating myself? You know that cute little characters from the movie that turns into possessed things when they get wet.) Before you know it, it seems as though those cute little fuzzies sitting in the corner have all of a sudden taken over the room and even the house. They’re in the bedroom, family room, the car and even the bathroom with the extras already in the garage. So, what do with them all? While I won’t say only keep five of the favorites, I will say there are several ways to organize the stuffed animals.  A fun way to store them is by keeping them in a toy hammock. This utilizes the wall space instead of floor space of closet space. Not to mention that depending on the where you place it on the wall it is easy for the little ones to grab their favorites and more importantly put them back after playing with them.

Organize Legos to Save Your Sanity

If you’ve ever been to a Lego store you know how impressive it is seeing the huge statues they make out of these tiny little blocks. There is not a home I go into with children that do not have a plethora of Legos. We can only hope that our little ones will make something recognizable let alone magnificent. There are thousands of these little blocks crawling all over the house….literally. The larger Legos or Duplos as they are known are not as bad but the others are so small and so few of them seem to make it to the storage bins that you are constantly stepping on them. NOTHING hurts more stepping on a lego in the middle of the night half asleep when you are trying to make your way to the loo. So how do you keep them contained so that you avoid the night terrors?

There are many ways to organize your legos in order to maintain your sanity and your feet. Ideally, it would be wonderful if they could be sorted by color. While this may be possible for an older tike that is damn near impossible for your toddler. Either way, make sure you have plenty of containers. Clear shoe boxes are a great way to store your Legos not only because they are inexpensive but you can also see into them and they stack nicely. Not to mention they are readily available in most stores that sell organizing supplies. Once you have all the bins it’s best to store them on some sort of shelving.

When the kids want to play with them lay down an old sheet before they start. This way when they are finished for the day and plan on spending more time with the Legos tomorrow, instead of replacing everything to its rightful bins, you can just pick up the four corners of the sheet and everything is contained for the next day of play.

Best Toy Storage Bins

So far, I have mentioned toy storage bins numerous times. Without a doubt when you are cleaning the kids’ rooms, you need lots of toy storage options. There are endless possibilities when it comes to storing toys. There are bins, toy boxes, crates, bags, in all different shapes and sizes. So how do you decide what is the best option for you?

The first thing is you need to figure out is what is being stored in regards to the size. This will determine the best options for you. Again, I love containers that have lids for smaller toys because then you can stack them easily. Larger toys are best stored in open bins or boxes. Books and games are great on bookshelves as well as anything that has flat sides such as boxes that hold dolls, toy cars, puzzles, craft supplies, you get the idea. When in doubt always check Pinterest for toy storage options. They have countless ideas on how to store toys.

Cleaning Kids’ Rooms with Organization

As parents, we are constantly picking up after the kids and organizing their rooms. But who says that we are the ones responsible for doing this? Why can’t the kiddos do their part? Ever since my own daughter was very young, I’m talking a toddler, I have had her involved in the process of cleaning up and organizing her room. After all it is her room and her stuff. If she wants to be able to play with her things she needs to be able to find them so she has to know where they belong. Which brings me to my next point.

By involving your children in the process, you are not only teaching them responsibility but you are also teaching them the skill of organizing. For most people, it is not something that comes naturally but it is something that can definitely be learned. It doesn’t matter the age of the child there is a way for them to help organize their room. The younger ones can put books back on the shelf, dolls and cars in the appropriate bins, legos and puzzle pieces where they belong, games on the shelf, etc. The older children can be a part of creating the room that they want with the storage that will work for them.

The lesson here is that toys will be a part of our kids’ lives for roughly 18 years or more, depending on when they move out. So the best thing to do is join the party and get organized.