Decluttering the nursery
Turkey Butt has finally gotten into her big girl bed. I only have so much storage space and made the decision to sell her crib bedding. I know that means that I might jinks myself into another baby, but I don’t think it is wise to store crib bedding that I might not use again. I am not attached to it and got $12 for it at my local used baby store. That allows me to get new shoes for her without spending any money. This also keeps my storage open for other things.
As a parent, decluttering my house is virtually impossible. I have 2 kids that love to get toys. Little Man doesn’t yet but his toy box is already overflowing and he isn’t even playing with anything yet. So the toy situation was fixed at our house by buying 2 storage cubes from Kmart. The only toys that are allowed in the living room are the ones that can fit in their cube. There are a few exceptions like her coloring desk and the animal farm. They are just too big to fit. But if she wants a toy in the living room, it has to be able to go in the box when she goes to bed. That way, our living room is adult friendly after they are asleep. It is nice when it works.
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29 opinions for Decluttering the nursery
MandyMom
Oct 18, 2007 at 11:43 am
Is it me, or do toys seem to breed and multiply when you’re not looking. I donated huge amounts of toys, and boxed up others to bring out during those “IM SO BORED” times.. but we’re still overflowing!
Cathy
Oct 18, 2007 at 11:52 am
I feel like I live in a giant playpen. Sticky handprints, brightly colored toys and picture books are the decor in every room. Children grow so quickly that I know it won’t be long before the living areas are not wall-to-wall toys. It’s just so hard to clean.
Aimee
Oct 18, 2007 at 12:13 pm
I have a hard time decluttering. It seems as if I never want to get rid of any toys, etc because you know “the next child might want to play with them”. Every once in awhile I have a day where I will sit down and TRY to reorganize things…it only lasts until my daughter decides to play again.
Rachel
Oct 18, 2007 at 12:17 pm
I’ve also been wanting to get something to store our sons toys and hide them in the living room. I’m tired of them just being thrown in a corner! And I love the idea of allowing only what will fit in the cubes. I think it is very important to make some spaces “adult friendly!” I might have to head over to Kmart!
Ginny
Oct 18, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Congrats on the big girl bed. Decluttering is hard with kids, I struggle with it!!!
Kallie
Oct 18, 2007 at 1:22 pm
I have a hard time with throwing things out as well!! It must get harder the older they get. Great idea about boxing them up and bringing them out at a later time..thanks!
Karen
Oct 18, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I do think toys multiply. I have given away so many toys, consigned them, and sold them in my yard sale. They’re everywhere.
Each time a birthday or Christmas comes around, I make sure I tell my daughter we need to get rid of some to make room for the new ones she’s getting. She has no problem with that.
Katrina
Oct 18, 2007 at 1:24 pm
That’s a good idea about the toy cube. I may need to implement that soon!
Summer
Oct 18, 2007 at 1:38 pm
You said it. De-cluttering with children around is nearly impossible. I try to pick up throughout the day all day long but even that is just too much sometimes.
Julie
Oct 18, 2007 at 2:11 pm
I bought a pretty suede covered storage cube from Bed Bath and Beyond that has a lid so at the end of the day I can throw all my 11 month old daughter’s endless mound of toys in there, put on the lid and the best part is that it doesn’t necessarily look like a toy bin and it goes perfectly with my decor. I usually don’t bother trying to clean the toys up until bedtime. My daughter immediatly defeats the efforts.
Anne
Oct 18, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I use colorful plastic milk crates from Target in my son’s room. The toys are grouped by type (cars, musical instruments, Legos, etc.), and I made laminated signs for the bins with a picture of what goes in it. That way, my son, husband, and babysitters all know where the toys go and anyone can help clean up the room in a way that keeps the order. (I got tired of everything just being thrown together and jumbled. It just makes it seem more cluttered that way.)
I’m also looking for ways to save money for Christmas. One of the traditions i love is the stocking, but I have trouble shelling out money for trinkets that contribute to the clutter anyway. I called my sister, and suggested that we have an exchange program for stocking stuffers. She’s going to pack up all the little cheapo toys her kids played with and then forgot about. I’m going to do the same. They will make perfect stocking stuffers, and when my boys get tired of them, I won’t hesitate to sneak them out of the house because I won’t remember what I paid for them. This will save me at least $40 or $50 that I can spend elsewhere, and it will get unused toys out of my house.
This could work for Hannukah too!
bebemiqui
Oct 18, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Our house is too small for toys to stick around long. If they’re passe, then they get passed on to younger friends or go to the thrift store.
Sara
Oct 18, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Good….No GREAT idea with the storage cube! I’ll definitely be stealing that idea! Oh, and CONGRATS on Turkey Butt & the BIG GIRL bed!
Lindley
Oct 18, 2007 at 7:17 pm
We tried moving a bunch of my son’s toys down to the basement and just allowing hime the storage cube in the living room. However, when we go downstairs to do laundry, these toys keep making their way back into the rotation mysteriously. It is a never-ending battle.
Jen
Oct 18, 2007 at 9:29 pm
You don’t want to know how many times I’ve tried to declutter my kids toys. I put in a seperate room all the ones I’ll be selling at our garage sale only to find them in their play area in the basement a few weeks later! AUGH!!!
Michelle Gartner
Oct 18, 2007 at 9:41 pm
I had a big decluttering week last week, because my husband was out of town on business. If he is gone, he doesn’t know and what he doesn’t know he will never miss. This includes the kids stuff, he is a pack rat and involves the kids in evil pack rating ways. Not only did he fill our entire basement with computer parts that may or may never get used from a computer store that shut down, he gives the kids broke or lame junk all the time. He says stuff, like “maybe they will want to take it apart or…” IT drives me nuts, because I end up cleaning it or getting rid of it. On Tuesday last week- the trash men were in for a big surprise and I wore out my welcome at two donation centers in town. It’ll be short lived though- the clutter comes back when he comes back.
jessica
Oct 18, 2007 at 9:46 pm
My son seems to prefer other things over toys: mommy’s glasses, the remote, coasters, and he finds pulling dvds off the shelf a good time. Toys are not yet taking over my house, but i’m sure they will soon, and i’m enjoying this as long as i can!
Wendy
Oct 18, 2007 at 9:53 pm
It seems that the moment I get some decluttering done, someone has a birthday, or it’s Christmas, and it starts all over again. I’ll tell you, there are some pretty happy thrift shops in my town, thanks to me!
lace
Oct 18, 2007 at 10:01 pm
My nieces don’t seem to play with toys but they still are all over the house. We don’t have a bedroom or playroom for the girls so the toys are in the living room. I get tired of looking at them. We have bins and shelves but the youngest enjoys taking them off shelves and stewing them throughout the house.
I like the cube idea also.
Linda Hopkins
Oct 18, 2007 at 10:13 pm
it seems everytime i “declutter”, we have just as much, if not more in a months time…i don’t know where it all comes from…we don’t constantly buy him things so where has he been hiding it all?????
Karen
Oct 18, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Your comment about your hubby’s “evil pack rating ways” had me laughing.
We had a yard sale last weekend and I took 2 van loads to the thrift store. Plus, I have about 7 trash bags of clothes for Kelly. lol She’ll have fun sorting through it all.
Nicole
Oct 18, 2007 at 10:58 pm
It’s hard to get rid of things entirely, but the storage cubes sound like a great idea.
www.bestplasmatvdeals.info » Decluttering the nursery
Oct 19, 2007 at 1:25 am
[…] kellys placed an interesting blog post on Decluttering the nurseryHere’s a brief overviewThe only toys that are allowed in the living room are the ones that can fit in their cube. There are a few exceptions like her coloring desk and the animal farm. They are just too big to fit. But if she wants a toy in the living room, … […]
Caryn
Oct 19, 2007 at 2:43 am
My little one has sooo much stuff that the grandparents bought and continue to buy for him! I can’t wait until we’re in a house to put it all in!
kellys
Oct 19, 2007 at 7:07 am
Another way to keep the clutter to a roar is to tell the grandparents that they can buy all they want but you are only taking 3 toys home. The rest can stay at their house. That will open their eyes to alot!
Alicia
Oct 19, 2007 at 1:05 pm
We have the same bin rule! Most toys stay upstairs and the ones downstairs are in designated bins. It has lowered my blood pressure A LOT to have my own adult space back!
workoutmommy
Oct 19, 2007 at 1:57 pm
my house is overflowing with toys as well….it really drives me crazy sometimes, especially when I have to spend an hour or so cleaning them all up!
kellys
Oct 20, 2007 at 8:24 am
My girlfriend periodically goes through her house and just tosses all the junky toys form the restaurants and tosses them. The kids never even miss them and the stress of the little toys that you inevitably step on and say bad words go away.
Richelle
Oct 20, 2007 at 10:57 am
Great ideas. De-cluttering is definitely an ongoing process!
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