Organizing & DIY Link Party – Week 5

Dresser Drawer Organization

Do your dresser drawers look like this?

 

Or do they look more like this?

It isn’t hard to organize your dresser drawers.  I did a post on Organizing Your Dresser Drawers and showed you how easy it is to do.  I used organizers that I found at Ikea and a few I also found at Old Time Pottery, but you could also use shoe boxes or other boxes that fit into your drawers and achieve the same thing.

Share your DIY, crafts, decorating, organizing projects!

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This party will be open until Feb 5, 2012 at 11:59pm

Cubby Storage

Using Cubby Storage In Your BedRoom

I LOVE cubby storage, as most of you know who have followed me for awhile, so I decided to utilize them in our bedroom. I am in the process of slowly making over our bedroom.

We don’t have the finances to go into a beautiful bedroom set (that happens when you have eight kids right? Everything else like college and food come first! lol) so we do the best we can with what we have.  I also love Ikea, and I found some tall cubby storage units that we could use to help with our clothes storage.

We were storing our jeans, sweaters and sweatshirts on wire shelves in our closet. I tend to be more practical & functional than decorative, so I didn’t have a problem with open clothes storage in our room.

We have three of these cubby storage units in our rooms.  They are five shelves tall, with Dave having two of them and I have one.  This one is on the other side of the room from the top picture.  I got him two baskets also to help out with socks and T-shirts.

We also got two smaller cubbies that are on either side of our bed. We each have two baskets in them.  Yes that is my gun safe if anyone is wondering. You can see my cool pink gun on my pinterest board. (no nasty comments about me having a gun please)

There are plans to paint and also plans to make one of the cool headboards that I found on Evolution of Style  blog. Isn’t this awesome? I pinned it on my DIY pinterest board . This is in her little girl’s bedroom.   I loved it because it is right inbetween two windows which is the exact set up we have in our bedroom. I am still trying to decide on a paint color (not pink, I love it.. but poor Dave) and think my headboard will be the brown/black to match my Ikea pieces. Thoughts?

 

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Jewelry Organizing

Do You Still have a Jewelry Box?

I do!!  Actually I have two of them.  I call it the double stack!  Why do I have two?  Because one was my mine and one was my mothers. When she passed away I kept it.I do not have a lot of “mom” memorabilia, but I do enjoy having this on my dresser.

Because I didn’t want to take up my dresser space with having both of them separate, and I do not get in them very often, it just made sense to stack them.  Does it look good… no, and that is part of the reason I wanted to take care of it.

What a mess huh?

Here is my other jewelry box, the one that used to be Mom’s.

Step One:  Sort

The hard part is going through and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. You decide jewelry just like any other item you have to sort through.  Ask yourself these questions:

1) Do you love it?
2) Have you worn it in the last year?
3) Is it broken or un-usable in some way?
4) Is it valuable or costume jewelry?

Sort into piles:

1) Keep (You wear it frequently, or at least once a year)
2) Sell, ebay or give to family – Jewelry that you don’t want, but is valuable
3) Donate – things you don’t like, wear
4) Trash, recycle – broken, not worth fixing or selling for gold etc.

Once you have sorted out what you will actually wear (I bet there is MUCH less than you thought) you need to put it back into the jewelry box (or whatever means you have to organize your jewelry)

I decided to give this jewelry box (which was mine) to my step daughter.  I didn’t need two and even though I like how this one is laid out a bit better than Mom’s, it wasn’t a big deal.  I wanted to continue enjoying seeing my Mom’s jewelry box on my dresser.

I put back in the items that I knew I would wear. This is really just my nicer jewelry.

I keep most of my costume wearable jewelry in the bathroom on my twirly hook and other Belles Dangle jewelry shelf.

This is the Belle’s Dangle shelf.

I now have just one jewelry box on my dresser that is sorted through. I am going to sell a couple things on ebay (hopefully), I gave a few appropriate things to my step daughter and I will donate the rest that is in good shape.

It looks better, feels better and I have a very happy step daughter.

When was the last time you went through your jewelry?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dresser Drawers

How Organized Are YOUR Dresser Drawers?

Here is my dresser…. before.  A mess isn’t it?  I have two jewelry boxes.  One is my Mom’s, one is mine (I have organized and that will be coming up soon).

The pillow – is the bodice of my wedding dress.  (Yes, I had my wedding dress taken apart. Hmmm.. another blog post opp. isn’t it?)
The candles and flowers are from my wedding.  (Dave and I were married 4 1/2 years ago).
The stuffed bear is from Dave from Valentine’s day. I love stuffed animals. The little elephant I got at the Murphy’s trip in January.
The pillow on the right behind the bear is a needlepoint pillow my grandmother made.
I have a weight and a ruler on there too.. no meaning.. just more clutter.

The actual dresser is from my Aunt from when I was first married (first marriage back in 1983). I’d love a matching new bedroom suite, but I’ve never had the extra money to spend on one. So a remake of these might be coming up at some point in the near future.  I want to redecorate my bedroom soon.

 

 

I have never micro organized my dresser drawers.  I have always sorted my clothes into specific drawers, I fold my shirts and clothes and pair socks, but I have never taken the effort to organize my undies, t-shirts and socks.

Before pictures

I’m going to be brave and show you my messy dresser drawers…. are you ready?  (ugh.. embarrassing!)  See…. for the few of those who think I’m perfectly organized everywhere in my house… you will see… I’m certainly not.

Undies….

T-shirts that I wear under a lot of clothes

Kind of a mess of a drawer. I have my PJ’s, lounging outfit (winter) and a swim suit in here.

Work out clothes. (They haven’t been used in awhile.. ugh)

I decided to give it a go!  I found a couple different drawer organizers.  I bought a couple sets from Ikea. I made the cardinal mistake of not measuring my drawers BEFORE I bought them.  I bought two packages of the Skubb organizers them at $9.99 each.

Once I got home I realized they did not fit in my top three drawers.  The top drawers were too shallow for them.  But I knew I’d be able to use them in some of the other drawers.

I did measure them before I went to Old Time Pottery. I found these drawer organizers there.  These were $3.99 each.

I knew they were going to be shallow enough to work.  You are able to add the dividers in if you want them.

I put all the dividers in.

I then went through and sorted everything in my drawers.

I asked myself these questions:

1) Do I wear it?
2) Do I like it?
3) Does it fit?  (The killer since I’ve gained weight)
4) Are there any holes or can I not wear it because it need repaired?
5) Is it seasonal?

Then I had to decide if I was going to:

1) Keep
2) Donate
3) Store the out of season clothes is it fits, is in good shape & you like it.
3) Pitch

After pictures

Undies drawer now!  I love this. I got rid a bunch of undies that I never wore.  Yes.. I did that too. Pick a pair up and realize they are ones you don’t like. So why didn’t I throw them out right then? I don’t know.  I’d just throw them back in and get another pair.  So, I got rid of all those I didn’t like. 

Bras on the left (my others are being washed) and undies on the right.

Look at my socks drawer. (I never showed a before pic because I forgot to get a before pic)

My T-shirts

My real Tee-shirts.  This is a top drawer and I didn’t have any organizers that fit it.

Second Tee-shirt drawer using the Ikea organizers

Third Tee-shirt drawer

Here are my other drawers – PJ’s

Workout clothes

Hose, slips etc..

I have to tell you, this is the first time I have ever organized my drawers so extensively. I love it!!  To go in and not have to pick through to see what I want!  Awesome.

I also cleared off some of the stuff on top of my dresser.  One of my jewelry boxes is gone (I’ll be posting on that later).  Until I redecorate this room with new colors and refinishes (of this dresser)… it will look like this. But one of these days it will look awesome!

Oh yeah!!  Doin’ the happy dance with my organized drawers.

 

Spring Cleaning – Declutter Winter Gear

Spring is (almost) here. Let’s clear out winter clothes & gear!

Winter clothes, coats, hats, gloves, boots, shovels, sleds are just part of what can be either decluttered from your home or stored away until next winter.

When you go through your winter gloves make sure if you are going to keep them that:

1) They all have a match
2) They still fit your children and there are no holes in them.

If they are in good shape but are too small for your children, then put them in the donate bag.  If you only have one, then don’t keep it, and certainly don’t throw it in the donate bag (someone one other end of sorting will just be the one to have to get rid of it)

For your hats and coats and boots – Go through the same thing. For those items that will still fit next year and are in good shape, store them in a clear bin and label it.

For your snow shovel and sleds and skies.  Ski racks on your garage wall would be ideal.  The same for the snow shovel if you have the space.  Look UP in your garage. Use your wall space.  If you have rafters in your garage… use those for storage!

8 Easy Steps to Transferring The Clothes

1) Get your supplies ready. White (donate) and black (trash) trash bags, sharpie
marker, labels -sticky address labels work great, bins (clear are best).

2) Go through the drawers & closets. Pull out each piece of clothing and evaluate it quickly.

* Will it fit someone in the family in the future? (If not dontate)
*  Is it in any condition to save? (If not then throw away, don’t donate clothes
that are torn, stained or are better for rags)
* Will the next child wear it? Was it worn at all this season? (Do they like it?)

3) Make piles

* Save for next year
* Donate (white bag)
* Trash (black bag)

4) Get out the summer clothes from storage.

5) Go through the new season clothes and do the same thing as you put them away in
the kids drawers. Make sure they will fit your child this year and it is
something they will wear.

6) I prefer using clear bins if possible. Get ones that fit your space to store and latch closed. They will go from season to season. Now for really long clothing storage, you might want to look into another form (but I don’t suggest long term clothing store of any one item …usually)

7) Take the bins you have for next year and be sure to label them.  The labels don’t have to be fancy printed out labels!  Just get something you can see clearly and you can peel off or stick over for next season.
Put either sex or child’s name, season and size on each label. For instance, Boy – Summer – Size 10

8) Your donate bags can be taken to friends who can use them, sold at a garage sale or resale
shop or taken to a facility such as Good Will, but get them out of your house as soon as possible.

We have so much cold winter gear, that just putting it away or giving it away makes you feel less cluttered doesn’t it?

I’d love to see how you clear out your winter clutter!  Blog about them and then come back and

link it to my Organizing Mission Link party – Mission Spring Cleaning !!

I LOVE your comments!!

Shopping Saturday – Master Bedroom Envy

Wow… I want this master bedroom!!

This master bedroom was part of a Parade of Homes I attended.  This was a master bedroom from the MI home. I would like to shop and buy a house that had a set up similar to this.

You can see the man’s master closet to the left of that little kitchenette, the woman’s walk in closet is to the left. (omg I’ll have to show you the closets next week.. I’d love those too!

Wouldn’t it be nice to have this little kitchenette in your room too?  How fun!

Feel free to link up or just visit my Organizing Mission Monday Link Party!

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I LOVE your comments!!

Organizing with Pegboard Walls

Pegboard walls can be lots of fun in a Teenagers room

There is plenty of space and opportunity to use his walls! No worries about nails! LOL!!

He can hang not only pictures, but also his clothes!

By his bed he has a CD holder for his CD’s and then he has his cords (you can see a couple of them on the right) hanging for headphones etc.

This has turned out to be a great basement bedroom for him. We spent probably about $500 total in supplies between the peg and wall board, electrical components to add more power and light for his room, paint, piece of carpet and closet supplies. Not bad for a makeover in an unfinished basement!

Actually it is really functional.  He thinks it is great!

Creating an Organized Closet under stairs

In my teens Basement bedroom we had to create a closet underneath the stairs.

With his new room he was going to need a closet.  The kids had used this area as a fort before, so we had to remove all that stuff and do just a little prep work.  Creating an organized closet under the stairs doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. I think the only thing we actually bought was the hardware to put up the clothes rod and the light fixture.

Here is my step son’s closet underneath the basement stairs.  Ended up working great.  My husband put a light in the closet.  He has a rack for clothes, laundry hamper for dirty clothes, baskets for “stuff” and the shoe hanger with a basket above it.

My husband just had to put the rod in (right after he finished…so all his stuff is still sitting there.)

So… you can be a little creative and create some good usable space where you don’t think you have it.

Remodeling an Unfinished basement room into an organized bedroom

Taking an unfinished basement room and turning it into a organized teen bedroom.

We moved one of our teens down to the basement (his choice). The problem was that we have an unfinished basement. The budget was not there to actually finish it. So we improvized.

We used a combination of pegboard and hardboard to finish the upper walls and cover up the insulation. Ok…the reason the paint looks purplish? Well…. my step son wanted blue walls and ceiling. My sister who is an artist told me it will look way too cold with blue. She said to make sure to I got red in the blue…added a little violet to the blue. Well….I am not great with colors and the swatch didn’t look purple next to all the other purples. It looked grayish blue. But…. it looks purple on the walls. The ceiling is a darker shade of it. But thank goodness my step son actually likes purple…so he is fine with it. {phew}

You can see the solid hardboard on the far side of the picture. We used magnetic paint on that area. It didn’t work as well as I hoped it would. We were very careful to follow the directions on it…. only did the size we were supposed to – the only thing we didn’t do is buy special magnets. I still don’t know that it wouldn’t make the difference.

I’ll show you the rest of the room this week.

Hanes and Organized Undies Drawers

Is your underwear drawer Messy or Organized?

I was in New York City for the big BlogHer conference for bloggers.  I was invited to this Hanes party and what do you think I thought when I saw this display? LOL  Yep…right up my alley!

This place was decorated so cute with underwear on pillows and umbrellas made from T Shirts. But they had a display showing a messy underwear drawer and an organized underwear drawer.

And then an organized drawer.  Aren’t these cool?

Now…here is the kicker. They were having contest to see who could organize a drawer the fastest. They were giving out gift certificates. They had one more contest and of course my friends nominated me.  Ok…this was too much pressure. I am the organizer…of course everyone would expect me to win… and I should right?  LOL

There was a laundry basket of underclothes, sweatpants, underwear, socks, tshirts and bras. We had to take them and fold them and organize them in our drawers the quickest. The fastest time before our last group was 1 min. 50 some seconds (I think).

My hands were shaking!! Literally.  But….. I didn’t win. The girl you see in the picture beat me by a split second. I think our time was in the 1 min. 30 second range….so I also beat the record. Does that count? LOL

But it was fun….

Michael Moloney from Extreme Home Makeover was there as the MC. He was so nice!  And of course very nice looking! {drool}

But it got me thinking. My underwear drawer is not really very organized. I have everything in it’s “area” of my drawer, but I don’t have any official boxes or “sectioned off” areas.  Hmmm….I might have to do that especially with the new fun undies and bras that Hanes gave me as swag.

Keepsake Box

It’s Ok to save a little

You can tell your teen (or yourself) that it is ok to keep a few keepsakes.  Keep in mind however that if they are really special, they should be on display somewhere so you can enjoy them.  But to display things – do it in small numbers.

However, if you would like to have a great way to give your teens some freedom to keep some things (thus making it easier to purge other things) – the easiest way is to have a defined limit on how much can be saved.

Keepsake Box

Find a container. It can be a box – from shoebox to larger box.  Be sure it is not too big to fit on a shelf in your basement or closet. I would suggest a clear box, so you can see what is inside.

The Limit – They can keep no more than what can fit into their keepsake box (you can make up your own name for it). One of my clients and I named it her “Happy Box”.  If they have more than one box…then they have to make decisions.  Which item is it that is really worth saving?

Remind them that they can take pictures of items they give up.

Keep the goal in mind: To clear out the clutter. To have a room that is peaceful and calm – a place to think and getaway.

Organizing a Teens bedroom

Once you have sorted and have decreased the clutter, then you need to find a place to put it.

Here are some examples of products you can purchase to not only have storage in your teens room, but can use to decorate also.

This is actually a closet organizer. I used it under his loft bed to organize “stuff”.  But there are shoe slots, net baskets on the side (see notebook) and I bought the drawers to put in it.  I think this is so cool. It comes in different colors. I got it a Walmart.

I added some baskets under the desk for extra storage.  There is the lime green plastic drawers for all that little stuff.  Be sure to have a waste basket in their room along with a laundry hamper. (Not that all the dirty clothes make it into the hamper or trash into the trash can….but at least it makes it much easier to clean up!)  These items including the desk were all purchased from Walmart

Another item from Walmart that helps with places to put stuff.

You can find all kinds of solutions for storage – the green hamper on the left is his laundry hamper.  (This is the room in the unfinished basement)

Here is a shoe organizer that can go on the back of a door.

You can find many different solutions for storage for their room.  If they have a very small room…be sure to use the wall space for shelves and baskets.  Utilize all of that closet.  You can get under the bed storage containers to help too.

Try to keep the storage items usable (they don’t want to have to open a drawer and open a lid to put something in….or else there will be no chance of that item getting in! LOL

Disclosure: The first few pictures were items I got from WM when I did the room makeover. I am was not asked to do this post for them and I am not receiving any kind of compensation for mentioning them. I just thought you might want to know where I got the items.

Teenage Rooms – Where to start?

Usually the first step is to find the floor!

Usually teens (like most of us) have too much “stuff”. There is more stuff than places to put the stuff – so it is easier to just throw it on the floor. Keep in mind this isn’t always the case. My oldest son (at home) has plenty of storage space…but stuff is still on the floor – but he could still stand to declutter again.

Starting at the Beginning means starting with Sorting

Be armed with Black trash bags (trash) and white trash bags (donate).

Then remember your sorting basics.  Don’t spend more time on each item than about 5-10 seconds.  You don’t want to start reminiscing or you will never get the job done.  If they still have all kinds of stuffed animals or toys from their childhood (and they are teens)..help them pick out a couple special ones to keep (if they want to keep any). Take pictures of others if they are having a hard time deciding or not sure about getting rid of things.

If there are clothes that you need to keep to pass down to other children in your family. I suggest clear bins (so you can see what is in them) and be sure to label them well.

Work with them and have them decide: Make paper sorting cards to help remember what to do with their things.

1) Keep – Do I LOVE it? Do I WEAR it? Do I USE it? Does it FIT?
2) Donate – I DON’T like it and will not wear it, It DOESN’T fit, I DON’T use it.
3) Move – It doesn’t BELONG in my Bedroom
4) Storage - This can be season sports supplies or things they need to keep but don’t use but once or twice a year.
5) Trash – It is trash, broken, torn or worn out

Let them just make piles (they love piles anyway right?)  on the floor for the different categories.  If there is not floor space to begin with. I suggest piling everything in one big pile and then going through it.

Teen Room

What is it with Teenagers and the need to have a messy Room?

I decided to go take my camera and take a completely candid picture (I just opened the door and shot the pictures…I didn’t move a thing – oh believe me….it was difficult for me to do!) of all 5 kids bedrooms.

I have to admit – I used to go spastic on my 4 boys growing up with their rooms.  I would come in the morning to either wake them up or say good morning…I would open that door and instantly get mad.  Who likes to be woken up with “This room is a mess! You need to pick up your clothes, put trash in the trash can and clean off that dresser!!”.  Nope….not a nice way to start their day and would instantly put me in a bad mood.

So….once I was a single mom of 4 boys (in 1999) I decided at some point to let it go.  I had to discipline them in so many other ways…they had chores to do around the house and their rooms were just a constant source of irritation to me (and them).  I had a friend tell me that I need to pick my battles. That hit home. I decided that I didn’t need to make their room MY battle.   So for the most part I try to avoid the teens bedrooms.  I will let it go a week (maybe even 2 sometimes) before I get on them and really make them clean it. I don’t insist that their beds be made every day (although they know that I want them to do that), and I don’t hang them by their toes if they don’t put their dirty clothes in their dirty clothes hamper …right in their room).

Today I will show you the “Messy” Teen rooms….and over the next few days we are going to talk about teen bedrooms.  (I’d love your pictures of your candid teen bedrooms!!)

The oldest we have living at home (17 years old boy)   Note how the futon is down. He sleeps there.  We were lucky enough last year to get a Bedroom Makeover From Walmart & Your Zone. (you can see what the room should look like in the video) At the time he picked the loft bed. I thought he would get real tired of climbing up there because if he really had his way, he would sleep on the floor over the heater/air conditioning vent. (Yes…really)  But he thought the bed  was cool. I told him that if he got the loft bed…he had to sleep in it. The futon that we had and moved in here was to sit on.  ”Mom..I will sleep in the bed…it is cool. I promise!!”.  LOL ….yeah..sure.

Example #2.  My step son is 16.  He chose to have his bedroom in the basement when we got the room make over. They used to share a room. We gave the older of the two – first pick. Did he want the basement room (unfinished basement) or the room makeover. He said he was fine with either and let his step brother pick.  ”D” (step brother)  picked the basement.  He loves his “man cave”.  I’ll do a post this week on how we made this room over.  But…note here – no pillow cases on the pillows! Ewww….!  why?  That just seems so yucky to me.  I have a whole basket of pillow cases that he could pick from if for some reason when his sheets got washed….he couldn’t find his pillow cases.  Bed is not made (its hard to tell in this shot)…here, I’ll give you another look from a different angle.  You can see the unmade bed…and the stuff all over his dresser in this shot. But over all the room is not too bad.  Keep in mind this is after his Dad told him to clean his room yesterday.

I also got pictures of the triplets rooms.  They aren’t teens, they are 9 1/2 years old, but I thought I’d show you anyway.

The boys A&Z share a room.  It’s not too bad. But we do try to stay on them more to keep it clean.  A is great about cleaning his portion of the room (most days). Z really could care less.  You frequently hear A saying, “Z your stuff is a mess in here. You need to clean it up.” LOL  So if A wasn’t in the room with him and if we didn’t have them pick up their room daily…I’m sure Z will certainly turn into the typical “messy room” teen.  I’m not so sure with A.  I think he will keep his room clean on his own….like his sister.

Now…my step daughters “E” room almost always looks clean.  She gets up and makes her bed (as does A – but Z rarely does) every morning.  She keeps things picked up. Don’t you love the fish pillow?  Her pick when we went shopping at Cabelas last year!

So – I have “bared all” in my kid’s bedrooms to you. See..I always say my house is far from perfect…I’m human just like you guys!!  But I want you to show me some of your teens rooms.  Tell me what the hardest thing for you is?

Do you “stay on them” like I used to do with my kids? Or do you just “chill” and try not to get worked up over their rooms?   (at least for 1-2 weeks..I just can’t take more than that).  Do you ever make the really clean them?

Please share!

Playroom Organizing – Part 4

More Storage Solutions

I am going to take you on an Ikea shopping trip with me.  These are all pictures I took when I went the year before last.  I love this store, but I am not getting any kind of affiliate, commission or any other compensation by telling you about them or posting this.  I just love some of the solutions they have for toy storage.

Keep in mind that there are many other alternatives for where to purchase like items. Target has great cubbies, and is where I get mine.  So look around, this is just meant to give you some ideas.

If you read me at all you know I LOVE cubbies.  There are many different styles and inserts you can get for cubbies.  Many stores have them, although not a lot of others have the full wall units like these.
Like OMG isn’t this the cutest?  These are slide out bins.  I do wish the colored ones were clear though.  But I still love it. You can mix and match and make your own set up with this system.

Here is another option with the same kind of units.

To have an art desk or homework desk would be awesome in a playroom. (Keep in mind that doing homework in a playroom is not a real good idea unless your child can really focus).

Here is another desk idea for a playroom. These also would be great in a child’s room if you had space for them.

This is a cubby unit that hangs on the wall. Then you can have storage space underneath it.  You could also use this above a desk or higher on the wall to keep the games away from the little ones.

These hanging net cubbies are cute for those little stuffed animals or trinkets.

Here are some other little cute storage ideas for the walls.  Of course these are fabric and you couldn’t hand anything too heavy in them, but wouldn’t they decorate a wall cute?

Here is something for the little bit older group.  A locker.  They could use it for game storage, DVD or CD storage like pictured. But they could also put books, have fun decorating it inside and out and use all those cool locker gadgets you see at the stores (but a lot of schools don’t allow).

I also saw these cute colorful frames there. They were only $1.99 each. What a cute way to showcase their most special artwork!  It would be another cute way to decorate the walls of the playroom and make them feel really special.

So I took you on my Ikea shopping trip.  It is to give you ideas. If you see something you like…shop around for it. There may be other places you can find it…or try ebay or amazon too.  Or you can do like me….garage sales, dollar store and Target & Walmart. Really Ikea’s prices are not bad at all….I want to take a shopping trip down to the one in Ohio again soon. The only one I went on was with my husband….and how fun is that?  LOL

Playroom Organizing – part 2

Do the Kids Help or Not?

When it comes to sorting and organizing – Getting through the toys and being able to discard them (donate or trash) are your kids going to be a help or a hinder?

You need to decide if you want your children to help sort and organize or not. There are pros and cons to both methods. You know your children best and know what will work for them.

Pros

*Teaches them the importance of organizing at an early age

*Teaches them others are not as fortunate.

*Teaches them that cleaning up and clearing out can feel good

Cons

*Tantrums over giving things up

*Not as productive – it will take longer to have the kids help you. So if on a limited time frame it could be a problem

*Giving in and keeping more than you should because your child decides they want to keep everything

My Thoughts on the Subject

Some children will not handle giving up their toys easily. They can sway you to keeping everything and accomplishing nothing. But….they also need to LEARN that they do have to give up things and it will help them later in life. So it is a balance. My suggestion for these kids is for you to do the bulk of the sorting before they get home. They do not necessarily need to see what you are donating or getting rid of. But I would leave several things that are broken or they have out grown and then sit down with them when they get home and have them help you sort those things. Teach them that they need to share with other children who have less. Teach them they

What worked for me

For my 4 older boys (now ages 17-26) I did all the toy sorting myself (without their help).  I get a bit driven when I am in my “organizing mode” and personally I just like to go go go…so I prefer to organize by myself at home. I can honest say that there was never a time that my boys missed something or were upset when they got home.  They were always happy to see things neat and in order. I think it was that same “relief” feeling we get when we walk into a space that has once been too cluttered and now is neat and organized.  They didn’t have problems with giving up their toys and liked that most of the things were donated to other kids.

Now with my  4 step kids (ages 9 – triplets and a 16 year old) I have had them help me.  I don’t know why the difference.  But they are very good at helping and do not have problems with giving things away.  They crack me up because they tell me their mom doesn’t want to get rid of any of their things at her house and they are the ones that want to get rid of some of the clutter over there. (they are learning!)

Which way works best for you and your children?

Organizing the Playroom – Part 1

Is Your Children’s Playroom a Disaster?

“Before picture – too many toys & books”

Many times the main problem that we have in the kids playroom is that they have too many toys!! We love our kids and want to give them everything. But sometimes everything is too much.

Have you heard the phase, “Less is More” ? This can be very true in regards to this. I am not saying to throw out all they toys. Not at all. But I am saying 90% of the time that our kids have too many toys.

Are you overwhelmed when you walk into a room of your house and there is SO much Stuff? You don’t know where to start…and it almost makes you feel like just walking right back out of that room.
So why should your kids feel any different if they walk into a playroom with SO much Stuff? They can be overwhelmed by toys. I know that it seems they should be happier with lots of toys…but it can be too much.

So what to do?
Start with at the starting point. Sorting! (You knew I was going to say that didn’t you?) You can go back and look at how to sort in my “Five Steps to Sorting” post.

Sorting in a Playroom

Step 1 -
Get those black and white trash bags. Black for trash – White for Donate

Step 2 -
Make those decisions quick. Do not sit and remember each birthday party or Christmas that each toy came from. Remembering the fun, who gave it to them. Feeling guilty if you give it up. That is “personalizing” the toy. You can take a picture of it…if it is something you want to remember.

Step 3 -
Look at each toy or book. Ask yourself these questions:
1) Does it work? (broken? – trash)
2) Do they like and and play with it? (If not – donate)
3) Have they out grown it? (donate)
4) Does it have all the pieces and parts? (If not – trash)
5) Is it broken? (Trash)
6) Is it worth taking up space in the playroom? (If not – donate)

Step 4 -
Decide if YOU are the reason they have too many toys. Are YOU the one that doesn’t want to give them up? Many times we are the problem, not the kids. We remembering picking out that toy and how excited we were to give it to them. We know how much it cost and know that it was expensive.
BUT…..if they do not use it any longer, if it is broken ….it is time to give it up.

Walmart Room Reveal

I finally am able to share my Walmart room reveal with you.  I have had a few issues along the way, but we finally got the room complete and just love it!!

Our journey was so fun to do Tim’s room.  Tim, 16 years old and Drew, 15 years old shared a room.  They made the decision together who would keep the Walmart room and who would have a room in the presently unfinished basement.  Drew decided he wanted the basement room. He calls it his “Man Cave” and loves it.

We used the Walmart Your Zone website to do our decision making.  There were things on the site that we couldn’t find in the stores, and seeing it all in one place and being able to use the virtual room make over feature on the Walmart site made it easier.

Over all we have been thrilled with the Your Zone line. Yes…we really did do the “Happy Dance”. The colors are fun, the products are very reasonable and you can create so many different looks for your teen.  I would have no  problem recommending Walmart and the Your Zone line to any of you.

We got the bed in the store and actually my 16 year old was able to assemble it himself. I was impressed by that.  We ordered the Your Zone desk, comforter and a gadget holder that he can use to keep his cell phone and Ipod in to charge off the site.  There was a problem with the area and a tax change (somehow there was a glitch in the system)  so I could not  order the products  for a couple of weeks.  But  Walmart had several people working on it and I was contacted personally by phone by them letting me know what was going on and that it would be resolved on August 20th.  It was and I was able to order them.  They came within a few days. You can also order “Site To Store” and they will ship the product to the store for you to pick up and that way there are no shipping cost for you to incur.

I do have a couple of concerns with two of the products that I want to share with you.  I pride myself on being honest on my reviews…so all of the good stuff you can believe!! And 99% of it is good..but here is the 1% I feel I need to tell you.

Tim got to work putting the desk together as soon as it came and while he was doing it the shelf broke…he was turning it on an angle to screw in another piece and it snapped. Walmart again was wonderful and told me they would send me a new desk.  When it arrived my husband put it together.    It is a great desk for a student and is a wonderful price, but he said that he had to be very careful putting it together.  The screws were stripping very easily and he couldn’t screw them in as tight as he felt he needed to.  It isn’t wobbly at all though.  He also was very careful when he came to the part where it broke for Tim, it had to be flat instead of the angle you might want to put it at that point (it does tell you to have it flat in the directions). Now that it is up and in the room, he loves it…and I don’t see any problems with it. It does seem very solid.  If it seemed real “cheapy” I would let you know…but it doesn’t at all and I do not see any future problems with it.

The other problem we had was when the gadget holder came (online only) it was damaged.  I had thought I would order another one, but was concerned after seeing this one, that it might not be the quality that I had hoped it to be, so I just returned the one and did not order another one.  If it had not been damaged it would have worked out fine I am sure, but it was not as solid as I had thought it would be.

But with both of those negatives being said…I have to say I would do it all again. I would order the desk and I would order the bed and everything else that is in the room.  My son is absolutely thrilled with his room. He has taken pictures on his phone and sent them to friends to “show off” his room.

I have been so impressed by the selection, products and the great prices.  It makes it possible for most any of us to remodel a teenagers bedroom for very little money.  Who doesn’t like that?

Thank you Walmart, Your Zone for making this possible.  Thank you also for offering my readers the chance to make over a room themselves.  I can’t wait to see the make over room of my winner!!

Winner of the $500 Walmart Gift Card

How exciting this contest has been for me. I have been so thankful to Walmart and Rockfish for providing me with this wonderful opportunity to transform my sons room. My video should be coming in just a day or so with the story of our bedroom adventure.
But the winner of my contest is Christine from Live Laugh Love. Here is a post she did on her sons room and why she needs this make over. She prepared this post for Dr. Mommy Chronicles blog..who also was having this same contest (and yes…she also won that one too…so this is one very lucky woman. …but she entered both our contest fair and square and was chosen randomly as the winner in each of our blogs…so we certainly can’t say she can not win.) She has let me know that she has a 2nd teenage son that is going to get his room redone also!! They have been through a lot with her as she has been battling cancer and just had a recent thyroid surgery…so this is a true blessing for this family. I will have her before and after pictures once the room is complete….and you can see that post in November. Here is her before post for her first son. I think she will send me pictures of her other sons room before and after for my contest.

See these other posts:

Walmart Room Reveal

Walmart $500 Bedroom Makeover Contest (closed)

Walmart Remodel…in progress

The Walmart Remodel is in progress!
So what happens to a teenagers bedroom when you are in the process of remodeling, but things aren’t complete?  It becomes a nightmare!!   (more…)

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