OK, it’s day two of our organizing week and we’re currently working on our crazy sink drawer that we shared yesterday. In the meantime, this isn’t one of those organizing play by plays with before, during, and after pics (that’s this afternoon’s post) it’s more a full breakdown of a system that works for us when it comes to taming the Clara-phernalia that threatens to take over our house. Around twice a week we get a question like: “can you do a post about how your organize Clara’s stuff? I could really use some ideas on how to control the chaos!” So here’s the rundown.
In the beginning it was pretty simple. She was little so we had a small ottoman and a basket with rattles and balls, and a swing and a few little blankets on the floor for tummy time. You can actually read a post all about that stage of kid clutter here.
Well, that was child’s play compared to toddlerdom. Why? Those were the days before she had A MILLION AND ONE THINGS. Ok, I’m exaggerating. But really, the girl has books, crayons, bowls, drums, stuffed toys, faux food for her kitchen, buckets, balls, blocks, toy cars, and dolls galore. As much as we said we’d try to keep it simple and not buy more things than one toddler can play with, well, we got hand-me-downs and birthday/holiday gifts, and it all added up.
And I was not good very very bad at devising or maintaining any sort of system for nearly 10 months (pretty much since she got mobile it got crazier). I just crammed the growing piles of kid clutter into various baskets and ottomans (seven of them!), never taking the time to group things so that I knew where to find them later. It just all got piled in, and some nights it just stayed on the floor because I was too tired. And remember our new ottoman which started out looking like this?
Well, that actually became the key to my organizational epiphany. And now it looks like this (don’t mind the pink tint, I forgot to white balance):
But that more cluttered “after” above is a good thing. It brings me immense joy that so many toys can be crammed in there. Why? I finally decided not to leave every last toy that Clara might play with out at all times. So many friends of mine said their kids were happier/more stimulated if their toys were switched out, instead of just giving them free rein of a million things at once. And when I read this quote in The Happiness Project (remember John got me that for my b-day?), it sealed the deal:
The head of Eliza’s school told a story about a four-year-old who had a blue toy car he loved. He took it everywhere, played with it constantly. Then when his grandmother came to visit, she bought him ten toy cars, and he stopped playing with cars altogether. “Why don’t you play with your cars?” she asked. “You loved your blue car so much.” “I can’t love lots of cars,” he answered.
So right then and there I decided my big white ottoman would become my “toy store.” It would be the place I stashed every last toy that wasn’t Clara’s current favorite. I literally combed through everything and pulled out only the “best-of” toys that she plays with all the time – the rest got piled into the bit white ottoman. Would you believe I was left with one basket?!
One glorious, manageable basket (from Target by the way). The kicker? It could be a developmental coincidence, but Clara started playing independently for longer stretches pretty much as soon as I made this switch. I’m not sure if she was getting bored or overwhelmed with her old bounty of everything, but she definitely spent time with many of the things in her basket for longer periods than she used to when she had an explosion of too many toys to really focus on anything for more than a minute. It was like Clara’s Greatest Hits: The Basket.
It takes way less time than you think to ruthlessly yank out anything your kid doesn’t currently play with (no maybes, just leave favorite toys only) and stash the rest in a big plastic bin in the closet or an under-bed storage container. Maybe it took me half an hour total? And now I can clean up her basket in two minutes when she goes to bed – and quickly rotate other toys in and out whenever the mood strikes. But I always keep it to one basketful. That’s the key. She loves when new things show up, since it seems to keep her interested. Here’s what’s in there now:
A few favorite stuffed animals, a wooden pull toy, balls, a purse from Grammy, a few baby dolls, a dress up skirt that she wakes up and demands to wear, and a pot that she loves taking small items in and out of. But the favorite items are actually in that fabric pouch (remember we got that for her as her Easter basket?). She likes the fabric pouch itself for the fun she has opening and closing the zipper…
… and as for what’s in there: few favorite cars, a fake cell phone and John’s old disconnected real one, a wood train, a small ball, some plastic animals, a plane that we got her for our Hawaii trip, and a shaker, two sticks, and a scarf from music class.
This small pouch full of favorite toys probably comes into play at least four times a day – she loves it. And I love that it all can get shoved into one basket every evening. Still haven’t gotten around to dusting the media cabinet though- haha. Someday…
In my new system, we also have two baskets of books. One in the office (which she likes to look at on the rug on her own or read in the chair with us)…
… and one in the living room.
Sure, she’ll bring a few books into other rooms throughout the day, but now that we have two designated book baskets, we know where they go. Books used to be mixed in with toys and balls and stuffed into ottomans in a bunch of places. Now it’s nice and streamlined without any thinking necessary. Toys go in the toy basket and books go in the book baskets. Someday we’ll get her a bookcase but we’re convinced she’ll just take everything out of it every time we fill it up, so baskets work for now.
Recognizing how many Clara zones there are for her to enjoy really helped me not get all down on myself for “limiting” the stuff that’s at her disposal by stashing un-favorites in the ottoman. For example, she has her coloring desk (which used to be our desk that we made from a door in our first house’s office):
I love that you can tell she’s a leftie from her scribble. Awww. That’s marker scribble, so it’s something we do with her (those things can get messy, so we supervise markers, play dough, and chalk). But her crayons are just stashed in that small zippered green pouch and her stickers are in the yellow pouch (both of which came from TJ Maxx for a few bucks, and offer her unlimited entertainment when it comes to taking things in and out and zipping and unzipping them).
Then in the hallway we have her rocker (a sweet gift from the grandparents a while back). She’ll randomly hop up from paging through a book or playing with her cars and just walk into the hallway to rock for a little while (see how we kid-proofed the frames at the bottom of the wall here).
Then she has her Christmas play kitchen (that we Santa made for her here).
It thankfully stores all of her kitchen-stuff in the cabinet under the sink and that small metal shopping basket I found for 20 cents at a thrift store. So those things have a spot too. If I see one in the kitchen, I bring it back into her room and put it away instead of tossing it into a random jumbled basket.
We also have two baskets (from Linens N Things about five years ago) under her dresser, one that’s full of blocks and one that’s full of puzzles.
One of my biggest annoyances was that Clara couldn’t do any puzzles since her puzzle board might be in one basket in the office and four of the pieces would be in the basket in the living room. So I organized them once and for all by giving them their own basket. Of course I still find pieces in the living room or the kitchen, but now I know where they go. So each night I usually make one trip back to her room as we’re putting her to bed (with any puzzle pieces or play kitchen items that need to be dropped off). It’s much faster than desperately searching for missing puzzle pieces and realizing they’re all over the house and I’m about to lose an hour of my life trying to find them.
I actually got the puzzles-in-a-shallow-basket idea from my neighbor (she has a daughter about a year older than Clara). It might be obvious to some people, but after trying to shove them into big round baskets and ottomans (and hearing all the pieces clatter out and fall to the bottom), I saw shallow baskets next door and realized they were a great way to keep the boards and pieces stacked together.
There’s also a book basket in Clara’s room with a bucket of wood blocks next to it. They usually don’t leave Clara’s room, but if they do the books can go into either of the other two book baskets, and the blocks get brought back at night when we bring play kitchen and puzzle pieces back. This might sound complicated, but it’s one walk down the hall with stuff that goes into Clara’s room each night since we know what goes in there now. It’s novel. And we’re also starting to ask Clara to help us clean up (she even sings the clean up song!) so sometimes she brings things back where they belong instead of us. That rocks too. It’s nice that even Clara’s picking up that certain things have “a home” to be returned to.
Oh and here are those “supervised” activities that we do with Clara (they all get tucked into a drawer in the kitchen so they’re special things we’ll whip out if she’s ever having a restless moment and we want to change things up. Since they’re not always out at her disposal, they’re always met with excitement.
And when it comes to outdoor activities, the rock box has continued to be a hit among toddlers. Our three year old neighbor actually joined Clara in a little Sunday afternoon rock romp, so it’s nice to know that it’s another “zone” where Clara can have some fun and dig around.
One organizational thing that we do need to tackle is an outdoor storage bin (we’re thinking of grabbing something like this) for the buckets and trucks that don’t fit inside her rock box when it’s covered. So we’ll keep you posted! In the meantime, that’s our kid-clutter rundown. We have no idea if this system will work for us when Clara and her toys get bigger – in fact I’d bet that it’ll keep changing and evolving – but you know we’ll blog all about it as we go.
What do you guys swear by when it comes to organizing kid stuff? I’m sure there are a million ways to skin this cat (gross expression, sorry) so we’d love to hear what works for you. My BFF has a giant playroom packed to the gills with stuff and her kiddos love that room, so there are definitely lots of ways to go!
Psst- Wanna know where we got something in our house or what paint color we used? Just click on this button:
Corinne says
Okay, dare I say it, but I think I may steal the “only keep out a bin of the most-loved/current favorite toys” for my puppy. I’m sure the amount of dog toys in my house would be reduced drastically!
Jessica says
Dudes…..I definitely spent my evening last night sorting through toys and sending LOTS of stuff to the basement for storage (future yard sale anyone??) I had planned to do this for months and just hadn’t gotten around to it…..thanks for the motivation! I already see an improvement in the amount of independent play time…..and sanity for mama! ;) Thank you!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, so glad!
xo,
s
Brandi says
The rock box picture reminded me..
I’m a Montessori preschool teacher, and I’m always looking for things to fill the sensory table. After reading your post about the sand box turned rock box, I decided to buy some rocks for it. They definitely needed to be rinsed off first, but so far they are the most successful sensory table item we’ve had! Sand, beans, etc. are so light weight that the children can more easily splash around in them (resulting in a huge mess), but the weight of the rocks keeps their play lower in the table (and cleaner). I’ve only added a scoop and a few small cups, and the children have been really interested in it. Plus, the natural material fits perfectly in line with the Montessori principle. Thanks for [another] great idea!
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! That’s so exciting! I’m a Montessori kid (went through 6th grade) so I’m psyched to hear that!
xo,
s
Kerrie Hawkins says
I found this on pinterest, and thought this would be PERFECT for Clara’s coloring desk!!!
http://pinterest.com/pin/149392912609471293/
YoungHouseLove says
So cute!!!
xo,
s
Annalize says
Hi,
We live in Cape Town, South Africa, and I recently discovered your blog via pinterest (someone pinned your home made cleaning agents article). It has been fun and amazing to see how your turned old looking and DARK into fresh and light in your new house! My husband made our daughters (age 11 and 9 now) big wooden boxes (about 1.3 m x 0.6 m) with a loose box that slide on planks nailed halfway up (for small things) for all their toys and it works like a charm! He also added on wheels so that it could be moved easily (to play or clean behind). What we did find, though, is that we had to go through them every six months and get rid of all the cheap, unwanted and broken toys as kids will collect EVERYTHING if you allow them ;) It can also double as storage for extra linen, etc. when they are older!
Thank you for the informal way of informing us ignorant bunch! It really has helped me so much in the last couple weeks as we work towards a neater simpler lifestyle!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s amazing! I love that! What a handy hubby you have!
xo,
s
Amber says
We have a dedicated play room for our 16-month-old, so besides there and his room, there aren’t many toys strewn about the house. That is, besides the balls he insists on throwing over the baby gate and down the stairs to his dad’s office. :)
Your system for organizing toys is very similar to ours (or our intention, anyway). We have a play table where a few toys stay out, I rotate the sets of toys (like blocks and things) from the bookshelf where they’re inaccessible, and then we have a large fabric basket for odds and ends, a basket for stuffed animals, a basket for books and (soon) a basket for balls. In his room he has various shallow baskets on an Expedit (from IKEA) bookshelf were we keep diapers, but also books, soft toys, and hard toys. We just introduced our first puzzles yesterday (the chunky Melissa and Doug ones like Clara has), so I guess I’m going to have to devise some storage for those, too.
Do you ever have issues with Clara coloring on things she shouldn’t (walls, other books)? What about tipping over tables? I would love to have a table set up with craft supplies, like Clara’s, but I guess we’re just not old enough yet. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oddly enough we haven’t had that problem yet, but I know never to say never- she could start doing it next week!
xo,
s
Emily F. says
This post is great, thanks!! We just got home from a mini-vacation to my aunt and uncle’s house where we only brought a few toys for my almost-one year old since we were flying. She played with those few toys all the time, for tens of minutes at a time! Once we got home, it was like toy overload with her pulling all the toys out of the bins at home and not focusing on any one toy for longer than a few seconds. Guess I should consolidate more! I do rotate her toys every couple weeks but there are still bins in her bedroom, in the living room, dining room, plus the storage ottoman!
Vanessa L says
I noticed no toys with batteries…I assume this is a conscious decision (maybe I missed that post)? And how to you prevent others from gifting you toys with batteries?
I think it’s awesome.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, it’s totally unconscious! I think our family knows we like wood toys and try to stay green, so maybe they just like getting us organic stuffed animals/blankets or wood toys instead? We get lots of those!
xo,
s
Cassidy says
We keep our kiddo’s toys in one corner of the living room (yes we have a kid zone!) but I love it. We have the Target cubeicals, 4 wide by 3 tall, and his toddler couch (not one of those flimsy ones, but a real wood & microfiber one)with an ottoman from Wal-Mart (full of MegaBloks). In the Target bookshelf I have 6 bins (for cars, balls, crochet toys, dinosaurs, random toys and noisy random toys) I also stack puzzles and set some toys out on shelves- the wooden ones that look pretty :) haha. We do have a big box of toys but I’d like to get rid of those, and I think that you just gave me the motivation to make a trip to Goodwill this weekend! :)
Jenny says
Great post and I totally agree with rotating toys – that changed our lives! Wooden puzzles also drove me nuts. I started using the vinyl bags with zippers or plastic snaps that bed linens come in to store them all. Just 2 or 3 puzzles per bag, according to theme (shapes, vehicles, animals, etc.) and then the bags get stored flat in the kids’ cubbies. They can grab them without pieces falling out everywhere and get them put back away all on their own.
Jessica says
I’ll admit that our almost 3 year old daughter has way too many toys but she’s an only child plus the only grandchild on one side and the youngest grandchild on the other.
I tried a set of twelve 15″ stacking cubes with fabric Drona bins but I found that her toys were either too big to fit in in the cubbies or they barely filled a couple inches of the space, and we were limited to 12 groupings.
We ended up with a TV armoire that was a $175 Craigslist steal and, not only does it look a lot better, it works great! Her small toys are all grouped by type and stored in plastic bins on shelves in the main compartment. Two drawers on the bottom (probably designed for DVDs) hold medium sized toys and musical instruments. Her big toys (like her shopping cart and doll stroller) sit inside her closet. The messy toys, like craft supplies and Play-Doh are in bins on the top shelf of the closet. Stuffed animals and baby dolls are in under-the-bed-bins. Her dress up and pretend toys are in a small chest-style toy box. Her books are on a bookshelf. Smaller board books are in cute white baskets on the bookshelf to corral them and reduce visual clutter. We keep her outside toys on an extra bookshelf in the garage. It’s visually a soothing room, despite being only 11’x11′ and packed with toys, because the decorations and furniture coordinate and the toys are all hidden from view.
The only toys regularly out in the main living areas are her unit blocks (but they’re a nice natural wood color and in a pretty basket on a low shelf) and her toy kitchen, which is in an out-of the way area in our real kitchen so she can “cook” alongside us. I love the kitchen you made and wish we’d gone that route instead of plastic. Neutral colors and a built-in shelf for storing the faux food are such good ideas!
MelissaG says
Are the round baskets a recent Target purchase?
YoungHouseLove says
We got them about a year or so ago, but still see them in the basket/ottoman aisle, so I think they still stock them!
xo,
s
Emilie says
OMG, I love this!! Totally going to rethink my toy storage. I also love the little zippered bag idea, my son also loves zipping and unzipping.
Hanna says
My daughter is two and we do a basket in the living room as well, with her books and her wheelie bug. Kitchen with kitchen stuff, and everything else is in her closet in those square canvas bins in a mesh cube storage thingy. It’s great because she can’t open her closet door and she only gets one bin at a time.
We clean up at nap time and bedtime. I’ve convinced her that she needs to say nigh night to all her toys and tuck them into the baskets to sleep. This can take a while, but she loves to do it!
Our house is too tiny to handle lots of kid clutter, and her room can’t have anything accessible right now as she is still getting used to her big girl bed.
Jacci in Ohio says
Hey, guys! I’ve been lurking. You get so many comments now, who needs to hear from me? :) I just wanted to pop in and say I’m still reading. And I totally think you’re on the right track with putting some of Clara’s things away. For five children, we really don’t have many toys… and the reasons you listed here are why. They really don’t need much when it comes down to it. And they seem happier and more interested with fewer things. Most of our toys are still in the family room… awaiting a shelving system that will come, but just isn’t a priority right now. So, having them all “out” most of the time motivates me to keep the amount under control, too. We do “give away days” before birthdays and Christmas to keep the accumulation down.
Clara’s such a love bug!
YoungHouseLove says
Ohemgeeee! Jacci! I kid you not, I was just thinking about you yesterday and wondering what you were up to! Smooch those kiddos of you for us (and Clara)!
xo,
s
Jami says
Oh, I remember the days of having one child, and being able to corral his toys into one specific area… I miss those days. Now, I have 3 children (6, 3, 1) and they all have different interests and play with different toys and have grandparents that SPOIL them. We have designated one room in our home their play room, but it is in constant chaos. I’ve come up with many organizational systems in there, but the 3 yo and 1 yo aren’t so accommodating with that. We actually just removed 5 boxes of toys and games. But it is so hard, because they are all at different levels and what do you tell them when Grandpa gave them a 4’x5′ race track, but there is no room for it?? **sigh** I just tell myself this is temporary and one day I will wish I had toys all over my house again. <3
RebeccaNYC says
Have not read through all 300+ comments to see if someone has already suggested this…So sorry if this is a duplicate idea…With that type of puzzle, it is fairly easy to attach each piece to a string, and attach the string to the base of the puzzle. Ta-da! No more searching for puzzle pieces.
YoungHouseLove says
Smart!!
xo
s
Tonya says
I used to try to pare down my son’s toys (he’s 11) before Christmas or his birthday but I found that he is much more willing to get rid of the unused things if I wait until the week after. The key is to do it as soon as possible before his new toys lose their shininess!
Now if only I can figure out an attractive solution for legos since he likes to build out in the living room where we are.
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip!
xo,
s
Vanessa L says
Hi, I commented yesterday and don’t see it – I think it got eaten by your spam filter…so here goes –
I don’t see any toys with batteries – I am guessing that is a conscious decision (maybe I missed that post)? How do you prevent others from gifting you toys with batteries? I think it’s awesome. Also, completely unrelated – when you traveled with Clara did you bring your family yearbooks? I read about what worked and didn’t and I thought those were a big hit at home but don’t remember reading about you using them on the plane.
Love your site – thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
If you click this link you can see your comment and our answer (so sorry there are so many so it’s hard to find yours if it’s on another page!). As for the yearbooks, they’re too precious for us to travel with (don’t want them to get spilled on/ripped/ruined so we leave them at home and brought other favorite books and games on the plane.
xo,
s
Felicity says
Thank you for this awesome post! My son is 18 months old and I’ve wondered about toy overload (I know I feel like I’m on overload looking at all of his play-stuff at once). A lot of his toys/books are in open boxes in our living room, so I love the ottoman idea to clean things up for him and us.
Jaime says
This post has been sitting heavily on me for the last few days, thinking about how much STUFF my 4 year old son has. We have tried to limit, but with well meaning friends and family, it’s taken over. I think you’ve encouraged us to do some major ebay listing and a huge garage sale. Money would be much better invested in a family zoo pass and in the college fund than in pieces of plastic.
Also, I love the idea of baskets for books. So much of an easier clean up than trying to organize shelves…
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, I love the idea of putting the proceeds towards a family zoo pass and the ol’ college fund! You’re right about that being such a great way to redirect it!
xo,
s
Melody says
I just pared down my daughter’s toys to her favorites after reading your post, and it worked like magic! She seemed so bored with all her blocks, letters, animals, etc, and was getting into trouble touching everything she wasn’t supposed to in the house. I got her stash down to one small basket and she is totally back into those simple nesting cups–for hours! Thanks for this post!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Yay! So glad!
xo,
s
jazmin says
Haha, your “someday” after the dust picture made me giggle. That is how I feel too!
Jazmin
Laura says
Love that quote from the happiness project! It reminds me of this TED Talk about choices:
http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_choosing_what_to_choose.html
It’s really good!
YoungHouseLove says
So interesting!
xo,
s
Angie King says
LOVE LOVE LOVE this post!!! I am so sick of toys taking over our den. I have arranged all of our little boy’s toys in his room, cleaning out/giving aways and only having his favorites on his bookshelf. Our baby girl, who just turned two on May 3rd, seems to have her things in our den. I think I will get some of these baskets and only have a few baskets in different places around about the house!! Thanks for this.
Britt says
You guys may have spotted this, but Cup of Jo is trying the same basic tactics today. Might be a worthwhile read to add to the pile! http://joannagoddard.blogspot.com/2012/05/motherhood-mondays-simplicity-parenting.html
YoungHouseLove says
Love it!
xo,
s
Peg says
Thanks for all the great ideas on keeping your house a home without being overrun by kiddie stuff! Although I’ve already put our baby’s books and toys in small baskets and boxes, I think I’m definitely going to use bigger baskets to organize all his toys as they and he gets bigger. I thought those puzzles were super cute – where did you get them?
YoungHouseLove says
Those are all by Melissa and Doug I think – lots of toy stores and online shops (like amazon.com) have them I think!
xo,
s
Julie says
we are considering getting this ottoman http://www.walmart.com/ip/Square-Storage-Ottoman-Espresso/16550174?findingMethod=rr as a cheap for now storage/help babies learn to walk option. But I am a little worried that since we have twins one baby might get the bright idea to climb inside while the other one shuts the top. See my concern? Has Clara ever expressed interest in climbing inside? could she open/close it if she tried? Thanks for your help.
YoungHouseLove says
On no, she has never tried that (although I don’t think she could since it takes some force) but here’s the secret. Never open it in front of them. I just stash things in there when Clara’s sleeping or in bed for the night- so she has no idea it even opens! Let alone that it’s full of toys! That might make her go crazy- haha.
xo,
s
Crystal @ 29 Rue House says
Just wanted to tell you that after getting motivated from this post I put away a bunch of toys (to be cycled back in later) and got a couple of those baskets from Target. I’ve already noticed a huge difference in the toy cluttered living room and how Ruby plays! I knew less toys was more but I hadn’t been motivated to do it until now! Thank you!
YoungHouseLove says
Yay! So glad!
xo
s
Caits says
what are your favorite kids books?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh gosh, we have a million. We love anything by Leslie Patricelli, Mo Willems, and of course classics like Goodnight Moon and I Love You Through and Through.
xo,
s
christy says
great ideas! we have a 15-month old and have the dilemma of too many toys. most of them come from generous family members. anyway, i used to have everything piled up in a huge basket, but i noticed my son wasn’t really playing with any of them. so, i brought out a shallow basket, picked out a few that he hadn’t seen in a while, and put the rest away. he also has a basket of books and one rather large riding toy. other than that, everything else is put up! i noticed a change immediately – he started playing with his toys! and, the living room looks better. (when i took photographs for a local realtor, i would always cringe when i walked into a house where the living room was “littered” with toys. totally distracting.) also, clean up is a breeze.
YoungHouseLove says
Love that!
xo
s
Meggan says
I have started rotating things too, and it makes a HUGE difference. I have three little boys, so we have a lot of blocks, legos, train tracks, tinker toys, etc. My rule is that they can keep out one toy that has lots of pieces (like the above) and then maybe their cars and a few stuffed animals. That way I am not sorting the train tracks out of the tinker toys every time I put stuff away. I have one toy box (it’s actually a basket chest, which I like since it doesn’t scream toy box) that I keep downstairs, and the rest of their toys live in their room. Of course they migrate, but at the end of the day it’s easy to know where everything goes back to, and only have to pick up a few things.
Katie says
I know this is an old post but I saw your instagram picture of Clara’s tower of blocks and was wondering what brand of blocks they were and where you got them? I would love to get some “girly” blocks for my little girls. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
They were a birthday gift- so sorry we don’t remember the name. Maybe try looking on amazon for blocks to see what comes up?
xo,
s
JK says
Hi! In LOVE with that ottoman. Do you know who the actual maker is?
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry there’s no info on it.
xo,
s
Vanessa says
Hey John & Sherry – think you could do an updated version of this post? (or did you do it and I missed it?). My son just turned 2 this past Easter – and between that and the Christmas toys – I think they multiply like bunnies over night or something… We already rotate toys – usually every month or so. It used to be all of group A goes away and group B comes out to play but lately some of A stay and a few from B come out but not as many as in previous months.So then on the third and fourth months there is a mix that didn’t make it out earlier. Even so it still feels like a lot. And this may sound stupid – but how do you know Clara has truly outgrown something? I feel like something is too young for my son and then I pull out and he still plays with it. And it is really hard to know his favorites – or do you really just limit it to 2 or 3 things. Any additional insights how your system is working/grown/been modified would be great. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
I’d love to! Great post idea!
xo,
s
pinny says
Hi, John and Sherry. I have popped in on your blog for a few years, and never commented. I now live in the D.C. area, and see that someone has used an image from your blog in an effort to sell their storage ottoman. (or maybe you are selling it yourselves incognito?) in any event, here is the link in case you want to have a gotcha! moment with the seller. have a great weekend, and keep up the good work. you two are a great example of “owning your life.” you lived within your means, and could afford to take a risk with this blog, and it has paid off so nicely for you. congratulations!
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/fuo/3850065536.html
YoungHouseLove says
So funny, it’s not us! Off to check it out!
xo
s
pinny says
hi, again. there is another use of your storage ottoman image on craigslist. this time the poster’s location is baltimore. http://baltimore.craigslist.org/fuo/3862833577.html
YoungHouseLove says
No way!
xo
s
Kate says
What puzzles did you end up getting for Clara? My daughter is turning 1 in a couple days and I have started looking for puzzles, but it seems like it’s really difficult to find chunky toddler puzzles (especially nicer/wood ones) without spending an arm and a leg!
Kate says
I happened to do some searching after I commented and do see that these are Melissa and Doug puzzles. Unfortunately, it seems that they usually to be out of painted wood a few years ago (when you would have gotten your puzzles) and are now MDF and paper stickers. My quest continues, I guess!
YoungHouseLove says
Boo! That stinks!
xo
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Rainbow miller says
Would you guys consider doing an updated toy organization post now that Clara is older? Would love to know how you deal with more toys as they grow and saving old ones for siblings.
YoungHouseLove says
Sure, that would be fun so we can chronicle how we’re doing with two kids and double the stuff!
xo
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Rebecca @This Nest is Best says
Would LOVE if you did an updated post like this in your new house and now with Teddy’s things. This is one of my oft-referenced posts!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Rebecca! We’d love to!
xo
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