Help me organize this room, please!!! (yes, I'm begging)

[k2bdeutmeyer]

You know you're out there....those of you that love to organize. HELP ME!

 

I actually enjoy organizing, but can't ever figure out the way to do it, and what I've got going on is NOT working. Trying to get it to a way that works is too overwhelming for me (yes, I'm a bit ADD) and I'm getting nowhere. I almost need things ULTRA organized in order to keep track of everything without feeling overwhelmed. Tell me what I need....give me ideas, plans. Ahhhh!

 

Here are our biggest areas with problems (regarding school stuff anyway) - keeping in mind DD is terribly ADD and can't keep things organized if her life depended on it:

 

1. School books get haphazardly (is that really a word, and if so did I spell it right?) thrown on shelves. Right now we have one shelf of one of the tall book shelves dedicated to both DDs workbooks and my TMs. I really think a workbox type setup for each subject would be ideal, but I'm not sure how to organize that in this room.

 

2. Papers rarely end up in their appropriate folder, and the corresponding notebook frequently gets separated from its folder.

 

3. Our basket of CDs, flashcards, crayons, markers, paints, etc....is overflowing, but there doesn't seem to be enough of any of them to command its own basket.

 

4. Art supplies seem to be floating everywhere.

 

Now...regarding the rest of the room.

 

1. The desk is a catchall - especially with regard to my photography business stuff.

 

2. The toys along the floor seem to have no home and I hate the cluttered look of them all lined up along that wall. The items usually here are a grocery cart, a doll high chair, the Busy Ball Popper, a riding/push toy (this doesn't necessarily need to stay in this room), the Laugh and Learn Piano (I could maybe store this too, though DS likes it), a toy vacuum, and the Incrediblock.

 

3. The doll bed is filled with dolls and therefore is rarely used as it is intended thus seems to be a waste of space.

 

4. The top of the toybox (which I would actually like to get rid of) is also filled with children's books (they belong on DD2s bookshelf in her room) and as much as I try to keep it clean they keep ending up there.

 

5. The cube shelf is supposed to house all the toys except the ones lined up along the wall, and the dress up clothes (those are currently housed in the toybox), but it is stuffed to the brim (though they aren't put away right now, so it looks empty). Currently the canvas drawers house the peek-a-blocks, the animals to the fisher price train and boat, barbies, and misc little toys.

 

6. The car seems to have no home.

 

Ideally, I'd really like this to feel more like a preschool room. DD2 is 3.5yr and we bought a weather chart yesterday (thank you Target dollar spot) that she is really excited about. But it also has to work for a 13 month old boy who is into EVERYTHING! If this were you, what would you do?? Think small budget, but I can, and am willing to purchase some things if I need to :)

 

Thank you to anyone who has waded through all this and is willing to help. This has been plaguing me since we started HSing in March. I'm tired of it.

 

And finally, the pics of it as it is right now (excuse the mess....I just took pics, no clean up beforehand). These were taken from all 4 corners of the room:

 

 

 

 

[The Girls' Mom]

First, I would take EVERYTHING out of the room and start from a bare room.

 

Bring back only the toys that you feel are essential to the preschool (or keeping toddler occupied).

 

You could purchase another cube and bins for more of the small stuff.

 

Keep one basket for art supplies (even if it's not full...it will be eventually)

 

Keep each type of toy in another bin, with a photo on the front so even the non-readers can help pick up.

 

Minimize the folders/papers your dd needs. If she's ADD, the less the better (I have a organizing challenged child too) I've weeded it down to ONE notebook (5 subject) and a few binders. I use a plastic bin for each child, and all their workbooks, notebook and binders go in it. They are up on a shelf, within reach.

 

I have ONE basket for finished papers that need to be checked.

 

I have a bin for each child for their loose small things like favorite pencils, crayons, etc.

 

I keep all other books on shelves that are labeled by subject, with two shelves dedicated to what we are currently working on (you may only need one right now) For example, I have all our readers and misc books for this year on those shelves.

 

Set up centers. A kitchen center with the play kitchen and one basket/bin for the play food. A block center with a small table and one bin for the blocks. Etc.

 

With your room, you have a place for a work table in the middle. I would get a small sturdy table with chairs for everyone.

 

Get another bookshelf or two and plastic tubs that will fit on them. If you put a lot of the smaller toy in bins, they won't look so cluttered.

 

Maybe large basket for the baby dolls? (We have the same issue here....too many dolls! But they are in their rooms so I don't have to see them all day)

[k2bdeutmeyer]

Thanks Apryl!

 

I'm not sure DH would go for a table in the middle of the room (though I wish he would), because he has a spinal cord injury and some mobility issues.....he prefers more open space and less things for him to work around or trip over.

[joannqn]

I think your problem is coming from the fact that you have too much stuff, especially toys for the younger kids. To give you an idea of how many toys we have in comparison, I posted a photo of my 11 month old today. In the background, there are shelves that hold literally all of our infant/toddler toys except for a wooden train set. The books all over the floor aren't hers though; hers are in the blue plastic basket on the shelf behind her. The train is in the boys' bedroom, and the track was stapled together so it won't come apart. Extra track pieces were thrown out so that there's no clutter with it.

 

I'd organize all of the toys by type and have a bin for each type. Label the bins so that there is no question what goes where. Your cube organizer would work great for that but I'd recommend getting enough canvas cubes for fill every hole. Here's how I did it using plastic drawer bins. Have only as many categories as you have bins for...anything else goes. In your picture/description, I can see a bin for mega blocks, musical toys, cars, doll clothes, Little People, and grocery items. Keep the larger pieces (like the little people barn) on the lower shelves...only 2 or 3 large pieces per shelf. Here's how I organized our stuffed animals and larger toys.

 

I'd cut way down on the amount of larger toys you have...I see two large, nearly identical (one appears smaller than the other) dump trucks when one would be sufficient. In addition to those, I see quite a few other car/truck type toys. Really, 2-3 plastic cars is enough. I see two V-Tech or Leap Frog type drums; keep one and donate the other. One baby doll with her crib and grocery cart. Etc.

 

The big red car would be an outside toy here and kept on the porch.

 

I'd put all of the books together. Organize them by type and use book holders to keep them together. One book holder for teacher's manuals (all of mine are in a wooden magazine box that I can pull out and bring to the couch so I can grade while we watch TV in the evenings). One book holder for her current workbooks/textbooks. Other book holders can be used to hold history books, science books, literature, etc. Then the books get returned to their proper holder. Get plastic drawers like the one you have on the left bookshelf and put one type of thing in each...crayons in one, markers in another, colored pencils in a third, etc. Make sure you get the kind that the drawers can pull out of; then you can bring the whole drawer to the table.

 

Both of your older kids are old enough to put away toys/books/supplies once they have a proper and easy to access home. Teach them where things go and how to put things away and expect them to do it. Don't just say put it back in the holder. Show them how to hold up the other books and place the book, standing upright with spine out, in the holder. My three year old learned to do it before he was 2 because I got tired of picking up the mess he always made. If they don't put them away right, make them do it again, even if it means you have to take each book off and hand them one book at a time. After a few times, they'll get it and can do it without your supervision.

Edited July 13, 2010 by joannqn

[k2bdeutmeyer]

Thanks JoAnn! We do have far too many toys, and nobody plays with much of any of it (probably too many choices - I need to get better at rotating them). The cars and trucks are all new. DS just turned 1yr on June 5th and those were his birthday presents.

[Julie in AZ]

I agree with cutting back on toys. Also, each toy needs to have a place. Could you make a parking spot out of tape on the floor for the car?

 

Can you extend your desk area upward with shelves or an amoire?

 

How about several large baskets on the floor for toddler books?

 

It's a great room. :)

[k2bdeutmeyer]

This is totally an extra thing, but what about for the walls?? Any fun ideas for stuff to hang?

[MaMa2005]

Regarding your DH and mobility issues - this idea might work.

 

On the far wall that has the two pictures on it, you might look into hanging some kitchen cabinets and then putting a work table underneath it. We transformed our guest room into a scrapbook/sewing/art/guest room by hanging white kitchen cabinets (24 x 24) on two of the walls and then putting worktables underneath. The center is open. This would allow you room to organize things AND keep them out of sight.

 

We got the cabinets at IKEA for $10 a piece on closeout. Usually the big box stores have damaged cabinets that you can pick up for a great price.

 

As others have said, declutter and get rid of the extra toys. I really think toys have the ability to reproduce at night while we are sleeping :D.

 

We had a toy box just like yours and I finally sold it on Craigslist. The books would never stay upright and finding toys was like digging in a black hole. DS has two rolling laundry bins from Wally World that contain his toys. If the toys don't fit in the bins, then we know it is time to clean out and give things to Goodwill.

 

I use cardboard magazine holders to organize workbooks, books, etc. Easy to label and things don't fall over. I even use them in my Desk Apprentice to keep the books from falling over (which the paperback workbooks are so fond of doing!)

 

Take what will work for you from all of the suggestions you get and you will wind up with a fantastic room.:)

[dcurry]

What a great room! So much potential!

[fhjmom]

Since you want it to be more "pre-school-ish" I would divide the room up into centers. Make a "home center in one corner with the dolls, dishes, food, etc. type toys. Make a reading nook with maybe some big pillows, cusions or bean bag and then put the reading books in a basket or some shelves made from molding or gutters on the wall. A dress up center with pegs or low coat rack so things can be hung up easily, but not everything has to be drug out to play. The low shelf with the fabric bins could be positioned perpendicular to the wall to help mark off an area.

 

I would seperate the tall book shelves and make one for toy storage and the other for your older daughter's school things. I would also put your TM's and supplies on the top shelf and her supplies on the lower shelves so she doesn't have to deal with trying to organize any more than she has to. I love using the plastic magazine boxes for workbook storage. It keeps them organized nicely on the shelf.

 

There is a door in one corner that appears to maybe be a closet? Is there anyway that could be a "garage" for the large toys? If not a line on the floor or even a rug sized just larger than the car could be put in a certain place for the car. Honestly, I would send it to a different location (like the garage) all together. Does your DC ride it in the room?

 

ALl this from a person hopelessly tryign to rearrange all her junk as we speak! :001_huh:

 

it's a great room! I am jealous of all the open floor space! :)

[bookfiend]

In addition to the other comments, I would add that anything you want the children to have access to and for them to utilize! needs to be in a clear basket or open cubby. Those carts with the pull-out drawers are great for art supplies. At preschool age, whatever is unseen is unused.

 

This works to your advantage for the CD's and work items your keep in the same area. Put those in opaque containers/baskets.

[stripe]

These are good ideas -- so I'll just add two comments....I think the desk (with computers) in the corner needs a makeover, and the wall near the TV needs some sort of structure. I personally find giant book cases to be unwieldy, because picture books are hard to keep upright on them.