anabelneri Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Help! We've moved into a teeny house, and the girls' room is packed. My elder has a desk area that has a lot of the homeschooling books, while my younger needs space to keep & play with her legos. We currently have low shelves that a lot of the toys and books are on, and while we might spring for more tall shelves it's not really in the budget this month. So it feels like we need to get rid of some books. Kids books. We have a whole shelf of French childrens' books (we're learning French), and we have a bunch of picture books, and a couple shelves of chapter books. We've been doing AO or AOesque for homeschooling, so of course we have a ton of books from that. The girls are 5 years apart, so this year I'll have a 5th grader and a Kindergartener. We go to the library every week, and honestly the girls mostly read library books for free reading. I'm stuck... how do you take a deep breath and declutter books? Or would you vote that we wait until we can afford the tall shelves? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Your kids will still look at picture books until they're at least 8 or 9 and your youngest is just 4... I wouldn't pitch anything just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Do you have a place where you can store some of them in plastic containers and rotate them in and out to keep the bedroom less cluttered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Don't ask me...I'm half-convinced that books as we know them will be extinct by the time our kids are grown and they'll need all of these books for their own kids! I only get rid of books that didn't mean much to any of us. And if you have a 4 year old, the only ones I would be weeding out at that age are board books which take up way too much shelf space anyway. Though I have a few special ones of ours in a rubbermaid tote at the top of the closet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabelneri Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 Do you have a place where you can store some of them in plastic containers and rotate them in and out to keep the bedroom less cluttered? This house is so small... there are two small closets (one in each bedroom) that are already full of everyone's (pared down) clothes and bedlinens. There really isn't any extra room for storage. We already have wall-to-wall shelving in the living room, which holds my & dh's books, some school materials, the upcoming baby's diapers (he's due in a week), cleaning supplies, our TV, printer, official paperwork, craft supplies, extra kitchen stuff, games, etc. It's an interesting challenge. We really, really like the house, but we're still figuring out how to fit. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lil' maids in a row Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 My youngest is 4, and yes I frequently weed out books. I have a small home as well, and I really enjoy it being light, bright and clutter-free .......which means, we just don't keep stuff we don't use frequently. Some books have earned a permanent place on our shelf (Mike Mulligan, the Best Nest, Blueberries for Sal etc.). We try to keep this number down. All of our other books, we enjoy for a season and then sell /donate them. We remember the good ones. If we really want to revisit one we go to the library. But selling /donating them ensures that others get to love them too. It makes our home clutter -free, and relaxing and it cuts down on time spent picking up (giving us time to read new books) . If you want to be inspired check out the blog Zero -Waste home (especially her posts about clutter) . Less really is so much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnificent_baby Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I would only keep classics and special ones that make you feel warm and fuzzy when you pick them up (surely on a hs board, I'm not alone with that feeling :seeya: ). Then get rid of the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Wee Girl and Middle Girl are spaced just like yours, so this might work for you, too: I asked Middle Girl (while Wee Girl was out) to pull off the shelf any picture books that were bad, boring, or useless; and also any picture books that she thought were so wonderful that we should keep forever. The second stack stayed, no matter what I thought of the books; the first stack went. Then dh and I pulled any books still on the shelves (the great unwashed middle) that we hated, or that were falling apart, or that nobody had ever read, and added them to the first pile. Then we sold that first pile very quickly. (And! Two of the books I'd bought second-hand for a dollar, and both Middle and Wee Girls disliked, turned out to be valuable! So decluttering can pay off.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three4me Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I'd keep the most loved books and get rid of the ones you can get easily from the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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