toys — Tidy Tips from Professional Organizers

Tidy Nest was hired to tackle a mountain of toys and books in this household’s family room. As with any house with kids, trying to keep toys stored in their intended spaces can feel like a losing battle. Recently we’ve begun including kids in our process a little more, and explaining to them what we’re doing. By the end of our jobs, more often than not, they’re playing ‘home organizer’ in their own rooms, and helping Mom and Dad without even being asked! See below for our most recent example…

Need: The parents wanted to create a tidier family room. While there is a playroom in the house, this space is used most frequently and by all members of the household. The children’s toys, books and dress-up supplies needed to be easily accessible but also contained so the adults wouldn’t feel like they were relaxing in their children’s space.

Solution: We worked with the family on editing the inventory and relocating infrequently used items to the playroom. Luckily they already had great storage solutions (they just weren’t being used to their full capacity) so we were able to avoid having to buy new products. In addition to repurposing their existing storage solutions, we introduced labels to teach the children that everything has a home!

Pro Tip: Depending on the ages of the children, get them involved in the editing process. Make it fun - have them try to find 10 items in the room that they’d like to share with another friend or someone in need.

Try the KonMari method…”does it spark joy?” “Does it make you happy?”
Take them to the donation center when dropping the items off; it’s a great time to teach them about giving back.

What’s not helpful is asking the children “when was the last time you played with this?” Inevitably, they’ll say” right now” or tell you “all the time.”