Tips To De-Clutter Your Child’s Room

If you're a parent, by now you've probably realized that having a baby is just another way of saying "I'm about to accumulate a lot of stuff."

Today, I am sharing a few tips for using up all the space in your little one's room plus great ideas for de-cluttering! I am not a fan of stuff. I don't like having things I don't need or use around, so if it is not useful to me, it either gets packed away for another time (aka the next baby) or gets donated.

Tips for De-cluttering

At first, it can be quite overwhelming to purge and de-clutter. A helpful tip is to act like you’re moving. When going through the items, have three empty laundry baskets in the middle of the room: one for items you want to get rid of, one for items you want to store for the future, and one for items you want to keep. Only keep items that you, or your child, love enough to lug with you to a new house. Also, consider the rule of six months: if you’re child hasn’t worn an outfit or touched a toy in the last six months there’s a reason – it’s an indication that it’s time to part ways.

Make sure you do one area of the room at a time! It will be tough to control yourself when you get on a roll, but try to stay focused on each space before moving on to another.

Reassess – after the initial de-clutter session, make sure you go through what you decided to keep and make sure it’s workable for the space, and things your child will actually want or use.

Now you are ready to get started!

The Great Purge

Oh, yes, the toys. There are SO many toys. When I registered for Grace, there were fifty toys per age category that I just absolutely NEEDED. Now that she's here and going on fourteen months old, I probably see her play with the same five toys! She loves things like measuring cups, and spoons, etc, but yes, she did accumulate a lot of toys!

Step one: Group toys by type. You’ll quickly notice that you have 14 pretend cell phones but your kid only plays with one. Put aside the excess to donate. Also, as you’re doing this you will probably come across entire categories of toys that your child has outgrown. Newborn toys like rattles or hanging toys are not really of any use to your growing kid anymore. Donate these or stow them away for future kids. Same goes for clothes that don’t fit your child anymore.

With kids, it’s easy to get sentimental and you'll find it difficult to throw things out. Remember that your donations will go towards great causes, and it’s an awesome opportunity to teach your children about the importance of charity. Also, don’t forget you can keep a few special things, but most of the clothing and toys that your child has outgrown are just taking up space.

Step two: Now that you’ve taken care of purging, figure out the best way to store the things that you are going to keep. I put lots of Grace’s toys in her Delta Children Jack & Jill Deluxe Toy Box. I was so happy to find this item because it's childproof, so the top doesn't slam down. It opens with ease, and it even has book storage on the ends for my little bookworm! I condensed down her toys so much that they all fit into this chest!

As for storing clothing items, I have fabric bins in her drawers. I have three bins in each dresser drawer. They are labeled with a clothespin by the size. (18-24m, 2T, 3T, etc.) I also sort them by item in each bin, so all of her pants that are size 18-24m are in the same place, and her 2T tops are all in the same bin. It helps so much to keep clothing organized, especially for quick changes when your toddlers get messy and grumpy!

Tips for Reorganizing

Fabric Bins: My favorite item to use in bookshelves, other than books, is fabric bins. I use fabric bins all over my daughter’s room – I mentioned using them in her drawers but I also have them in her closet and on the floor. They are safe, and not pointy on the ends like plastic or wire baskets, and they look cute! You can find a whole variety of bins from Delta Children and they can be great for organizing bows, thermometers, and other tiny things that may be in baby’s dresser.

Spice Racks: Rather than putting a ton of nails in the wall to hang pictures, I have some little, white spice rack shelves to display photos and decor. I also love that I can store twice as many photos, and don’t have to worry about dusting on top of shelves or dressers where pictures would set if I didn’t use these racks. Also, Grace likes to grab anything within her reach, so I prefer the glass and fragile items to be very high up.

One last tip for decorating or re-decorating: Keep it simple with your décor. Less is more.

Hopefully after reading this post, you're a bit more confident in your ability to go through your kiddo's room and keep important things/donate or toss things that aren't needed. I don't know about you, but I always feel amazing after I get myself organized!

Photos by Ashley Haxby Photography: http://ashleyhaxby.com