The Importance of an Organized Space
I loved how perfect our nurseries always looked. Everything had its place and the room was beautifully soft and balanced in a matching color scheme. The toys were more like decorations arranged thoughtfully on the shelves. The nurseries felt cozy and comfortable, as I would want the babies to feel as they gazed around the room. My goal is to try to maintain that feeling of comfort and peace in the kids' rooms as they grow and their interests and needs change.
As the boys have gotten older, their rooms have become more and more cluttered with big multi-colored play sets and what seems like hundreds of tiny things that need to be sorted and handled with care. We have little paper drawings and clippings, dried up play-doh shapes, the lego people and their accessories, the beaded necklaces from school and SO many neat rocks from the backyard. The list goes on... So, having a place for everything is important.
Every few months, I usually try to weed out the things that are no longer played with to keep their environment fresh and welcoming, with the toys they still use sorted and easy to see. We all feel better in a clean space where we can find what we're looking for easily.
When we're reorganizing one of the boys' rooms, we make piles: keep, put in storage, donate and throw away. We save a few things for the younger brothers, but the older boys feel good about being able to donate most toys that are no longer played with, knowing that someone else will be able to enjoy them. This process teaches them the importance of maintaining their space. My 7 year old often sorts through his desk or closet on his own and enjoys showing me the updates he's made.
After determining which items to keep, it’s time to tackle organization. In my 4 year old's room, I decided to remove the bulky closet doors and add a decorative curtain. Utilizing stackable bins in his closet was the most effective way to organize most of his smaller toys and activities. These bins are easy to manage and allow him to see everything in his collection. We also use a cube organizer shelf with collapsible fabric bins. The fabric bins can easily be swapped out for different colors any time you want to change the color scheme in the room. For example, if you change comforters and bedding, you can coordinate the colors with the cube bins.
Finally, we stuck a new set of planet decals to the big, blank wall and updated his picture board with some recent family pictures. The room feels fresh, fun and inspiring! The boys love it and have been spending more time in there since the update. While the process requires effort and commitment, the benefits of a well-organized space are undoubtedly worth it.
I've created links below to some of the products that I used, that can help elevate your space!
