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I
have moved seven times in 13 years and found the clutter monster
waiting for me in every new place. Try as I might to conquer it, as we
add children and their possessions to the mix, the monster is rapidly
outgrowing our determination to divide, conquer, throw away and
organize.
I realize
we can’t give everything away (although I dream of living in one of those
stark, modern lofts where there is nothing on the counter except a lone
piece of fruit). So I have done my best to learn all I can about home
organization and storage in the hopes that my family won’t have to choose
between me and their stuff.
I can’t
insure your clutter-free existence if you use the following ideas, but you
must be willing to see victory in every small advance. And if you don’t
believe that the small things matter, just try stepping on a stray Lego block
in the middle of the night.
USE A
TRASH BAG
Step number one is getting rid of the old. Scoop up the broken toys into a
black trash bag and get it out on the curb before your kids know the
difference. If they haven’t complained enough already to make you fix it,
they’re not going to miss it. Next, gather up the toys they’ve outgrown
and give them away. Church nurseries are a great place to donate nice,
used toys. If you can’t stand to part with the memories, seal them in a
box and store it far away. Take inventory of what’s left and decide on a
clutter-taming game plan.
Now comes
the question, should you include your kids in the give-away, pack-away,
find-a-way to store it all exercise?
“Oh, gosh
no!” says mother of three, Jennifer Christiansen. “I always make sure the
kids are gone when I go through their toys. Otherwise we’d never get rid
of anything.”
USE YOUR
FURNITURE
Remember that most good storage is vertical. You can’t have too many
bookcases to store books, videos, DVDs, games, craft boxes, scrapbooks,
photo albums, trophies, etc. High shelves mean you can store those toys
you don’t want taken out at will (think paint supplies, pottery wheels,
fancy dolls). When buying furniture, always think about its storage
potential. Jennifer says she invested in a coffee table that opens to hold
both winter gear as well as special toys. An armoire can be disguised as a
regular, adult cabinet that just happens to be holding lots of kid stuff
when opened.
USE
HIDDEN SPACES
Shoe pockets, what may be a home organizer’s best friend, should hang on
the back of every available door. They hold the obvious, like shoes and
toy cars, and the not-so-obvious, like card collections and hair ribbons.
Even medicine and baby powder, which have both tragic and messy potentials
in the hands of curious toddlers, can be stored in the top pockets.
Another
thing no home should be without are under-the-bed boxes. Martha Sanusi, a
mother of four, uses them to hold out-of-season clothes as well as Lego
and Playmobile collections. Even better, Martha uses a bedsheet so that
each time her kids take the toys out to play they stay on the sheet.
“When
they are done playing,” she explains, “the sheet can be quickly refolded,
with toys tucked inside, and stored back in the box.”
Plastic
stacking bins are great anywhere, but especially when they’re out of sight
in a closet. mother of two Susan Shane uses them to hold blocks and other
small toy collections.
THE ART
OF STORING ART
When the refrigerator door is full, use those plastic hanging chains (sold
to hold beanbag toys) to hang horizontally and clip up all that favorite
artwork. Another idea for your child’s beloved masterpieces is a treasure
drawer. Martha says each of her daughters has her own drawer in the family
office and is allowed to fill it with any special creations. The only rule
is that once the drawer is full, the child must clean it out before
starting to fill it again. For very special projects, such as the Pharoah
hats her home-schooled daughters made while studying Egypt, Martha snaps a
photo to preserve the memory without having to store the actual creation.
PIECES
AND PARTS
No matter how hard you try, tiny plastic pieces manage to migrate around
the house and can lead to owning dozens of games but being able to play
none. It will help corral the wayward parts if all gamepieces, dice and
cards for each game go into separate zip-top bags. Do the same with
puzzles, especially if the little feet in your house seem to crush the
original boxes.
ON THE
HOOK
Hang a line of sturdy hooks at eye level in your child’s room to use for
jackets, costumes, pajamas, etc. Backpack hooks by the front door are a
great time-saver and clutter-buster too. Coats are a lot easier to place
on a hook in the front hall than hang up in a closet.
IN THE
BASKET
Baskets are great for so many things. Big or little, woven or plastic,
expensive or cheap…they all perform the most important job of holding our
stuff. Susan stores her kids’ small collections in baskets with handles
that make it easy for them to carry. If things tend to collect in a
certain area of your home, like the living room or stairs, consider having
a basket there for each member of the family. When you spy something out
of place, simply toss it in the appropriate basket. Once it’s full, let
the owner carry it off and put everything away. Minimize the visual
clutter even more by buying baskets with lids.
GRIN AND
BEAR IT
When all else fails, and the clutter monster still manages to get the best
of you and yours, remind yourself that the day will come when you will
miss the game pieces, fingerpaintings and dolly clothes scattered around.
Really.
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