Okay, so while I was all gung-ho-let’s-get-this-party-started with my storage room makeover, I also started to look in the girls’ playroom. Instantly I was like… Holy Cow, these girls have way too much stuff. They are twins so they already have two of everything then add in a super over-the-top grandmother who must think our playroom is like 6000 square feet or something, haha. Seriously, my mom buys them way too many toys. Soooo ding ding ding! Another room that Carly from the Evergreen Method could help me tackle. I told Carly I would like to knock out the girls’ playroom right after we finished the storage area- I could not wait any longer.
I can’t tell you what a great feeling it was to have this all done. Seriously, taking the time to declutter, and let go of things that I knew the girls weren’t playing with or had outgrown was almost therapeutic. At the same time, it was a little sad, more for Khalil… if you can believe it!? I think he had a more difficult time saying goodbye to certain toys than even the girls did! Haha, poor guy, his babies are growing up! I mean it was sad for me too, but that’s life, they do grow up, right!? The way we saw it was that we were not going to throw the toys in the trash. The plan is always to donate. So, to help the girls (and us) feel better about the cleanout we reminded them that the longer we held on to the unused toys the longer it will be before they go into the hands of a child who may not have as much, and who would love and use them. This did the trick and helped speed the process up with the girls.
Here is how we got it done:
I sat with the girls and let them know that Ms. Carly was going to come over in a few days to help mommy organize their playroom. I explained to the girls that we need to go through their toys together and take the ones they don’t play with anymore to some other little boys/girls who don’t have as much. As you can imagine there were some tears, and some sneaky grabbing things back out of the donated pile when I wasn’t looking 😉 Overall it wasn’t that bad, the girls like the idea of donating to other little kids so this helped. We ended up with a pretty decent amount of toys/stuffed animals that we were able to take to Goodwill. I thought maybe they would ask for certain things once they realized they were gone, but nope… they have been fine.
Now for the organization part. Carly and I came up with a plan to stay within budget by using the same storage system and bins that I already had but just adding in a few more. We moved their play kitchen into this little playhouse that they never even used before! Genius idea by Carly! It’s amazing how just a little rearranging of the room can make it so much better. Now, it makes more sense, and they have designated spaces for certain activities. Like – here is the arts/crafts area, here is the kitchen, here is an active play area, and so on. You get the idea. She also got these cute little food containers that are perfect for storing all their markers/art materials. All of the bins are clearly labeled and it looks ten times more inviting. I feel like because the girls had so many toys before, it was a little overwhelming for them. Ever since we finished this room I am finding that they are playing together longer and they seem less distracted. Unexpected bonus results, but we couldn’t be happier with the outcome.
I have said it before and I will say it again… if you are local to the Northern Virginia/DC area, hit up Carly at the Evergreen Method. She will even give TwinLatte followers 10% off your first booking! Drop the code TWINLATTE10 in your message to her to redeem!
Do your kiddos have too much stuff? How often do you find you need to do a big cleanout?
XO
Courtney
