{Day 7} The Kids Rooms

Ugh. Not only did I feel the need to tackle the kids' bedrooms for today's challenge...I knew I really needed to incorporate the playroom. It needs a regular sweep from time to time and, well, what better time than now. Especially before both kids have birthdays this summer!

I started my Day 7 early. I actually did the playroom before taking Ryan to school and it felt SO good to get it out of the way. Ryan helped with the purge (sometimes taking things OUT of the trash, but we ultimately worked together) while Kaylin did puzzles. I did a major reorganization overhaul on that room last summer, buying bins and shelves that really make the room functional.

Since this was mostly going to focus on tidying (which is usually done daily in there) and decluttering, I had a large trash bag (for Good Will) nearby along with a trash can (I threw away tons of small toys and pieces) and a small basket (pictured below) for toy parts and pieces that I knew belonged somewhere, I just didn't know where. I keep that basket up high nearby, so I can add to it, as needed, and search there for missing car tires, railroad track, single dolly dress up shoes, you know how it goes. If I see something in there for too long, it's obviously not being missed, so it gets thrown out. I started this little basket for battery covers for toys (and their screws that would always come out and get lost) which saved my sanity more than once.

Playroom before picture

Playroom after picture (Not a huge difference, but I took time to make sure all the movies were in the right cases, which took a while. Ryan and I also went through the box of dinosauers and gave the bigger ones away so the lid will fit on top of the box.)

Playroom closet before

Playroom closet after (I still plan to label those dress up bins with pictures so the kids know what goes inside each one)

Another "after" of the playroom (baby dolls are taking over the house!)

Ryan's room before

Ryan's room after

Ryan's closet before (yes, I know - his closet is HUGE!)

Ryan's closet after (I took away all of his 4T and 5T clothes that are officially ridiculously small)

Kaylin's closet before

Kaylin's closet after (those cubbies are used to house things that need to be packed away, specifically stray, smaller-sized clothes that I find after I put the packed up storage bin up high in my closet)

I recently went through and packed up Kaylin's 2T clothes and brought in the 3T clothes. I use large Rubbermaid bins to store clothes for future babies and keep them on the higher shelves in the master bedroom closets. (I try to limit each to one bin per size, labeling each bin with the size and gender...less work for later!)