Where do I start?

A question everyone asks, where do I start? Well I personally believe that depends on what area or areas you are wanting to focus on...bedroom, living room, kitchen, home office, playroom. For instance, this past weekend my husband and I decided that the kids have way too many toys and games and books that basically are just sitting downstairs gathering dust. I am sure many of you can totally relate to this! So where did I start?

ONE BIN AT A TIME

....I cannot stress this more, start doing too many things at one time and you just get overwhelmed, trust me I do it all the time.
I had a garbage bag for well garbage. I had a box for donations and I had another box for garage sale. We went through each cupboard and shelf and toy box one at a time and decided where that broken toy or hot toy of the month went, with a little help from the kids. They were busy playing x-box to notice too much but we kept them in the loop, at least a little bit.

Now listen to this as this is important, do not pass go and take those donations to wherever you donate. I personally either donate to the local Cythera house ( located at #140-22255 Dewdney Trunk Road) or to Bibles for Missions ( located at 22535 Lougheed Hwy) Not to mention they have fabulous finds for a great price, not that you want clutter after you have just de-cluttered but I have found some great items for organization and decoration.

A side note on garage sales, most people love a good garage sale as you can find any number of items you need for a much better price than buying retail (buyer beware of car seats and children's furniture). They are a lot of work but if for instance your daughter is saving up for lets say a new DSi XL, they are a great way to earn money towards that item. If you can have a garage sale with neighbors and/or friends you can advertise as a mulit-family and I have found in the past you get more interest. Use your local newspaper to advertise ( Maple Ridge News and Maple Ridge Times) plus post signs around town. But please remember to take down your signs after the garage sale.

Once you have purged the toys, books and games take a look at how you store these items. Do you need bins for the small items like cars and lego? Are the books arranged in a way that the kids can find what they are looking for? and most important I think, can this be cleaned up quickly by the kids?
In my basement I have a large storage unit from Ikea ( www.ikea.ca )that holds all the books and toys and games plus my scrapbook albums and a place for decorative items as well. In each cubby there is either a bin with toys or the games are stacked or books lined up all available for the kids to see and enjoy.
And can I tell you, it felt so good to go through those forgotten bins and purge the unused items and find toys that were long forgotten. I have a couple of large size bins which holds my "sentimental" toys that are stored under the stairs, but I know what is in them and where they are when I need them.

Phew! toyroom check