Where are all the toys??

When it comes to organizing, one of the most frequently asked questions I get is about how I deal with all the toy clutter.  I can absolutely relate and have to be honest; the super-clean, no-toy pictures I post of our living room do NOT represent what the room looks like most of the time!  Those pictures are snapped during naptime after a semi-mad dash to quickly get everything out of sight for the photo.

Here’s a good example of what the living room looks like on a typical day.  The blanket is on the floor because the rug is a little scratchy for baby knees (when he’s wearing shorts). 

I do try to keep the number of toys downstairs reasonable and put the rest in James’ room or in the play area of our sitting room.  I think it helps that, in general, we don’t have loads and loads of toys.  And the stuff we’re no longer using (but not ready to get rid of) like the baby swing, vibrating chair, etc. is up in the attic. 

Two large Target baskets hold most of the toys, except those too large for the basket.

At the end of the day, after James has gone to bed, all of the toys get put back into their baskets and “stored” against the media cabinet.  I also fold the blanket and put it under the ottoman.  NOTE:  this does not happen every night!  Sometimes we don’t bother to take the 5 minutes to do the clean up- we just leave it for the next day!

Books are stored in this bin that goes on the bottom shelf of the end table.

If I really want to get the toys out of sight, we have room behind our couch near the windows.  I also just realized that we can store toys behind the media cabinet doors as the shelves inside are adjustable. 

But what about giant toys like this? 

That big car sometimes gets “parked” in our butler’s pantry or put outside.  My friend Londen (Sixty-Fifth Avenue) made a good point when she remarked that babies’ toys are big when they are little, then turn into lots of little pieces as they get older.  We’re not there yet, but I have stored Courtney’s (A Thoughtful Place)tips for organizing those toys for future reference. 

Also, we do not have a dedicated “play room” in our house, but we do have a large (currently empty) media room that I have a feeling will be doubling as a play room in the near future! 

What are your tips for keeping the kiddos’ toys organized?  If you have young kids, do you have toys in the living room too?  I hope I’m not alone!  If you go to my “Organization” page, you’ll find some great posts from some of my favorite bloggers about how they control the kid stuff.

And a heads up: tomorrow I’ll be announcing a $200 e-spree GIVEAWAY to Joss & Main- really excited about this one!!

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