Pictures!! Finally.

To be honest, toys all over the living room really used to bother me even if they were neatly stacked or organized.  Now, after three kids, I have realized the kids are only kids once.  I need to enjoy the clutter at least for now.  That being said, I still like a bit of organization...it just makes me happy.  So my balance is organized chaos.

As promised, I wanted to keep you posted on my journey.  The living room is finished and I have pictures to prove it.  I have to say I love the new entertainment center with all the shelves.  The open shelving keeps toys, books and games off the floor, but still visible.  I can't tell you how many times we have played Uno or Sorry over the past weeks.  Since the girls can see their games, they want to play before bed.  It has been a lot of fun playing with the kids in the evening instead of watching television.  Don't get me wrong there has been a few scuffles. I'm not naming names but there are some fierce competitors in this family.

Because we bought new furniture, I wanted to keep the storage solutions simple and reuse what I could.  I found a few baskets on clearance at Pier One.  They were the perfect size to fit in the bottom shelves of the entertainment center.  I filled one with educational type toys and the other with small cars and trucks.  I reused three bins I had from our old house.  These are nice and large and have tops.  They keep all the bulky items concealed.  We still have push and ride on toys for now.  They are just parked in the corner with the bins.  For blankets and pillows I have a metal bucket behind the couch. 

 

Update on the living room!

I have to say my simplification and organization of the living room are going well.  The new furniture looks really nice and gives the room a whole new feel.  The kids have fallen in love with the new couch. 

So far, I have gone through the toys culling anything that has been outgrown or not used.  I reused some round barrel type bins from the old house.  These hold a lot of Cooper's toys an manage to conceal the clutter.  I put his books and puzzles on the shelves of the entertainment center for his easy access.  Other toys were grouped by type - like "cars" and "educational" and put in large basics that reside on shelves of the entertainment center.

My next task is to tackle the stuff behind the couch.  There are threes baskets back there.  One is full of blankets and throws.  Another is full of stuffed animals and the last is full of balls.  I have to break up the room into sections; it is less overwhelmimg and I can actually finish a task in as little as 15 to 30 minutes.

One tip for reducing clutter is to make three piles: "keep", "donate", and "trash".  Avoid a "garage sale" pile unless you know you are having one really soon.  If you have really nice items, especially kids stuff; there a number of places that will buy or consign your items.  My favorite is Once Upon a Child.  I am sure ther others too. 

Looking forward to hearing comments.  I will post pictures soon!

Zone 1, Day 1: LIVING ROOM

Ok, so here is the before pictures of the Living Room. As you can see all the old stuff has been removed.  The cushions were left for us to lounge on until the new stuff arrives. 

Before tomorrow, I need to figure out the "TOY SITUATION" there in the corner. Definite declutter area and storage solution.

 

 

.Here is the clutter corner full of stuff I don't know where to put. Again, a possible storage issue.

My Journey to SIMPLIFY my life!

This is my new motto.  I am on a mission this year to simplify.  I have decided the first step to simply my life is to declutter and organzie the house. Who knew this would be so hard?  When we moved in this house two years ago, I was very much expeccting our little boy.  He came ten days later in fact.  Needless to say we rushed to unpack the house and luckily had lots of help from family.  But we really didn't put much thought into placement or making determinations on whether we needed the item or not.  So we kept it all and stuffed here and there in cabinets and closets.

I have read several articles, books and posts about decluttering and organizing this year.  I think I have a plan now and will begin the journey today. 

So far, I am going to break the house into zones and try to work through a room in a two week period.  I work full time - so I can only spend a short amount of time per day working on this.

• Living Room
• Kitchen
• Master Bed and Bath
• Game Room
• Dining Room
• Kids Room 1 and Bath
• Kids Room 2 and Bath
• Kids Room 3 and Bath
• Study and Craft Area
• Laundry Room

I didn't include the garage because we have already cleaned out and organized this area earlier in the year.  We have to maintain it though and my husband does a good job of that.

In my blog, I will keep track of my plan for each zone, the progress, trials and tribulations I face.  I will also post the before and after pictures of each zone.

I am off to take pictures of the first zone...the Living Room.  I am beginning here because we have a new set of furniture being delivered tomorrow.  The old couch's new home will be in the game room and the old entertainment center is in the garage awaiting a new home.  Although new furniture is set to arrive, my challenge is dealing with the mountain of toddler toys that live in the corner of the living room.  I have a few ideas of how to deal with these...I will surprise you with the results!