The Playroom Reset

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The Playroom and I are in a Toxic Relationship

As you all know, I am a mom of two children that are very close in age. They are also very young. So I had the brilliant idea to turn our formal dining room into a playroom. If you want to see the process of installing the built-ins, check out my blog post on that here. 🙂

The goal is to accomplish tasks around my home, but still have eyes on them as they play. I really do love the accessibility of our playroom. I DO NOT LOVE that there are things EVERYWHERE. Literally, all the things are scattered into every crack, crevice, nook, cranny and corner of my living space. We are very fortunate to have so many fun things! But, it can be taxing to try and keep the playroom aesthetically pleasing. (I’m aware that’s not necessarily the point of a playroom, but also, I’m losing it over here!)

Here is the before:

Mission: Make the Playroom Enjoyable

I needed to come up with systems that worked for us to appear more organized. The ultimate goal is to actually BE organized, but we’re just out here faking it ’til we make it honestly. The playroom can cause slight anxiety when it starts to get out of hand. With Chris being away, I’ve been trying to come up with ways to get things in order for his return. 

So, here we are.

I’m glad to have you. I’d like to take you on this journey with me, because I feel like it will be ongoing. 

First thing’s first, I needed to sort the toys we had, and take inventory. So, I sorted the toys into categories. I tried to keep all of the items of likeness together so it would be easier to store them later. This part made it easier to tell which toys we had in excess, so that we could possibly (and by possibly, I mean I did) donate or throw away.

Donations

I’d like to preface this part by saying that donation sites are going to vary based on where you are located. Donating gently used toys is a great way to make a difference in your community. Especially around the holidays. There are so many foundations and ministries, that would be happy to accept your items for other children. Foundations and ministries that work with children in foster care are great options. They know the specific needs of children who may not have much to call their own. Once you’ve sorted your groups, and you can see which similar toys you have in excess, it opens up a lot more opportunity for donating.

Donation Resources:

  1. Toys for Tots: This is a great organization! For each toy you donate, a new (unwrapped) toy is given to a child for Christmas. You can find your local donation center in the link!
  2. Habitat for Humanity: Another fantastic organization that uses the funds from selling your items at their ReStores to build affordable homes! They also take furniture, household good, and appliances, if you’re feeling really brave and venture into territories outside of your playroom!
  3. Military Support Groups: This one is obviously near and dear to my heart. You can more information on where to donate to military families here. They are not strict on the condition of the items they accept, so you can be more lenient on what you are throwing away when you are cleaning out, if you go this route!

Most of your donation sites might be local to you, like churches and hospitals. You can start by simply searching for toy donation locations in your area, and pick one that speaks directly to you!

The Discard Pile

Some of the toys were slightly more used than gently could describe. Anything that is broken, or no longer works properly, should be thrown away.

Other options

If you’re looking to make some extra cash, another great option is consignment shops! Consignment shops are fantastic, because you can drop off your items, and make money on the things they sell that belonged to you!

Time to Organize The Playroom

Once the toys were purged and off to their new homes, it was time to decide which ones would go into storage for the new toy rotation, and which would be staying where they were. I purchased these bins from Walmart in various sizes so I could store them on the shelves we installed.

I had to call in back-up, and by back up, I mean Tara at House Peace. If you’re looking for a great resource to get your life in order, give her a follow! She’s amazing and makes the process so much less painful.

I originally ordered storage bins from Amazon for the organization and aesthetic. But we quickly realized that they wouldn’t work. So, a trip to Target was in order (not a bad way thing, honestly). We purchased different sizes of bins for the various items in the playroom.

I grabbed these bins for the larger items, like toy cars and kitchen items. I also purchased medium and small bins for smaller items like crayons, puzzles, and baby doll accessories. Also, on Tara’s recommendation, we bought some bins with lids for the loose items that tend to get scattered all around the room, and into surrounding rooms. Lol.

It’s a really great idea to purchase a label maker, so that you can mark each bin with the items that will go in it. This makes cleaning up much more simple.

Honestly, since I had Tara come in to help, the playroom has been so much easier to maintain. I can’t thank her enough for her help in the various rooms she’s helped me organize over the last year.