@MrsGamgee
I got accused of being Dana K White (on here) the other day, because I mentioned her a few times. I do because she is life changing.
no one needs to read my post if they're not interested and there's plenty of internet space available, I won't use it all up. Promise!!
Dana started off with a (secret) blog (a slob comes clean) because she wanted to be a writer but her messy house was holding her back. She started off anonymously so her original posts are under noony or a nonny something like that). She has books and a YouTube channel now with hundreds of videos. She has easy to follow methods and some in decluttering toys specifically.
it's all online if you want to take a look. She's Znot into minimalism at all, so don't be scared she's going to have you down to one pair of knickers & one teddy bear)
very basically you start by decluttering your own stuff! not the kids or partners they come to see the value of having less 'stuff' & more space.
Pick a room/cupboard/drawer...whatever... have a rubbish bag (preferably a black trash bag) and a 'Donate-able Donate Box' (meaning the box/bag you're putting things in you can donate too so you can hand it over without emptying it).
You start 'easy'.
DO MOT EMPTY THE SPACE!!
Lliterally just put actual rubbish in the rubbish bag & anything you can donate, without thought, into the donate box. It instantly transforms the space.
Then you take things that have a place in your home and put them where you would look for them first NOT where 'society'
thinks they 'belong' but where YOU would look for them first. If that's too full already, pull out some actual rubbish, or something to donate & go back to the original space you were decluttering.
Her theory is 'progress & only progress' (so the space only ever looks better, you can take the rubbish to the outside bin & your donate box to its designated space. And the space you were decluttering might not be finished, but it's better and there's not a pile of crap to deal with.
You can keep anything, you just can't keep everything.
Her 'container theory' really helps. Everything has a container, ultimately your house is the biggest container, it's YOUR house so you get to decide what size container you're happy with things taking up. How much 'stuff' is in your house.
do with your clothes, you decide, what wardrobes, drawers, rails, pegs, boxes YOU want to have in there. Let's use T-shirts as (they're easy to talk about! ) choose say a drawer where you want them to be, take out any easy rubbish, donate, lives elsewhere stuff dealing with each
item as soon as you pick it up.(so maybe throw out the wrapping, labels that are lurking in there, a tshirt that you don't like/doesn't fit into the donate box & put a jumper where it belongs, do that until you can't see any rubbish, instantly easy donated or items that have a home elsewhere (leggings/jumpers/handbag) then if the drawer closes & you're happy, you're done. If it doesn't close or you have more T-shirts to put in it, find one that can go in the donate bag or rag bag, and put the one in that you like more. ^^Keep going until the drawer can close nicely & there isn't a pile of T-shirts needing to go in there.
IF there is, you haven't reached ^^.
but if you feel you really don't want to throw or donate any others, you can choose to just do that anyway or allow T shirts another 'container' (drawer but you have to decide what you will get rid of to allocate that space to T shirts. One drawer might have jogging pants & you need to decide if you really need more t shirts than you need jogging pants. Something needs to go- which is it to be?
it's the same with kids toys 'DD this basket is for shopkins ok, which are your favourites, let's put those in first, then your next best ones etc until the basket is full. 'DD thise are for the donate box then' 'but mummy I want to keep this one' 'you can, of course you can, which one shall we take out if the basket to make room for it?' 'None, Inwant to keep them ALL!' 'You can, of course you can, shall we donate the train track instead then, then the shopkins can have that basket too'
it's not easy, but it does teach them they can keep anything they want to, but you don't have space to keep EVERYTHING.
Minimalist Mom has a different approach. Her kids are happy for her to do the decluttering. If they were mine I'd only do that on the 'no whinging if I declutter something you wouldn't have' basis.
& some of the declutteres, do the 'buy back' thing. Because they can't be bothered to try to sell the things, they buy them off the kids and donate them.(pennies not loads!!) it's not the way I choose, but whatever works in your house!!
Bottom line is, your house only holds SO much without it becoming too difficult to live in and ALL the family need to be respectful of the amount of space they're taking up and allowing 'space' in the house.