Aibu to ask you how sort DS room out!?

[FAOJFOA]

I can't keep on top of the sheer volume of toys, school projects, junk, clothes etc. As soon as it's tidied it's messy again.

It's the one area of the house I cannot get on top of.

DS is 6. We frequently try to have a clear out. I managed to get him to choose some treasured toys to get rid of but a few days later (I couldn't take to charity straight away) he got sad and put them back in his room.

We're drowning in stuff. His birthday is just after Xmas and for the few months around then it's hell!

I also try to get him to help but it's so hard!!

Any tips welcome!!

Lots of storage. Those Ikea cube things work quite well.

Thanks AIIMY. We have one of those things already.

I just still can't keep on top of it!!

A mid sleeper bed and good stacking storage underneath has been the only way to deal with my ASD compulsive hoarder sons 'stuff'.

Tell him because he has another 12 years at school left, it will be impossible to keep all his wonderful projects but so you'll always remember them, take a photo, print it out and put them on the fridge/in a photo album etc so he can still see them.

Do you have a photo of his room? That way we can see what kind of storage is already in place and what changes we’d recommend.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/childrens-ikea-products/children-3-7/childrens-storage-furniture/trofast-storage-combination-with-boxes-white-white-spr-19887301/

2 of these in the kids’ room (my 4 and 8 year old share) have helped.

I also have A4 and A3 sized stacking boxes for storage of projects.

With our 6yo we have a clear out every so often and he’s good at choosing the things he’s really not bothered about to go to charity, as I remind him there’s be no room for his birthday/Christmas presents if he didn’t!

I always do this when I know I can get straight to the charity shop, because he’d probably be pulling stuff out of bags if it was left in sight!

Failing that, I keep the bags in the garage for a couple of weeks before taking them to the shop. If he hasn’t asked for anything from the bag in that time then it goes.

I have been known to offer him £5 to do a good tidy and clear out, with a promise to take him to spend it once the stuff has been taken to the charity shop. May seem counter productive, but it actually gets him motivated and it’s not like he can buy anything massive with just £5, so whatever he does get (more Pokemon cards!) is easier to store than the stuff we got rid of.

We have those trofast units, both floor and wall mounted ones. The wall units are great for keeping all his built up Lego sets in.

Do you have anywhere else you can decant some of his stuff to? DS has 3 shelves in our living room (one books, 2 board games) and a 4x2 kallax on the landing, the top of which displays lego models.

His bedroom then just has books and soft toys, which is more manageable.

My friend takes photos of all her DS’s pictures on her iPad, he’s much more amenable to getting rid of the originals now he can look at them any time.

DS has a big wardrobe. I transfer lots of his crap into that so he forgets about it then every so often when he's with his dad or grandparents, I have a big clear out. I never throw teddies away (we have one of those hanging toy storage net things from IKEA) but I do get rid of 'crafts' like old cardboard boxes and tubes that he collects and school project stuff. I sometimes feel guilty but if I didn't do it we'd be drowning in the stuff