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Housekeeping

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Original poster

How do I declutter toys?

16 replies

nativityneepsntinseltatties · 30/12/2011 00:06

I am feeling totally overwhelmed by the number of toys in the house. Ds 4 has so much stuff. A lot of it is big, a castle, dolls house, kitchen, chalk board etc then there is all the other stuff as well train set, board games, toy cars etc.

I have a dd so some things I am passing on and I am trying to charity shop other stuff. I am struggling though as Ds remembers everything and he still plays with a lot of it. I feel mean getting rid of things.

OP posts:

ChippingInLovesChristmasLights · 30/12/2011 00:16

Don't get rid of things they will still enjoy, just get your storage sorted out. It really does make a HUGE difference.

ChippingInLovesChristmasLights · 30/12/2011 00:20

Some people really swear by the Ikea trofast stuff, personally, I don't like it. We went for their deep shelves and plastic tubs. We had the space to put the shelf extenders on the top as well and put doors on those. On the botton shelves we put those big round squishy tubs, the next level up the crates then then next level books etc and the games etc highter up. The ones with doors we put art stuff in and 'spare presents'. You can store soooo much that way and they have more room to play. You also need to teach them to put things away and if you have a good storage system it's a lot easier.

ravenAK · 30/12/2011 00:31

9l Really Useful Boxes - small enough for a 4 year old to get out themselves, big enough to hold a LOT of lego/toy animals/art stuff or whatever.

Also, cultivate a small cousin or friend who'd be glad of your ds's stuff as he outgrows it & if it's not something you want to keep for your dd. My ds (7) hates chucking stuff, but he has a rather sweet, protective friendship with my friend's 4 year old...I just bag up anything I want rid of & say 'Shall we give this to M?' & ds is quite happy with that.

But I'd agree don't get rid of stuff he still plays with - the trick is to be ruthless with the things he never liked that much, even if you love it or it was a present etc. Ebay it if it's worth anything!

Horopu · 30/12/2011 06:59

How much room do you have in your loft? Sort and put away a load of toys in the loft and start to rotate things. In a few months time get some stuff out and put something else up there.

Try giving children a chose sometimes with little things, e.g. I told my son he could keep 20 cars from a huge selection. He politely asked if it could be 21 which I agreed with, so we were both happy! The others have been donated.

ninedragons · 30/12/2011 07:42

You also have to be quite harsh about not letting new stuff in. I quite deliberately bought the DCs small Christmas stockings, and got them only small presents. I bitterly regret having bought a play kitchen before I realised quite how intrusive something that size is, and now of course DD won't let me get rid of it.

DD is only three but understands that old toys are donated to make room for new ones.

Indeed yesterday she said to me thoughtfully "Mummy, when I am a grown-up and I have grown out of all my toys, shall we get rid of them all and buy me some adult toys, like jewellery?"

Original poster

nativityneepsntinseltatties · 30/12/2011 08:41

I regret a couple of the big things too. Good advice about not hanging on to stuff I feel attached to! I just can't believe we have accumulated so much stuff, I feel a bit ashamed really. Am going to try and get sorting today.

OP posts:

Original poster

nativityneepsntinseltatties · 30/12/2011 08:42

Dd has her 1st birthday soon, dreading the arrival of even more stuff.

OP posts:

slowburner · 30/12/2011 12:03

I am very new so haven't posted an introduction as yet, but as far as the 1st birthday goes I do have a suggestion. Our DD has a lot of very well meaning and generous family, we asked that people get a small gift, books, jigsaw puzzle or toy cars, if they wanted to spend more we asked that they put it into her piggy bank, this has been well received by my DHs family. It also means that we can buy bigger toys as and when she is old enough for them, we spent some on a term of water babies and in a few months we can get some great outdoor toys.

chippingin which ikea shelves did you go for? We are hoping to do exactly what you suggested, we have quite a few hand painted wooden toys which toddler teething does not go well with so want to store these out of sight for now.

2kidsintow · 30/12/2011 23:35

I emptied a bin bag of things that my DD (7) doesn't really play with from the large built-into-the-wall cupboard in the dining room where she stores a lot of toys (no playroom and v small bedroom, plus there is space in there for her to play). I made the mistake of not immediately hiding the bag in the car boot ready for the charity shop. She found it and started going through it saying that she still liked a lot of what was in there.

I've told her anything she wants to rescue must be stored in her bedroom.

I'm looking forward to taking down the tree as it stands in front of one of the doors to the toy cupboard. When it comes down I'm going to blitz it. Everything is going to be dragged out, anything particularly babyish, cracked, broken or happy meal tat is going either to the skip or the charity shop.

ChippingInLovesChristmasLights · 31/12/2011 02:24

slowburner Nice to 'meet' you. Don't worry about the introduction, it's really not the MN way, just get stuck in on threads!! AIBU can be a little 'lively' so best not to start a thread in there until you get a feel for the place or be prepared for a bit of a ruck The other topics are usually much more mild mannered! There are loads of things you can customise - so have a real play around (most useful one is to colour the OP's posts and your own, makes life much easier!!).

We used these Billy bookcases They are the deeper ones, with the shelf extenders on top. Then we put the doors on along the top row on one wall, which made a huge difference and were brilliant and left the other row of them open to put things like the beautiful but highly impractical fairy castle & precious things which are really not designed to actually be played with but grandparents buy anyway

ChippingInLovesChristmasLights · 31/12/2011 02:34

I have to say though, it's like IKEA don't actually want to sell them though! The 38cm deep bookcases are really hard to find on the site - even when you know they exist!! The 28cm ones keep coming up, but they just aren't deep enough to be any good for toy storage.

bessie26 · 31/12/2011 02:49

slowburner · 31/12/2011 12:30

chipping in thanks for the welcome, AIBU is lively that's fir sure!

When you say you put doors on the t row did you make the door or buy ikea ones? DH has just asked me what I want for my birthday and I said a trip to ikea, we live about as far away as it's possible to get so will require some patience in his part, and he HAS to be nice to me on my birthday right?

ChippingInLovesChristmasLights · 02/01/2012 00:33

Ikea. Nice. Birthday.

... nope, cannot put those words in any order that makes it a good idea. Order on line, pay for delivery!! If you go, which one would you go to? We used to live near the Croydon one, it's a mad house - but huge!

Bought the doors from Ikea (I think you need to buy the hinge kits separately??) but don't forget we had the shelf extenders on top of the bookshelves. I have just had a look but can't find the deep (38/39cm) shelf extenders?? So not sure if they've stopped doing them or if they're just hard to find on there. You'd probably be better off with the catalogue. We chose the wood (birch) with frosted glass doors - they looked really good.

I want to do a room here with the white stuff - so I'll be really annoyed if they no longer do the deep shelf extensions :/

startail · 02/01/2012 00:53

Build a conservatory, line it with deep shelves, that fit standard plastic crates.
Curse DHP for things that don't fit in standard crates.
Shut conservatory door and realise living room is still full of toys.
Stop worrying about it!

befuzzled · 02/01/2012 01:05

I second Really Useful Boxes and Ikea Billy. After 3 dc, the most ridiculous amount of toys (both from large families, only grandchildren etc) - I have tried everything and this is the answer. I too can't get on with Ikea Trofast but some people swear by it.

I have loads of the 9L really useful boxes - one for cars, one for trains, one for blocks etc - then some bigger ones for bulkier items. Then, my most recent Toy Storage solution and current pride and joy - Really Useful Storage Towers which contain all the Lego (we have lots)

I didnt know about the shelf extenders though - how fantastic - really hope they haven't got rid of them - want some! These are them right? www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/40197392/#/90197403

Question for you toy storage experts now - we are moving soon and hoping to convert the garage into a playroom - I will be cramming as much storage space in as I possibly can. Should I try and get someone to do floor to ceiling shelving or shall I use the Billy system or similar - which would work best / be cheapest?

I need shelves to house all the different really useful boxes low down plus lots of shelves higher up for displaying models etc.

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