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Housekeeping

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Original poster

Fecking toys! Storage? Help!

18 replies

WittgensteinsBunny · 06/04/2016 10:54

We have a 3 bedroom terrace. It's a small house. We have wonderful relatives who are very generous but our house is slowly filling up with toys. They're everywhere! The girls share a bedroom (cot, toddler bed, bookcase, nursing chair) and the other bedroom is a toy room with a large wardrobe and a chest of drawers for their clothes. I've got an IKEA set of Trofast drawers (3 X deep and 3 X shallow), baskets etc but it's so messy and dusty in there. The room is 13' X 6'. I keep looking at Pinterest but can't find a solution that's right for us. It's a small room! Dd1 is very anti getting rid of toys and has the memory of an elephant! Dh has had an idea that we put sets of toys into soft bags and hang them on pegs around the wall. Does this sound sensible? Help!

OP posts:

5Hearts · 07/04/2016 11:31

Ikea Kallax are great for toy storage - with baskets for bottom two spaces (with very young children just bottom one).

Generous relatives (who don't listen...) and hoarding children are an ever present angst in our house.

For some bizarre reason MIL kept buying DS toys cars even though he NEVER plays with toy cars and the remote control ones cause the dogs to bark continuously. She knews this. We have 3 large storage boxes full of them (which including all the ones that DH, age 46, owned as a child) that we have just kept moving them around for years (we have no loft space) - DS is now 12 and still won't get rid of them. ARGH!!

I hid all the large remote control cars 6 months ago and he hasn't noticed they are gone. I've now put them in the charity shop box in the back of my car...about to take them but feel really guilty.

Spandexpants007 · 07/04/2016 12:04

They don't need loads of toys. Just keep the most played with items and get rid of the rarely played with stuff

Original poster

WittgensteinsBunny · 07/04/2016 21:20

Oh Spandex how I dream of getting rid of 90% of plastic crap. DD would be heartbroken and I know mum would go into overdrive replacing it all. It's a very fine balance!

Thanks 5hearts. at the cars! Why. Just why?! It gets worse here when the DDs express an interest in anything. Oh yes, they like this programme that happens to be on in the background and BOOM! Merchandise starts seeping in through the door. Look how DD can do a jigsaw now.... BOOM 10 jigsaws rock up. It sounds ungracious. It's not! But it all has to go sinewhere... I'll check out the kalkax stuff. I'm determined to get the room done this weekend!

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StarUtopia · 07/04/2016 21:42

I would talk to both DD and mother . You can't continue to live this way! No one needs this much crap lol.

I would be tempted to explain to mother that she is actually ruining DD's ability to learn how to 'play' (she will never value her toys if she ends up with 5 Baby Annabelles instead of just one treasured one she has had to wait for eg)

frazzled74 · 07/04/2016 21:51

It's an ongoing problem in our house. I tend to rotate toys with a couple of boxes going up in attic. I have a big toy chest in our living room which doubles as a coffee table , and Trofast in the dc bedrooms. We have too much stuff but it seems wasteful to get rid of it when it is still loved and played with.

HolaWeenie · 07/04/2016 22:01

Kallax is great and swallows a lot of stuff! I think using the walls to hang storage is a good idea, helps ease the pressure on the floor space.

I'm overrun by cuddly toys, my boys don't even really like cuddly toys but I have three shelf loads and one storage bin full of them!

Spandexpants007 · 08/04/2016 03:49

Can't you just get a small amount of storage them tell your parents/DD that you'll only keep what ever can fit in the boxes. So if the bring something new, you might need to get rid of something else to make space.

No way would I let my parents dictate how many toys we have. Your DD will not be deeply connected to everything she has, although she will probably say she is because kids like to collect crap.

Spandexpants007 · 08/04/2016 03:51

Mine has a collection of empty card boxes at the moment

5Hearts · 08/04/2016 09:14

I didn't fully realise it at the peak (a new car every single time we saw them - and we live 5 mins away from them...) but I now realise that the answer is passive aggression and stubbornness. She does it with cheap packet cakes too - we gently asked her once to stop bringing so many and now she has doubled her efforts. Have worse stories but basically she is the queen of passive aggression. I think that is why the cars in the room bother me so much, even if they are hidden underneath the bed.

I got that box with the remote control cars in down the charity shop .

Spandexpants007 · 08/04/2016 09:16

Food - cake mix give to food bank

Start taking toys over to hers for her to keep for when DC's visit. Because you don't have any more space

CodyKing · 08/04/2016 09:20

3 large storage boxes full of them (which including all the ones that DH, age 46, owned as a child)

Pass it back - all of it! In one go!!

Show her the hoard!

We sneak stuff into a box then the charity shop - they don't notice - they may remember when it's in view - but otherwise forgotten about

Artandco · 08/04/2016 09:27

Just cull them. Buy nice storage you like, anything that doesn't fit goes

Baskets with kids we like here. They have a large one in bedroom with booked inside spines up so they can see what's what. Another has all wooden in like train track, building blocks and marble run. All get used together. Then just several small ones for craft, figures etc.

We don't have anything that doesn't come apart so can't be stored.

If you have a garden I would get a storage box out there and dump most the plastic out there.

SweetPeaPods · 08/04/2016 09:45

Yes to IKEA kallax. I've just taken a boot of toys round to my MiLs. Said we don't have room for them. Hoping that gives her the hint not to buy loads more!!

5Hearts · 08/04/2016 12:34

- I did show her the hoard once and commented that it was difficult as DS doesn't seem interested in toy cars at all, and never plays with them, but insists on keeping them all. Her actions after that confirmed my suspicions...

I have given DH all his toy cars back (he's keeping them - in his office). Pointed out that DS has never played with them and is now past the age when he could even be expect to. I certainly won't be hoarding any of my kids stuff to pass on when the grandchildren arrive!

I guess the issue is historical clutter rather than new stuff (as now not at an age for toys really + I am much better at not letting stuff he isn't interested in make it into his room/consciousness) - DS just won't get rid of it!

I shall now hide and the pass on the cakes via the staffroom at work - they will go there!

Anyway, back to you OP (sorry!) - Ikea Kallax are great but I totally agree - having less stuff is the real key. Good Luck!

Original poster

WittgensteinsBunny · 08/04/2016 18:53

I had a big think about this last night when everyone was asleep or out. I instructed my parents earlier in the week: no more toys. They only brought 2 magazines. That I can cope with (and toys in the boot that Dad told me about but mum didn't bring out in the end). So that worked. I sent a large bag of toys to my mum's house. I have ordered an storage bench with 3 x baskets, large school hook thing with 10 books, a big oak bookcase and a big basket for the cuddly toys today. That's it now. If the toys don't fit, they don't stay. I opted for some furniture that matches other bits around the house. So it's long term and will be useful when the girls are bigger. Thanks for all the advice, I totally agree that yes we need to be stricter, yes I need to be better at just getting rid and I'm hoping that with decent furniture we'll he able to be stricter and more organised!

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Spandexpants007 · 08/04/2016 20:40

Well done!! The kids and your parents will all get into the swing of getting rid of items from the boxes if they want to fit new toys in. Be strict!!!

Artandco · 09/04/2016 06:56

That's great. Also I think you will find they play with what they do have much more as they aren't overwhelmed by so many choices. They also find it easier to tidy if not so much stacked up in piles

Encourage granny to buy non toy items if she wants to buy stuff and at birthdays and Xmas. Suggest annual passes to places local as an option so she can take them also and children can enjoy farm/ swimming/ parks all year. Or tell her they really need new shoes/ rain coat/ duvet cover or whatever.

It's then far more helpful as they actually help with things you need rather than excess

Original poster

WittgensteinsBunny · 26/08/2016 13:43

This is an old thread but I have an update. ALL the clutter has gone from the front room. I have emptied and sorted the understairs cupboard and put a small selection of toys in there. Quite a few toys have gone to the charity shop, bin and into the loft. Lots of baby stuff has gone. This has been ongoing since the start of the summer holidays.

Toys are allowed out a couple of toys at a time. And they actually get played with properly. This is the biggest thing for me. Space to play and be creative in and playing with rather than just surrounding themselves in nests of plastic crap.

I am sitting in my now beautifully clean front room with a cuppa while they nap. The only crap is a small pile of my magazines to read and sort out and 2 toys and a baby book left on the rug. And it's clean in here for once, properly clean (blinds, under cupboards and everything)! My mind is singing in tranquil calm.

Upstairs however is another matter. Still we have the long weekend...

OP posts:

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