My 3 y.o. is obsessed with a transporting schema. He collects things and makes great piles of them in the 'holiday destination' (a big heap in a corner or behind some furniture). Sometimes it's a train, not a holiday destination, but it always involves huge quantities of clutter dumped in a heap.
We've lost half the pieces to almost all our board games that way. Ditto pegs from the washing basket and other useful items. He also collects timetables from trips out with grandparents and other bits of paper rubbish which become distributed right across the living room.
I've recently gone for a clear-the-decks Montessori style approach to the living room, putting most of the toys upstairs and having just a small number out. I've moved most of the books to higher shelves and put a small number out where theyr'e easily accessible. Result? He and his brother (nearly 6) climb on chairs etc to reach the books on the top shelves, throw them all on the floor and then pile them all in the 'holiday destination'. 
Any tips on surviving this, apart from removing everything from his reach? I need a way for the evening's tidying to be a lot, lot faster than it is right now. It's not a phase he's going to grow out of any time soon, as it's been going for at least 9 months so far.