I mentioned on Friday that I hit the organizational jackpot at TJ Maxx recently. I had a gift card from Christmas that I was anxious to spend, the clearance section was freshly stocked and I bought so many cute things for just a few dollars more than my gift card.
I'm going to have Kevin hang the shelf with hooks in our entry way. I like the color and the hooks so it's going up as is in the near future. The bird hooks are going up in my laundry room for my aprons to hang on, the black divided container is currently holding all the books I'm planning to read this year plus a few devotionals and the blue/white bins are for toys. They are deep, durable and really cute. They could easily house so many different things, but toys are our biggest organizational need right now.
I started by dumping all of our toys out and gathering all of our bins while Olive napped. I wanted to do this project alone so nap time seemed like the perfect opportunity.
I grouped items by type and started matching them to bins
(people/cars, musical instruments, books, flashcards, baby dolls, etc.)
I put one bin on each side of the fireplace and LOVE how they look in our family room. They don't scream toy containers, match our decor and are VERY functional. Olive knows her food & cooking toys go in the left one and her babies/stuffed animals are on the right. It makes for a really easy clean up process, too.
Our IKEA bookshelf has been a staple in our house for many years. It's served as a pantry, credenza, storage unit and now toy holder. The bins fit nicely and we try to only get a bin or two out at a time to keep things organized. Sometimes that works and other times everything gets dumped. No big deal.
Fake food stays in the shopping cart for easy access.
Our new bins hold so many toys!!
Olive has books in our living room along with her rocker. We keep the books separate from the toys because the living room is more like our library and we all read in there. She also has books in her bedroom.
Olive loves our storage bins and knows that each one holds a different variety of toys. I'm hoping my organizing will rub off on her and that she'll learn that everything has a place as she gets older. She's just started helping clean up when we sing the clean up song. It's fun to see her learning where things go and having fun :)
I try to have our house 10 minutes away from being guest ready at any time. I like for things to be easy to pick up and never let things get too out of hand. All of our new bins and systems really make that possible. I also clearly communicated our systems to my hubby so when he's helping pick up toys at the end of the night there's some order to the process.
That's totally the way to go! I read about a billion years ago in Better Homes and Gardens, that baskets were the way to hide everything in plain sight. I really took that to the max, and I have become a collector, displayer, and utilizer of every kind of basket/bin/bucket you can imagine. Everything is still out and accessible, but it's neat, organized and instantly declutters the area.
ReplyDeleteMy husband's typical response when he sees me coming home from garage sales, church sales, estate sales with baskets in hand..."Do you need more baskets?" Oh my good man, you can never have enough! :)
Yes, yes, yes! Love this! I think we're two peas in a pod~
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
www.allkindsofthingsblog.com
Come back Thursday for "Pincrazy Thursday"~
Those bins really are perfect for functional and stylish. You should see the toy craziness at our house. There is no toy organization and I know there should be. I just haven't gotten the want to yet. I just know it is going to be so much work. Jack has so many big trucks and race track and train track pieces.
ReplyDeleteWe use baskets a lot too! I recently got a bookcase from IKEA and put it in our under-the-stairs-catch-all closet. We bought a ton of plastic bins of different sizes (with lids) and organized all the toys that way. They are in our closet out of sight, and only 1-2 bins come out at a time. Helps a lot!! We also have a big dresser as our entertainment stand and those drawers are full of goodies ;)
ReplyDeleteKatie @ Sweet Little Ones
I love a good TJMaxx success story! I've written two posts before just about my trips to our TKMaxx. Also, you cat was cracking me up in your two pictures. So curious... and wanting to help you organize! The bins look fantastic and I think it is great your daughter is already help keep things neat.
ReplyDeletegreat ideas!! i love your rug too :) xo jillian - stop by! I'm hosting a RapidLash giveaway on cornflake dreams
ReplyDeleteThose big bins are so cute! Even if they weren't practical - I love them in your living room. I love that storage shelf - it looks like it holds so many things. We don't have a playroom (until Dan gives up his mancave) so we have to get creative like this. I love your ideas!
ReplyDeleteHi! I came over from Kelly's Korner and just adore these baskets. Your baby is adorable too. We use a lot of baskets too and I love that I've finally moved to baskets that can grow with us than buying "kid" baskets that are plastic and bright colors. We have a shelf unit and all of our baskets fit in it, minus collections like my son's trains and cars and the toys in the kids rooms.
ReplyDelete