Simplifying Things

I saw an adorable idea yesterday at a thrift store.

A mom had used a long, wooden bench with a back rest as the table portion and tucked little stools in front of it. The bench was the table portion, the kids worked on top of it, the back was for hanging creations and supplies, and there was storage underneath as well.

Or there are some great organizing ideas at Ikea, with storage tables.

What about the kids bunking together in one room, and converting the other room to their school room?

I'm an English teacher, and everyone in my family reads. We had more books than we could count a few years ago, but I got sick of the clutter. Like you, I didn't have any clutter other than books.

We got e-readers. Now, I still love real books, too. I went through and picked out my favorites. I kept some really old books, and books that had sentimental value, or books that I have read over and over again, but I donated or sold the rest. Now we have a bookcase in our bedroom, one in our living room, and two in our office. We still have more books than many people, but we got rid of SO many!

Good luck, my fellow book lover!

I'd probably start with the toys - they usually need a good de-cluttering every so often.
To my mind a creativity center belongs in the playroom.

I know what you mean about books - I'm crazy about them and I prefer them to e-readers.
But I've got to admit, e-readers can save you an awful lot of space.
A book can be reduced to a file on the reader and wa la - your entire library can be on one or two devices - freeing up enormous amounts of physical space.
The problem is, you already HAVE the books and you'd have to buy them again in a different format and that can make conversion kind of expensive.

I would go through the books and keep only what will fit on the shelves. keep books you have not yet read or that you love enough that you will read again and again. Keep in mind you can always visit the library and check out books. I love having some of my favorite books on hand, but they can be such a pain- get dusty, take up space, heavy and hard to move.

Consider using space under beds. You can use baskets or there are those shallow but long and wide "tupperware" boxes that you can use for winter clothes, dvds, books, wrapping paper, etc.

Get a zippered dvd/cd case for the dvds and cds in the house and toss the cases. That will free up a few shelves generally.

Do you have a garage? We bought metal shelves on clearance from Lowes last winter for about $60 each. We have been able to move all the holiday decor, camping stuff, yearbooks we don't want to toss, etc to the shelves, so we can access them easily if needed but they are out of the way.

Scan or take photos of kiddo's artwork and you can upload them to a site like Shutterfly and make a photo book of them. This whittled down an huge trunk of papers to a few small photo books for me.

Just a few ideas!

What about bookshelves-preferably built in. You could put all of your books up and also store your craft stuff in baskets or bins on the shelves. Do this in your guest room/office. I w ould also go to the HGTV website. Every time I watch one of those decorating shows it seems they are finding a way to store clutter and books (usually built in bookshelves!) You can get some ideas and some instructions.

If you don't use the coffeemaker then put it away. I have no clutter whatsoever on my counters other than a few decorative items. EVerything else is stored and no piles of paper at all. It feels so much better. To me a cluttered house just clutters my mind.

Do you have a basement that can be used for your creative stuff?

As far as books, maybe as part of your homeschooling day, you could take a trip to the library where there would be a much bigger selection and it would create a change of environment too. I always see a lot of homeschoolers at our local library.

I always put things I don't use very often on high shelves or high cabinets. This makes use of the vertical space which people often forget about.

Go through each room and "Clean Sweep" it. Make three piles...

Keep: items that you use on a REGULAR basis or that have substantial sentimental value (like your wedding album)

Toss: We use the "one year/ one touch" rule in our house... if it hasn't been used in one year, it's out. You pick it up, decide which pile it goes into and move on to the next item These items may end up in the "donate" pile depending on what they are.

Donate: Items that are in good shape, but are not useful to us any longer (newborn clothing, Boppy, my son's clothing, our clothing, furniture, serving pieces, etc.)

If your playroom is filled with toys, start there. What do your children actually play with? Are there toys that they have outgrown? Missing pieces? Not in great shape? Out they go. Then take a look at what is left and purchase some kind of organizational system to store them. I love the ITSO stuff from Target because it's inexpensive, but sturdy and looks pretty good.

In your guest room, consider how often you actually have guests who stay for more than 2 or 3 nights at a time. If you don't really have long-term guests all that often, consider getting rid of the bed and replacing it with a pull-out couch. That will free up space for a small table with chairs and art storage. Look through your crafting items and see if those can be stored/organized differently.

Our house is not cluttered. We both hate clutter and knick-knacks, but every year we go through our closets, the attic and the basement and purge more things. Every two years, in my opinion, is not frequent enough!

As for the coffee pot... I would again look at how often you REALLY use it. If you host company 2 or 3 times a year, I would get rid of it and buy a "box of Joe" from DD instead. If you have company on a regular basis, then store it somewhere.

I put the books into storage and used that space to make a scrapbooking area. If you take care the books will remain dry and not get damp.

I think that you should still try to move. Housing prices are starting to go up a bit.

Do you have a kind of wide hallway, J.? A friend of mine has a 4 ft wide hallway with tall bookcases all the way down the hallway. She has as many books as I used to have before I gave most of ours away since my kids are almost grown (I still have hundreds of mine and my husband's, oh my!)

Anyway, if you happen to have a hallway, see if you can do that. It would open up room for you in the room with the crafting materials.

I admit, I would never have thought of what my friend did. It was really smart!

Good luck!
Dawn

J.:

When I de-clutter (Spring or Fall clean), I get rid of things I have not touched in six months.

personally - while I see your point in wanting the kids to have a library at home...I would donate the books that haven't been accessed in six months and go to the library when you need or want books.

If the press pot makes coffee - why do you need a coffee pot? Yes. I have two coffee makers in my house...one is stored and one is every day use. I have the second one when we have guests that like decaf coffee.

If you have stuff in your attic other than Christmas, Easter, Halloween - it should go as well.

If you have a play room then that should be where your creativity area is. I would get baskets for the toys and get them organized. Dump what you don't use or the kids have outgrown - freecycle, ebay, donate...but kids don't need a room full of toys in my opinion...

have fun!!!

Set up a small, simple desk for a work area for your kids in some nook in
your house. If it's at the bottom of the stairs as you mentioned then use
that space.

Declutter starting with your books. Go through them. Keep what you
know you will read or use for homeschooling your children. Donate what
you know for certain you won't touch, use or re-read.

Store the coffee maker in a plastic bin in the garage for when guests come to visit or just as a back up to the press.

Use plastic bins to store things you don't need/use on a regular basis in the garage or basement. Get rid of all extra things. Don't keep with the idea of "just in case". That happens once & you can always borrow or re-
purchase it if absolutely necessary.

Use small wicker baskets to organize/store their toys in the playroom.

iPads can be great but not always feasible.

Donate clothes you have not worn in a year.

My advice would be to declutter the playroom. Most kids have way more toys than they need. And ikea has awesome storage solutions that fill an entire wall. I would think you could find room here for a table. And don't get rid of books. They do not take up much room in a bookcase.

I get rid of anything that hasn't been used in a year....or if they outgrown it. I am the opposite of a pack rat though.

Just a thought - is there any way you could have more kids share a bedroom to empty a bedroom as a creativity space? Or, do you have a garage where you could do your messy stuff? I know it's not a great year-long option, but if you all bundle up and run a space heater, it should work for most of the year. Just some ideas to consider.

One option could be to use something like a smooth door for an art table in an open spot (I know...that's part of the challenge, right?). Use some sturdy crates or book shelves UNDER the table as a table base. It will either replace some current storage or give you more space.

We have a space in a nook of our kitchen where I put a plastic "outdoors" picnic table with a Melissa and Doug art easel next to it for my boys, 3 and 5. I bought whiteboard crayons that I leave in the tray (since they are a little easier to remove from walls :) ...and I also leave chalk for the chalkboard side. They use the easel daily and draw at their table while I make dinner. (The easel is easy to have them help put together, which is great.....except my youngest likes to also take it apart!! :) I leave a few crayons, pencils and scissors in a tub underneath the easel as well. All of the paints, I leave in the basement on our art supply shelves. Often when we paint, I take the easel outside...and both of my boys can paint, one on each side. Keep in mind as you find this space that you do not want carpet or furniture anywhere near by! :) Another friend actually painted a portion of her wall in her kitchen with the chalkboard paint....and being over tile/hardwood, it is easy to clean up. I would consider this first and foremost when you select your spot. :) Is it easy to clean? And will anything valuable or important get ruined? :) Also, I put one of those mats that you put under highchairs under the easel...just in case. :)

As for the organizing, I am also a huge proponent of less is more. I try to keep things orderly in their playroom and rotate things that are not played with....they always enjoy going out to pick out "new toys" to bring back in occasionally. I also rotate books...I have 2 land of nod compartment shelves where I keep some books, blocks, racetrack sets, etc in bins and put the rest in large plastic bins in storage.

Have fun and Good luck. :)

floor mat:
http://shop.mimithesardine.com/Mimi-the-Sardine-Coated-Ta...

Art Easel:
http://www.soap.com/p/melissa-doug-deluxe-wooden-standing...