Goodbye Play Room, Hello Organization!

We’ve redone many spaces in our home, but I can easily say (aside from the kitchen) THIS space was the best decision we ever made! Play rooms always sound like a good idea, don’t they? A room dedicated to toys, with neat bookshelves lined with matching bins filled with categorized toys. A bin for legos, a bin for Barbies, a bin for dress up. A space where kids can keep all their “stuff”, so the rest of the house is clear of toys. A nice, cozy place for your kids to play together, or for you to sit down and read them your favorite story book. Right?

LOL. Riiiight. That was certainly my intention in every play room we’ve had. But, let’s be honest… IT IS NEVER NEAT OR ORGANIZED. In fact, PLAY ROOMS ARE DISASTERS! Before you know it, crap is everywhere, half the toys are broken, and the toys don’t just stay in that room. One by one, they’re dragged out and your house is taken over once again, and it. just. doesn’t. work. At least for us.

So, I decided enough with the playroom. They don’t play with half that stuff anyway. No kid needs an entire ROOM filled with toys anyways. Enough.

I gave each kid a bin and had them pick their favorite items. We had another bin for donations. And a trash bag for all the broken things. Their favorite stuff bin went into their own closet – and just like that, the playroom was gone! We decided to have a little fun with the space instead. We shiplapped half of a wall, chalkboard painted the rest of it, built a table top, and added some stools to create a Joanna Gaines inspired workspace. On the opposite wall, we built a 72 inch long picture ledge, and placed six (one for each kid) simple numbered hooks for them to hang their coats and backpacks.

So simple, and calming, a lot less stressful to look at than before, and a much more organized and useful use of space! In the coming days, I’ll write a separate blog post for each part of the project so you can see which products we used, where we got them, and how to DIY it yourself!