The Great Decluttering 2013

Playroom Minimalist Challenge.

Dude. For real. The kid's playroom.

It's awful, it's a mess, it's impossible to keep clean. I can go in there and completely clean it out, throw away trash/broken bits of this and that... make it nice and neat. Within a week it's Disaster Zone Awful again.

Well, I read this niffty neat blogpost about another mom and her frustration about her children's impossible-to-keep-clean playroom. So, following her lead I bravely stepped into...

This.

Yes, you're allowed to scream, shriek in terror, run and hide. All these options are completely normal and expected... as that's what I would do upon entering DoomRoom, and then back away & close the door...

BUT! Newfound hope in getting rid of anything that wasn't played with on a regular basis. Cleaning out the bookshelves for books that weren't really needed/appreciated - and our local Children's Hospital just put out a request for donations for their library. So, I started.... 

Slowly.... Ever so slowly I filled those two blue bins with unused, unneeded toys.

Look! Floor!!! 

And finally, after a full day of cleaning, weeding, choosing... 

Look! Toy bins not overflowing masses of Doom!!! Books put away without having to stuff them into their shelves! Room for play!! Everything is neat & organized & more importantly easy to put away. No more clutter, no more random toys junking up the place.

It's lasted all weekend so far, with actual playtime. At the end of their play the children were able to put everything away where it needed to go, because they aren't overwhelmed with the crazy overflowing storage bins, or other random areas where I told them to keep things. 

Nothing has been missed or asked for from the bins in the garage. Nothing. Books have been gone through and no one has noticed what I pulled out. I call this a MAJOR SUCCESS.

By the end of this week, those two bins will be going to a local donation place, probably Goodwill because that's just an easy trip up the road, and they just take whatever. Books will go to Cook Children's Hospital. I will hold to the if they ask for it By Name, without looking into the bins in the garage I'll give it back. But no name, no toy. I'm done.

I do wish I could have gotten rid of more, but with 5 kids and one on the way we need a broad range of things. But really, the only things that stayed were building/imaginative toys. The kitchen, train table, play workbench, K'Nex, Lego's and of course some Monster High/Barbie/Ponies all made the cut, with actual useful baby/toddler toys.

This was well worth my Saturday. Well worth it.

**Shannon**

Oh! And thanks to Rebekah for the head's up on the photo editor website!! Tada! I can learn. :)