A playroom may be the most creative place in your home, but it can also be a lot of hard work to keep tidy and organized! In addition to the toys, you may have a lot of puzzles, blocks, and building sets to keep track of. We understand this at Hudson Products and that’s the reason we want to help you with this guide.
Declutter and Clean the Playhouse First
People with a playroom tend to have a lot of junk in there. Toys, games, and clutter tend to accumulate in sections of the room. If you want to get a head start on cleaning your home, I recommend decluttering and cleaning this space first. Here’s how to go about it.
Sort Through the Toys
Start by sorting through the toys and games you have with your kids. Throw away what is broken, old, or irrelevant. It will make it a lot easier to do a quick tidy up. Sort the toys left into a number of piles. This will allow you to see what you have to organize. If the remaining toys are too many, consider donating where they are needed, sharing with others, or even storing them elsewhere in your home.
Clean the Toys
You should then try to divide the games and toys into a number of categories, such as Action Figures, Action Games, and so on before you start cleaning them. It’s important to have the right cleaning supplies on hand so you can do a quick clean up job.
If you have old grimey toys, the easiest way to get them looking good as new is to expose them to hot water and soap. Once you’ve scrubbed them with soap, you want to rinse them with cold water to remove. Rinse them dry then keep them in one corner of the room.
You also want to clean the playroom. Clean the carpets and mop the floors. Make sure you wipe the windows and then move onto the door and work your way out.
Work on Your Storage for the Toys
It’s important to think about the storage of your toys because you don’t want them to take up too much space around your house. You might think that a storage system is a pretty simple thing. And in a lot of cases, you’d be right. But when it comes to a playroom, there are a ton of choices. And it’s worth the investment in a good system. You don’t want to fall into the same trap as many people when they buy really expensive coffee tables that they then have to constantly move around because they don’t fit right.
It’s a lot easier to avoid a mess with the toys in the future by thinking about storage at the beginning. Here’s what to do:
Use Transparent Paper Storage or Clear Bins
If you can, pick a clear plastic container in a large size so that you can fit everything you need inside. Why transparent, you ask? Because when your kid(s) want a specific toy, they can spot it easily and directly reach out to get it. That way, they don’t scatter the toys all over the floor. Encourage your kids to help you put the toys away too. It feels good to be in control of the toys, doesn’t it?
Create “Pockets” for Toys in Various Parts of the Playroom
One of the most common problems in the playrooms of many households is the lack of space. Toys are everywhere and there is nowhere for them to go. To combat the cluttering of the room, you need to turn some of the small spaces in the room into pockets for your toys. One idea is to put a desk with extra space underneath (which might be wardrobes or shelves).
Use Removable Labels to Identify Stuff Around the Playroom
It’s so easy to lose track of things in your kids’ playroom. It feels like you spend all day tidying, and three hours later there’s clutter all over the floor. You’ll spend days looking for that one toy! To remediate this, we suggest using removable labels to identify everything in the play area. When you need to clear the area for playtime, you can simply peel the labels off and put them in storage.
Keep Away Easy to Mess Stuff From Kids
Keeping things you don’t want your kids messing with away from them is really important. Small children are messy by nature, and they don’t understand the dangers of some of the things they might find lying around the playhouse. Keep paint, glue, glitter, markers, or any other items that could be messy if mishandled outside of your child’s reach.
Use Playroom Mats
Playroom mats are a great addition to your children’s play area. If you want to provide an area for kids to play, but don’t want your floors to look like you’ve never cleaned them ever, these are for you. Mats are also great for doing arts and crafts. They also protect the floors of your home so your kids can play free range. You can even get mats that are fitted to your specific space.
Involve Your Children Throughout the Reorganisation Process
Working with kids can be tricky because it’s difficult to get their input and understand what their needs are. The kids’ playroom can be a chaotic mess at times, but it’s still important to involve them throughout the process. When you’re deciding where to put the drawers and furniture and where and how to organize and clean, ask your kids to decide how they want to do it. Give them limits and ask them if they want to take ownership of something. Remember to take their feelings and likes into consideration.
It normally takes a lot of time and effort to get kids to be calm and help you reorganize the playroom. To make this process easier and more enjoyable, add a game – like putting away toys in bins. That way, for kids, they associate the fun and the work and they won’t be as agitated and bored. It’s important to make it a ritual and once you’ve done it a couple of times, the routine will kick back in.
Some of the games kids can play include:
- Ready, Set, Clean.
- Counting Toys
- Clean up the Town
- Bed Time in Toyland
- Pick up by Color
That’s How You Organize a Playroom on a Budget
Playrooms are a life-saving necessity for both children and parents. Heaps of toys, books, and games will inevitably lead to a disorganized playroom so it’s nice to have a designated spot where everything has a place. While a lot of money can be spent on a piece of furniture, you can also use a dresser or a bookcase to keep things organized. You can then add a little fun with decorative items on the shelves or on the tops of the dresser.
