I've been trying for over a year to keep organized. I have a small three bedroom home with my own daycare in it. I've tried so many things to keep my kitchen, playroom, living room and kids room organized but I just don't think I have that magic touch! I throw things out or give to charity monthyly, I try to put toys in bins which don't last with the kids and I try to come up with ideas to store things in the kitchen but I find myselft lost. I can never find where I put anything, My kitchen table is cluttered and my living room isn't much of a living room. More like a second toy room slash see how many little chairs and big chairs you can fit around the tv room. Any suggestions? I want my home to feel like a home when the kids are gone for the day and I want parents to come to my house thinking "wow she has a nice, clean, organized setting for my kids". I know they think "wow she could get lost in here" haha.

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What type of things are bothering you the most - do you have a ton of little toys (cars, etc) laying around? Or is it mostly big toys (ride ons, etc) that you don't have a place for?

Do you have any type of closed storage? Cabinet you can pick up and close the doors at the end of the day? Coat closet you could move the coats into the laundry room or bedrooms and organize into a toy closet?

Are you hoping to get rid of the chairs facing the TV? Can you get rid of the little chairs and use large pillows instead?

What is cluttering up the kitchen table? Is it childcare stuff or your stuff?

I'm not much help, huh? - maybe you could take a picture of the mess (if you're brave enough) and post it out here... maybe I would have more suggestions at that point!!

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Stay at home mom to my 3 boys... ages 5, 3 & 1!

I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

the coat closet is a great idea to turn into a toy storage! I'm going to take some photos of my clutter to show and example! I'll be a brave one and show how embarrassing it is! lol

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okay so how do I post pictures from my computer on here? haha. I'm not soooo good with this area on here yet!

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so heres my messy rooms! Any Suggestions or ideas would be soooo greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks!

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Ok - few questions about the layout... is that the front door/entry way to the right of the glider in the 3rd picture? And is your couch pushed all the way back to the wall or is it pulled out a bit? Is that the coat closet behind the chair next to the glider? Also, do the 2 bookshelves match the armoire? Where is the cable outlet?

Is there room to turn the kitchen set so that it’s against the wall to its left? That way it’s hidden from view more and leaves that little corner as the kitchen play area. That corner there might be a good place to stash the bigger toys out of sight for the most part. Of course I would put as much as I could in the closet. If you have old bookshelves you can store in the closet you could probably stack quite a few tubs, etc in there. If possible you could make everything down low in the closet for the childcare so that you can open it up to the kids during the day. I’m assuming you probably have a shelf above a coat rack or something – if you do you can use it for things you need access too!

Do the bookshelves look good pushed closer to either side of the armoire? I’m wondering if you could put them with the armoire on the wall across from the couch. Or do you like being able to see the TV from the kitchen? If you pushed the armoire and bookshelves to the wall across from the couch it would make a grand statement to anyone entering your house. You could then put the matching chairs together on the far wall leaving a space for kids to get back to the kitchen in the corner. But when the kids are gone you still have your entertaining area.

It looks like you have a great start there and lots of great baskets and tubs to use! That’s good news! What I would do first is probably start by organizing what toys you want to keep out there. I really don’t see a ton of toys lying around so it’s hard to tell what you have, but if you have a ton of balls you can designate one of the tubs or baskets as a ball tub/basket. Lots of dolls, then they can get put in a different tub or basket. Again, I would fit anything I possibly could into the closet, but that’s just me. I like the idea of having the kids put up their own toys before they go home for the day and then your kids putting up anything they play with at night before bed. That way, you get some free time in the toy free zone! 

I like the little white baskets with the books in them! Those are great for that, but I’ve heard suggested that you stand them up so that kids can flip thru the books and they may not toss them all.

BTW, are those Willow Trees I see?? Where are they? Is that like a shadow box or something? I love Willow trees and am always trying to come up with a better way of storing them! 

Oh, and as for the kitchen, the only thing I can think of is to find more room in your cabinets. I don’t know how many cabinets you have, but if you’re anything like me I’m sure you have plenty of stuff you don’t use. I have a pretty small kitchen and I went thru and found a TON of stuff I didn’t use. I saved some for our next house, but most of it I sold or donated.

Sorry, I’m more questions than answers but it is hard to tell dimensions when looking at pictures. Plus it helps to know why you have certain pieces in certain places. You really don’t look like you have a TON of extra junk – you’ve got a good start.

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Stay at home mom to my 3 boys... ages 5, 3 & 1!

I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

I agree with taking the books out of the bins and spining them. Both bins of books could be spined together and fit on one of those shelves. Also, the dollar store has great shoebox size plastic bins with lids on them. You could get some of those - they're great for separating the toys a little bit (cars, blocks, barbies, play food, etc) and then the lids snap on and they can be stacked. If they aren't the right size, scout around for some that are shaped differently. But buy a set of them to be stacked together. I'd move the books to the other shelf by the play kitchen to keep the toy clutter coralled to one side of the room. Do you have room to hang a shoe organizer on the inside of your closet door? You could put the playdough, crayons, craft/art supplies, etc on the inside the pockets. I see a lot of baskets to put things in and I agree with the above poster that you've got a good start. The other thing that helps me keep things in check - I do a quick 2 minute pick up every so often and just chuck toys into the toy bin in th eliving room to keep the clutter down. Good luck!

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You girls are great! I REALLY REALLY APPRECIATED You taking time to write me on ideas. You really are helping me out. to SAHMto3boys, you must be very orgainized at home! (-: Thanks for the advice and heres answers to those questions: When you come thru the front door facing south, the couch is against the south wall and the armoir is on the south west corner of the living room. we have a super long cable cord so really the armoir tv stand could be facing just about anywhere. my dh is really good at hiding cords and making them shorter or longer. The bookshelves match the armoir and for some reason I don't know why I don't have them next to it to make it look like one whole piece! lol. The coat closet is facing the far east wall next to the walk in of the kitchen. Its quite space if I took all the coats and leaves of the table out. Would be great for toy storage if I can come up with where to put the stuff thats in the closet now. In the kitchen the table is up against the south wall and next to it is the portable dishwasher. My cubbard space is limited )-: I really need to purge or store the things I don't use in the kitchen somewhere else. And yes "Those are Willow Tree" haha. I love willow tree. I went to an antique store and found an old window frame that had a plywood back to it. I added a plywood inner shelf with wood glue and screws and painted a white wash on it and turned it into my willowtree slelf! (-: It cost me about 20 dollars in all.

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