Organizing the *Out of Control* Toys

I'm not going to lie - this is probably one of my less interesting posts! But gosh darn it, I worked so hard on getting these toys organized that I'm writing a post about it! 

Our playroom has been OUT OF CONTROL. Maybe because we've been stuck inside for a month straight and have major cabin fever? Maybe its because we just added a dozen new toys between Christmas and Leo's birthday? Regardless of the reason), the toys and the mess have been overwhelming me. A lot.  I tried implementing a "rule" that we clean up the playroom before naps and bedtime. It makes the space clean, but it still is a problem because it takes up too much time. Time I'd much rather spend doing something else!

Seeing that the above clearly wasn't the solution to my problem, I knew I had to implement some better organizational methods with the toys in order to get our playroom under control and make it easier to maintain. 

Before we get into that, let me SHOW you the problem. Here is our playroom on an average afternoon before nap time. Yes, this room was clean in the morning. 

The boys usually start their day by dumping out those two big baskets, which basically - until now - have held ALL of their small toys. You'd think it would make things easier just having two large toy boxes, but what I've found as they've gotten older and the toys have gotten smaller or have more parts, is that they dump out EVERYTHING just to find the one thing they are looking for. So the mess is literally 50x bigger than it has to be, just because of the way we've been storing things. (Plus those baskets have seen better days.. yikes!) 

This room seriously gets this messy in 5-minutes flat. Leo is like a little tornado! They're lucky their so cute ;) 

Anyway, now that you've seen the embarrassingly messy corner of my house, let's move on to the solution. It was a little overwhelming to begin with because honestly I didn't know where to start. I didn't even have a handle on what we had or what kind of storage we needed. That being said, I just dove in and started organizing the toys into categorical piles so I could see what I had... balls, dinosaurs, blocks, tools, trains, etc. I didn't have storage bins yet, so once everything was sorted I put them into plastic grocery bags so I could keep my piles together and get an idea of how many bins I would need and how big they should be. This helped me quantify things a TON! 

Additionally, as we organized toys we decided to donate A LOT of them that the kids just never really played with. We filled a huge box for "kids who don't have any toys." It was awesome seeing Miles understand that he was making a sacrifice to help other people and he was HAPPY to give things away to other kids. (In fact, I had to hold him back a little!) Warms my heart!

We also took two bigger bins of toys to the basement that we can rotate out to keep things "fresh" and also to help reduce the clutter upstairs. 

Once this process was complete I went online to Amazon and ordered two six-packs of Sterilite 18-quart clear storage bins. Just the right size for each of my piles! Thank God for Amazon Prime and the fact these arrived 48-hours later because I couldn't wait to get the toys into the bins. 

Aren't they beautiful?

I then got these chalkboard labels from the Container Store so I could label each bin.

And there we go.. a place for everything and everything in it's place! 

These will be stacked and stored inside of the white built-ins in the playroom. (Right now they have big bins storing our family documents, which I need to move to our office/guest room on the 3rd floor. Lots of shuffling going on!) 

Honestly they've already been a big success. I feel like the kids are looking at their toys with fresh eyes and are way more focused/engaged when they are playing. And of course, it's a lot easier to clean up just one small bin containing 10-toys than two huge baskets with 200-toys! We're ALL thankful for that!

Anyway, like I said, I know it isn't the most interesting post in the world but for us it was truly a game changer and a time saver! 

SHOP THE POST: 

I have a few more things in this room that we are overhauling in the near future, so stay tuned for more! 

New Hints of Blue

As I mentioned in this post, I decided to incorporate more blue into my home as I redecorate in 2018! Paired with a lot of white and gray, I'd love to have my house have more of a "Farmhouse meets Nantucket" vibe. Here are some of the items I'm currently envisioning adding to my space:

• Pottery Barn Home Lumbar Pillow
• Pottery Barn Basketweave Pillow Cover
• Pottery Barn Riviera Striped Drape
• RH Baby & Child Weathered Gray Pinboard
• RH Baby & Child Assorted Weathered Gray Frames
• The Container Store Bigso Navy Stockholm Magazine Holder
• RH Baby & Child Henley Stripe Drapery Panel
• Pottery Barn Wheaton Stripe Pillow Cover

Here's a secret: 90% of these items were delivered last night!! (I bought them on NYE before my 100-day shopping ban went into effect with lots of gift cards from Christmas lots of good sales!) I can't wait to try them out in the spaces and start styling! Stay tuned :) 

Dining Room Makeover - From Traditional Green to Farmhouse White

I mentioned in my post about my goals for our home in 2018 that I wanted to start to transition from traditional style to more of a farmhouse style. WELL, I'm excited to say I've wasted no time getting started on this goal! 

I've been thinking about doing this for awhile now, but a few days ago I decided to officially dive in and paint the room white! (It is a custom color, I posted it about here!) The nice thing about painting this room white is that the trim was already white so I didn't have to tape (woo hoo!) and it's only the top half of the room with two huge openings, so it is a quick job! (Which is lucky for me, because this is the 5th time I've painted it in the 7-years we've lived here!) 

I also took down the ladder shelves. Having the open shelving was starting to feel like too much visual clutter for me, and I just am seeking some blank space at the moment. 

With the ladder shelves gone,I decided to flip the table around too and just see what it was like. I LOVE IT! It feels really inviting from the kitchen with the bench being parallel to the kitchen opening. I can't believe I didn't try this sooner! 

Here is what the room looked like at Christmas: 

And here are snapshots as we started to transform the room: 

So far I am LOVING IT! The room is so bright and feels so much bigger! I still have a lot to do to finish the makeover, but here it is quickly pulled together with what I had in here before. 

What do you think? Definitely feels more farmhouse to me already!

2018 Home Goals & Projects

I can't believe 2017 is already coming to an end! The wonderful things about this year were, first and foremost, the birth of our sweet baby Graham in October followed by my transition to a stay at home mom in July. Two life changing things in the very best way! That being said, I think 2017 was also my hardest year yet. Mostly because of how miserable I felt most of the year during my pregnancy and recovery. Nonstop nausea and serious back pain that really kept me from living my best life. I basically felt like I was in survival mode from February until November! It was rough, but of course all worth it for my sweet little boy. 

That being said, I'm excited for 2018 and a fresh start!  I posted about my personal goals back in August in this post, but I haven't really had the time or energy to fully pursue them given how I was feeling and having a newborn. Now that I'm feeling great and Graham is almost three months old (and therefore way easier!), I'm really excited to get more into these! 

ANYWAY, I've also been thinking about my home goals and projects for the year! Without further ado, here's the 10 things I'd like to accomplish in 2018:

1) Transition from Traditional Style to Farmhouse Style (On a budget!) 

For awhile now, I've noticed that my taste has changed from what I currently have in my house to something lighter, brighter, and more a farmhouse style. However, I've been hesitant to make the change and transition my house. First, because our house appraised as high as it could for our area, and I didn't want to spend money on it that we wouldn't get back. Second, we've casually been on the lookout for our next house (our FOREVER house!), so I just kept telling myself "oh I'll do it in our next house." All of this was fine when I was too sick or exhausted or pregnant to decorate/renovate/DIY anyway, but now that I'm feeling great I just have the super strong itch to decorate and work on the house! So, I'm going to do just that - on a budget! It will require some compromise and a lot of creativity, but who knows when we'll find our next house and in the meantime I want to love my house and allow myself to enjoy my passion. So, look forward to lots of decorating and transforming on a budget! 

Pottery Barn

2) Add more Blue

If you follow me on Instagram, you might be surprised about this one! However, I really don't have that much blue in our house (it IS what I like the most, however, so it is what I photograph that most!) Other than the boys' bedroom and a handful of accents such as throw pillows and dish towels, most of my house mainly features gray or greenish-gray throughout the color scheme. I'm ready to transition away from the green and add a lot more blue. I'm thinking Nantucket or Hamptons inspired decor! It will also tie the interior of our house more closely to the exterior of our house, which I always really like. Stay tuned!

3) Declutter 

Ugh, I'm sure 90% of you have this on your list too and feel my pain. Seriously before having kids everything in my house had a place and everything was in it's place. That has gotten away from me the last few years! The clutter is overwhelming me. My goal is to organize and purge one room at a time. If I don't love it or don't feel I really need it, it is going to Goodwill. I'm starting with the kitchen next week!

Along with this, I've decided not to buy anything for 100 days, starting January 1st. Sometimes I think buying something new distracts me and makes me feel good,  like a band-aid on the clutter problem! Yeah it is enjoyable, but it actually just makes the "stuff" problem worse. So, no spending on clothes, accessories, toys, make-up, etc. for awhile. I need to really appreciate and care for what I have before adding anything more! The ONE thing I'll allow, after some consideration, is storage baskets/bins - specifically for the kids toys - since that is a purchase that is clearly aligned with the solution. I also like this idea because it will allow me to dive into my house makeover and challenge me not to spend much money. That being said, I have used my Christmas money and some gift cards the last 24-hours to buy some stuff before my ban goes into place. I have allowed myself that, but that is it!(And I have to say, it's totally jump started my creativity.. can't wait to share the changes I already have in progress!) 

Along with decluttering, I'd like to give every room a solid, deep clean. (It's been awhile!)

4) Get everything done that we'd have to do to sell the house, even if we don't sell! 

• 4a) Fix up the basement

We had a flood late in the summer and therefore have half of the carpet ripped up and everything shoved to one side of the basement. Early in 2018, we need to organize the basement, repaint (not flood related, but much needed!), and recarpet! Nothing fancy, just needs to be livable and MUST be done if we decide to put the house on the market or buyers would run away screaming, for real. 

• 4b) Get Plumbing Work Done

Funnnnnn!!!! (No.) The cold water knob on our 2nd floor bathtub faucet decided to stop working, so that needs fixed. We also need our gas fireplace line fixed because the pipes were really old and we had to cap it in the fall because there was a leak. This is not a small job, as they have to open up the ceiling in the basement and replace a long stretch of pipe. We also need the drain on our clawfoot tub on our 3rd floor to be fixed.  Not exciting, but all need to be done! I just didn't have the energy to deal with them towards the end of my pregnancy when they all went awry in the fire place! 

5) Replace the Front Windows. 

I didn't want to do this if we were going to move, but if we do stay here, I want new front windows on the first floor! They are REALLY old and are painted shut. I would love to open them and get a fresh breeze through the entire house. Also, they have gotten some water between the window and the storm window and therefore they always look streaky. Drives me insane. We'll probably do this late spring, as soon as it warms up!

6) Redo our Master Bedroom

This room has been so neglected, it's not even funny. I've mentioned before that I think I gave up on this room when I realized I couldn't get the bed I REALLY wanted up our narrow stairs. (Boo. Still bummed about it!) Still, I need to do something to make this space a space I love! I have no idea what this will entail, but this will definitely happen this year too. 

7) Add More Family Pictures to our Decor

I know this sounds so small, but it is a huge goal of mine! :)

8) Stain our New Fence

We got a few fence installed in October (It was literally being installed as I was in the hospital with Graham!) and this spring we will need to stain it. It will be a big job! Still trying to decide whether we'll tackle it ourselves or hire someone to do it, but I just know they'll charge us an arm and a leg. Regardless, I'm dreading it and can't wait to check it off of the list! (But also INCREDIBLY grateful to have a fence so I can actually sit down in the backyard this summer and not be chasing the kids all over the neighborhood!) 

9) Stop using my Dining Room Table as a Dumping Ground

Pretty self explanatory... Our mail and other 'to do's" are constantly in piles on my dining room table and it drives me nuts! I need to find better ways to organize our mail, magazines,and other stuff so there aren't always big stacks of papers on my table. I'm already thinking of a plan and organizational system to move all this to our mudroom. Stay tuned! 

10) Appreciate what I Have instead of Focusing on What I Don't

I can pretty easily let myself get frustrated with the imperfections of this house and often find myself dreaming of what I want to do in our next house, instead of appreciating and giving thanks for the many great things about our current place. Like for instance, the great location (walking distance to school, parks, Target, Whole Foods, and many good restaurants and ice cream shops!), all the work we've done to make it more 'us", our absolutely amazing neighbors, the fact we can pay off our house in the next few years if we continue to live here.. There's a lot of REALLY great things! While we look, I still want to love the great things about this house and not wish these blessings away. 

I think that covers it! Excited to see what we accomplish in 2018 on the home front! Here's to a great year ;)