OVERWHELMED! organizing...kid Stuff

I would start by decreasing the amount of toys. It's more than likely that he only plays with a small amount of them...the rest might be played with very occasionally.

You could pack up most of them...and even swap them out monthly. So new, interesting toys are cycled through.

We had the storage cubbies too. What I found was that my boys (at that age) would simply pull them all out and dump them. I ended up getting the plastic bins that lie a plastic frame (9 in all) and then literally screwing them to the frame. This kept everything in place.

I used to keep toys like geo tracks or fisher price sets in bins in the basement ( or garage) and rotate them out once a month. the kids loved it and it helped cut down on how much was out at once.

keep in mind it really doesn't last long. then they get into electronics and that takes over your livingroom.

I think having a play room will help your overwhelmed feeling a lot. We have a play area for our son in the basement, but he doesn't play down there as much as he does in the living room. As a compromise we rotate toys. He has a target toy organizer in the living room and one big toy (tool bench, easel, kitchen, etc) at a time. I have things fairly well organized in the basement on shelves, baskets, bins, etc. Every 2-3 weeks (or if he asks) we rotate the toys. So right now his kitchen set is up here and in the toy organizer we have play food and dishes, his music toys, play animals, some puzzles and books. In a few weeks we might move the easel, art supplies, cars and blocks up and move the other stuff back downstairs. Rotating toys is a great way to keep them interested in what they have and make things feel new again, plus it keeps the clutter down in my living room.

Edit-This is the organizer we have http://www.target.com/p/Circo-Storage-Organizer-Natural/-.... He loves it because he can see all the toys and easily get to them.

We use the closet maid and clear bins with lids. One for each type of toy.
Your best bet though honestly is to go through the toys every 6 months or so and get rid of them. Any new baby will get his or her own toys from the grandparents.

The best thing we ever did was to spend the money for 2 armoires from Ikea for our downstairs game room. It was more $$$ than the shelving/bin thingies but the look so much nicer and the doors CLOSE when you don't want to see t all!

I too am very organized and get overwhelmed easily with all the toys. I am constantly reorganizing and purging. I keep anything with small pieces like puzzles, high shelves so my kids need to ask before they take them down. We have a playroom and we use the itso system from target with the fabric bins. My daughter has the white bins with red fabric and my son has blue bins with blue and green fabric. I personally love them and you can design then any way you like! Stack high, add drawers, fabric bins etc.. When there little a playroom helps tremendously. Toys will get dragged out but have their own 'home' when they are picked up.

My opinion: Keep a few of the toys you like. No way all of them. The next kid will get new ones anyways (gifts) so they won't need all that you are saving for them. I used to keep a huge bin of toys, but then we moved and I was forced to pick only a few and consolidate my box.

I do like storage bins. IMO - you should get all the ones you want NOW b/c next time you go back the style/color/lid will be different. I think clear is best so you can see inside. Others may say that's worse b/c it can fade clothing. I had all of my son's baby clothes in bins labeled, but then consolidated and ended up throwing all of them into one of those vacuum suck bags. I recommend "the cube" one which is cubic in shape and holds a LOT of stuff.

Toy organization: I again, do bins (smaller ones). Sterilite has some where the lids kind of flap down inside themselves - so there's no way to lose the lid b/c it's attached with hinges on the tub itself. I find that it's good for my 3.5 yr old. One has play-doh, one is construction toys, one is gun toys, etc. Granted, then the toys change. Later one bin will be gi-joes and one will be cars .... I dunno. So don't label anything permanently as the kid's tastes will change.

Too many toys: When he's napping, go thru your sons toys and see what he hasn't played with in a while. Put it away and if he hasn't asked for it in 3 months, donate or keep for future kiddo. Don't forget that consignment shops love gently used clothing and toys! Bring in 10 toys and go home with one or two new ones. Your son will be happy to get two new toys and you'll be happy to have rid yourself of ten!

You're already doing a great job! :)

I think what you have done is perfect!
The only thing I would add:

-I have a cubby entertainment center which I love.
-Meaning, it has baskets that I put his much played w/toys in.
-All of the toys he plays w/contantly are in the family room in 2 toy boxes
(bins) hidden behind a couch.
-I have started to "go through them" periodically to donate ones he no
longer uses (be careful here...do not throw out a "cherished, loved" toy.
It can be detrimental. I still remember my parents doing that innocently
to my sister....so sad. ) ;0
-After Christmas, I do a huge "overhaul" going through no longer "loved"
or used toys.
- I label boxes
-If no more kiddos coming, I donate to friend or Goodwill

Again, you are ahead of the game! :)

Edit: depending upon weather where you are, some toys STAY outside.
Elmo car stays outside.
Some toys have been relegated to garage for summer use.
Beach toys always stay in trunk (even for a park w/dirt).
A few random toys & books stay in other living room as we play in both
and inhabit both on a nightly basis.

We have one of those nine cube storage shelve things that you can put the canvas bins into...I love it. It very neatly houses smaller toys into sets. I am going to buy a second one to organize all of our school things (we homeschool.)

It wasn't so bad with one child...two made it terrible. As the younger one collects things (much less than her older sister, of course) I have run out of room for toys. So now, large sets (think tote fulls...one of Barbies, one of a train set, one of baby dolls, one of dinosaurs, etc) are in the basement. When she wants to play with a set, I haul it up and back down when she's done...extra exercise, yay! :)

Another lifesaver for me has been shoe boxes under their beds. There are all sorts of little sets that don't get played with often stashed away, but still there because they do still get occasional use.

I have a garage sale every year, and get rid of literally a mountain of stuff, including toys. I used to think I wanted to save it all for the next one...until I HAD the next one...and realized I don't have the space to do that, nor do I really want to. As holidays and birthdays pass she is accumulating her own things, and doesn't need EVERYthing her sister had. Of course, I saved the staples...blocks, the Little People barn, etc...but I've gotten rid of all the Polly Pockets that no longer were being used and a ton of other toys.

My best tip is organized containment. I got rid of the toy box before my first one was two, because nothing in it ever got played with. If it's not easily accessible, it seems like they will find something else. That's one reason why I love the canvas drawers in the cubby thing...I can take one out and they'll play with it. For example, if I take out the two cubbies that have all the farm set stuff in them, they'll play with it for two hours. If that were all thrown in a toy box, they'd never play with it. :)

I agree with Beth. The worst thing I did was keep too many toys thinking the other kid would want them. All teething toys need to be thrown out even though I packed them away nicely took them out and disinfected them there was always some doubt of lurking something that could make new baby sick! so I ended up throwing them out! i have three kids and they all like different toys aside from toy cars and blocks. The only real toys I ended up reusing were riding toys, crib toys, and educational toys. I'm still purging toys and it is a pain especially since my first two were boys and my last is a girl! Good job with the clothes though, but even with those dont keep too many only the ones you really treasure and love to see!