J.R.
We also have a two story house and I have 4 boys. Once upon a time I tried to keep everything labeled in tubs, but it was too time consuming and too frustrating because they would inevitabley put stuff in the wrong tubs and I would wind up sorting them out. Now I still keep everything in tubs, but I don't label them and they are only generally sorted. It just doesn't make sense to keep legos with cars, but if they mix them up I really don't care. About once a year I go through and donate toys and kind of sort them out again,but in general the system works. I bought the storage system from IKEA that I believe they call Trofast or something like that. It is wooden shelves with tubs that pull all the way out and then slide back in on racks. They are sturdy enough to play on top of(like a table) and I like the fact that you can buy different size tubs that all work in the same shelf, so if your needs change you can just buy a few new tubs, not a whole new system. Also, since our playroom and the kids rooms are upstairs, i do keep a big basket at the bottom of the stairs and every night, we do a quick sweep of the house for shoes, clothing, toys, books etc, and carry it to the top. Everyone is responsible for getting their own stuff out of the basket and putting it away. (Obviously this is a tip you can use later if you want!)It really keeps the downstairs clutter to a minimum.