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I live in the city with my husband, two toddlers and a one year old. Living in the city means living in a pretty small space. The only place for my children's clutter is in the eat-in section of our kitchen. It is about 8x12 with three large windows on the far 12 ft side and one large window on one of the 8 ft sides. On the side opposite windows is the divider between two parts of a kitchen area. I am definitely not a decorating type- I want people to just come in and do it for me! I have had it with this area! I arrange and rearrange every few months because it becomes unbearable to even look at. It is not attractive and I don't even want people to come over because it is such an eyesore!
Today I have started to rearrange when I thought about seeking other advice. I have just gotten rid of a huge trashbag full of clutter and bleached the floors. I am not even sure how to explain everything that I have in the room!
I hope I am even measuring these correctly!
1. Kitchen table- 3.2x2.5
2. Play Stove- 1.1x2.3
3. Table- I put storage baskets on this table. 2x2.3
4. Cubical unit- 1.1x3.5
5. Kid Easel
6. Another storage unit- 3 drawers- plastic
Tons of baskets
We are really trying to make ends meet and can't really afford to buy new things. If I could go to pottery barn and get a gorgeous storage shelf unit, I would!
Here are a few pictures. I just took them- so everything is shuffled all over the place...
Play Kitchen and Table for baskets- on far 8 ft wall
I think in such a small space the best thing to do is just use the storage cubes you have. fill them up and put the rest away somewhere. maybe switch out the toys every few weeks. keep half in the closet until it is time to switch. don't buy anything unless you get rid of stuff. figure out what toys the kids really like. you might like the area better too if you add some color on the wall. maybe paint w/chalk board paint in an area
I agree with the above, but I would add that if you can afford it - get as many cubes as you can and stack them as high as they will go. Support them to the wall studs with a few screws. This is how we organized our playroom. I used a storage system meant for closets and combined shelves, cubes, drawers, etc and created a wall of storage. We also switch out toys every few months and it the kids don't play with something for a while it goes bye-bye. good luck! It can be overwhelming
I would go with a stackable cube organizer system like someone else mentioned. We did this with our kids playroom, which is really the family room and directly off the kitchen. We wanted the space to be for the kids, but also flexible and aesthetically pleasing as you pretty much have to walk through that room to get into the kitchen and that is where our main dining space (the formal DR is too small).
We searched and searched and finally settled on the cube system made by Closet Maid. They come in several different shades and you can add doors to the cabinets or buy decently sized fabric bins in a variety of colors or just leave them open. We bought two of the nine cube organizers in an espresso finish to complement the room and then picked up a bunch of the fabric drawers in various colors.
We stacked them in one section of the room and secured them to the wall. All of the toys were gone through and organized into the various bins. My wife got fabric and her and the kids made tags that we glued to the front of the bins to show what was in each one.
I really think that would be the best way to go. You can get various combinations of cubes from 2-9 in a "stack" and can configure them anyway you want. The fabric bins also allow you to make some cool patterns and add a splash of color, without being overtly "kid". The 9-cube organizers we got cost about $50 each and the fabric drawers ran about $7 each, but are very durable. So, all together we spent about $225, but the results are well worth it and it has even helped the kids with picking up the toys and finding what they are looking for.
I think that cube thing you already have is great, the problem is that it's all open. Do any of the baskets you have fit in there and fit somewhat snuggly? I know you said the budget is tight but I would try to get some baskets that all match (or are at least similar styles) and are only a little smaller then each whole. Sort like with like (all cars in one, all art supplies in another, etc) They sell at least two different types of these cubes at Target one is closet maid brand a little pricey to buy so many (like $7 each?) another brand that sells at target just came out with a similar cube I think they are cheaper. Ikea also sells cubes I think they are 5 each.
Next thing you need to do is thing out your kids toy collections, don't hold on to toys they have outgrown or barely touch. I saw a tip somewhere saying to hand the kids each toy one at a time, if their face lights up and they start playing with it right away keep it, if they barely look at it and move on in 2 seconds it's a donation.
Next thing is, and you maynot want to here this: get rid of the easel. You didn't take a picture of it but every single kids easel I have ever seen has a huge footprint. If the kids really like to paint you can buy two cheap shower curtains of plastic table clothes, keep them folded in that art supply bin, buy that paper that comes in large rolls, move that cube over 6 inches or so, so that the roll will fit between the walls and the cubes. When it's time to paint hang one shower curtains on the wall lay one on the floor and tape a sheet of paper up. You can use painters tape or if your kids paint a lot maybe put two three hooks on the wall to hook the curtain on to.
For more idea check out some organizing blogs, I'm an organizing junkie is a favorite of mine.
City living can be tough, you just have to learn to live with less and use the space you do have to your advantage. Good luck!
Putting storage baskets on the table seems like a huge waste of space to me. I would find a way to hang the baskets on the wall. You can get some pretty inexpensive hooks at the hardware store or at The Container Store if there is one in your area. Or just pound a nail through the baskets. Think of a way to hang them artfully--maybe in a playful zigzag. Or in a vertical line. I think I would hang them in a long straight horizontal line, about 6" above the tallest object -- I'm not sure if that's the top of the play stove or the storage cubes. That way they clear the furniture but are still within arm's reach of the kids so they can put their toys away. And the straight line helps calm the visual chaos of all the toys and colors and odd shapes. After the baskets are taken care of, I'm not sure if you even need the black table any more.
Is there a way the easel could be attached the wall too? Maybe with brackets or nails to the legs, or maybe take it apart and only hang the paper. This would clear up more floor space and eliminate some of the visual clutter.
Also the cubes look like they are modular. If you can take them apart and reassemble them in a way that matches the length of a wall, that would also make the space look more tidy. For instance if you could restack it so it was only one cube high and six long, and that fit perfectly along the 8' wall, it would look tidier, than a piece that is takes up a random distance of a wall.
I agree with what others have said regarding going vertical and using those cubbies you already have more effeciently. Lowe's sells square collapsible fabric bins in a variety of colors that would fill those cubbies better at about $6 each. The easel is probably taking up too much room, I agree. Can you mount something to the wall instead?:
Your kitchen table - would you consider replacing the chairs with a storage bench? Kids loves sitting on a bench to eat anyway. When we lived in a tiny house the best tip someone told me was to make each piece of furniture do two jobs.
Budget? Consider checking out this lady's amazing blog. She's a stay home mom who has taught other moms to build their own furniture with NO experience and few tools! And it's about 1/10 of the cost of Poverty Barn. Be prepared to be amazed. Knock Off Wood: bookshelves
OH, also check out Craigslist for compact bookshelves - great for toy storage. People practically give away bookshelves in my town on CL!
Last edited by art_teacher_mom; 04-13-2010 at 12:17 AM..
Reason: forgot to add...
I have crammed 3 small kids into a 2 bedroom trailer for a time, they all shared 1 barely 10x10 ft room and all their toys in there too. So I know how you feel. What I do is make sure everything has a place and a "kind." We do not have many stray toys. If it doesn't fit in a "category" (and thus in a bucket/basket that then has a place on the shelf or a cubby), then we don't keep it. The kids early on can then learn where things go and help keep things neat, which goes a long way in a small space. All the cars go in this basket, all the blocks go in this one, the toy dishes go in here, etc. And we *try* to only get one kind of thing out at a time
I agree that you can look for cheap bookshelves, and the cube thing you have is great--- usually those fabric cubes from target or home depot fit in those types of things and those are only like 5 or 6 bucks. I have several of them that match my kids rooms colors and they line up on a shelf or in wire cube things similar to that (you know, the wire ones that connect however you want, they sell them in the fall for college students dorms?)
And then I agree, get rid of either the black table and/or the easel. Can the easel fold up and be tucked away in a closet or under a bed, and only be brought out when they are actually going to use it? We do that a lot. Makes my house look neater, and they are excited when I get something out, it's new again for a bit and then we save it away again to keep it exciting for next time.
Target has a cube storage system that has drawers that fit in the cubes. They are probably cardboard covered with canvas. We use primary colors for our playroom, but they have more "grown up" colors too for a space like yours.
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