Keeping the Family Room clean can be a time-consuming project. Try this:
- I have a rule that no toys (except baby toys) are allowed downstairs. We have bedrooms and a game room for them.
- I also keep a cute basket under my side table and as I go along during the day I’ll pick up the toy, sock, or other stranded item and throw it in the basket. About once a week I’ll carry it upstairs and put it away.
This has really cut down on the stress of running up and down the stairs. I’ll also get my kids involved and when we’re cleaning up (at 6:00 right before dad comes home) I’ll have them drop the items in the basket as well. That way we can get it done faster and with less resistance.
My basket was completely full so today I sorted through it and put everything away! What tips do you have for keeping your family room clean?
I just cleaned out the built-in cabinets and put two baskets in them. Other than that, everything must stay upstairs. The cabinets close, so I never have to see a toy.
Like you, I’m a big fan of baskets. This at least gives the appearance of containment! 🙂 Now that our daughter is older we try to keep most of her toys upstairs.
My dad made us a beautiful cherry wood toy box and looks like (and is) a nice piece of furniture that we have in our great room. Anything downstairs HAS to fit in it and at the end of the day all toys are thrown inside it. Every few months I go through it and clean it out. I also have a Longaburger basket that I keep the baby’s toys in that fits with the decor in my front room. Works great!
I have a basket in our family room too- NOT BIG ENOUGH!!! We don’t have an upstairs so toys have a VERY easy time creeping into the family room!!
I saw an idea where each child had a bucket (cute with their name on it) Throughout the day the bucket was used to put items in that were left around the house- at the end of the day the child went through the whole house with their bucket and then put things back into their room. Then the bucket was empty and ready for the next day!
love that! I have the same rule ” NO toys downstairs”. We also have a game room and bedrooms upstairs for the toys and games and ETC!!! But sometime it doesn’t work as well. OH well. I so love you FHE sign.
I am big fan of keeping the toys upstairs out of sight. We have no always done this but I am in the process of moving everything upstairs now. I loved you tips! Thanks! My little ones keep the messes coming, its a never ending circle.
I do the same thing! I have a basket next to the stairs for stray items and try to keep the toys in our downstairs or in the kids rooms! It really has helped keep things looking tidy! Now if I could come up with something to keep my kitchen clean at all times (no dirty dishes)…maybe takeout for every meal!!! 🙂
I too love to use baskets for storing things. I have one of those stair-step baskets that gets filled up and taken upstairs for things to be put away about once a week too. It’s nice sometimes to go through it myself and get gid of toys we no longer need too! I do like to be organized.
That really is such a good idea. I have actually been complaing about how messy my house gets. It seems like I spend all day cleaning and within hours it can be even worse. I have an even harder time keeping the toys upstairs. Both of my children like to be in the same room as me and since I spend most of my day downstairs they tend to bring EVERYTHING down with them. Oh well, I better enjoy it now because I know there will be the day they dont want to be around me.
When we got our bigger house one of the big appeals was the downstairs HUGE wrap around closet. I coined it the “Toy Closet.” (it’s under the stairs) So I have some different types of organizers in there. And it all goes THERE (other than some stuff in their rooms)…I don’t like tons of stuff in the rooms- gets overwhelming and cluttered to me (in our old house, rooms were smaller & with all the toys it was just too much mess). So it’s great cuz we just throw it ALL in there. They can play downstairs but it’s all hidden and when people come over, they don’t need to know about the toy closet unless they have kids. Then the looks on kids faces when they open that door! I’m LOVING that space. And my artist mom is supposed to come paint murals in it sometime soon….can’t wait.
Every night my two other kiddos have to clean up our family room before bed!
We have to keep some toys in the family room because we don’t have a playroom, but I clean them out and get rid of things at least once every month or so. I have big baskets in lots of places so that things are easy to clean up and the kiddos are able to put things away on their own. Love the ideas you shared!
(And to answer your question, yes, I scrap digitally…I quit paper scrapping once I got my kiddos. It was too much to keep up with!)
great ideas! your room is beautiful…
Thanks for the ideas! What a useful post!