With January behind me, it's a good time to wrap up on the first room in my house that I took the time to work on: Z's play area.
You can find the "before" view and my goals in the post here.
To review my goals:
I found it really hard to photograph the area because of the dimensions of the room and the lens I was using. This is the view from north to south. I was able to get the extra Trofast storage unit from Ikea, and I replaced the bins that Z had broken or damaged. We also purchased an Expedit bookcase from Ikea -- selected because it wasn't specifically "kid furniture" and could be put into service somewhere else, if necessary -- getting those things pretty much knocked out goals 1, 2 and 3.
This is a detail shot of the corner with the easel and the bookcase. In addition to the storage, I wanted to start to create an art area for her. That easel was also from Ikea, and, at $15 it was something both John and I could agree on. It has a chalkboard on one side, a white board on the other and a nice way to hold a roll of paper for her to draw on, too. The blue circular bin behind the red chair is also an Ikea purchase. It is being used to store balls and balloons and a few stuffed toys. I really like the Expedit unit and all the uneven height shelves. This makes it perfect for storing toys and books of a whole variety of sizes -- and most things are at kid height, but there are still some areas out of reach for things that we need to go into "time out".
This is the toy storage area. We already had the bottom Trofast system, we purchased the middle and top units. The top unit will hold art supplies (things that should be out of reach unless adult supervised) and the middle additional toys. We're not sure that this is the final configuration. Right now we're also trying out having the second large unit sit at a right angle to the first unit (along the carpet line) so that Z can have two areas to play on.
As far as goal 4 is concerned, we're still mid-sort. Not surprisingly, I didn't find too many books or toys worth parting with, and once I had the bins to sort things into, it made it easy to start to find all the pieces for things that I thought were broken or missing too many parts to be worth keeping. Just goes to show that a little organization can go a long way towards understanding what we really do have!
Overall, I'm extremely pleased with my first month's efforts. I think that keeping the goals simple and manageable made it easier for me to keep my eyes on the prize. Tonight those bins will get their photo labels (an idea from the comments on my first post that I thought was brilliant -- thank you Anna!), and I will get a chance to play with my new laminator for the first time!
Now it's time to pick the next room!
You can find the "before" view and my goals in the post here.
To review my goals:
- Get a second toy storage frame so that the two
can be placed back to back and Z can have an area to play on top of
- Replace
the toy bins and label them so that toys like Legos and Tinker Toys
have a dedicated storage area -- hopefully this will also help others
get the toys back to the right place.
- Get rid of the metal crates and get a real book case of some kind for her books.
- Cull out old toys she doesn't play with and find a place to donate/share/recycle.
I found it really hard to photograph the area because of the dimensions of the room and the lens I was using. This is the view from north to south. I was able to get the extra Trofast storage unit from Ikea, and I replaced the bins that Z had broken or damaged. We also purchased an Expedit bookcase from Ikea -- selected because it wasn't specifically "kid furniture" and could be put into service somewhere else, if necessary -- getting those things pretty much knocked out goals 1, 2 and 3. This is a detail shot of the corner with the easel and the bookcase. In addition to the storage, I wanted to start to create an art area for her. That easel was also from Ikea, and, at $15 it was something both John and I could agree on. It has a chalkboard on one side, a white board on the other and a nice way to hold a roll of paper for her to draw on, too. The blue circular bin behind the red chair is also an Ikea purchase. It is being used to store balls and balloons and a few stuffed toys. I really like the Expedit unit and all the uneven height shelves. This makes it perfect for storing toys and books of a whole variety of sizes -- and most things are at kid height, but there are still some areas out of reach for things that we need to go into "time out".This is the toy storage area. We already had the bottom Trofast system, we purchased the middle and top units. The top unit will hold art supplies (things that should be out of reach unless adult supervised) and the middle additional toys. We're not sure that this is the final configuration. Right now we're also trying out having the second large unit sit at a right angle to the first unit (along the carpet line) so that Z can have two areas to play on. As far as goal 4 is concerned, we're still mid-sort. Not surprisingly, I didn't find too many books or toys worth parting with, and once I had the bins to sort things into, it made it easy to start to find all the pieces for things that I thought were broken or missing too many parts to be worth keeping. Just goes to show that a little organization can go a long way towards understanding what we really do have!
Overall, I'm extremely pleased with my first month's efforts. I think that keeping the goals simple and manageable made it easier for me to keep my eyes on the prize. Tonight those bins will get their photo labels (an idea from the comments on my first post that I thought was brilliant -- thank you Anna!), and I will get a chance to play with my new laminator for the first time!
Now it's time to pick the next room!
Hearing about another person's success and satisfaction with organization can be quite motivating. Well done, and Thanks.
One of my friends bought that same easel. It's a great price considering how expensive they can get! The two sides also mean (for her) that both of her kids can play on it at the same time, which is an added bonus.
Yay for IKEA! I love that their furniture is durable *and* affordable. Plus their styles carry over into all rooms of the house so you have a nice flow from room to room.