A new year in our household usually means more new toys from Christmas and a little bit of a purge! Does this happen to you? I feel that with the new toys received at Christmas that I need to declutter and tidy up the kid's rooms. Otherwise, there just isn't enough room for everything! Plus I find by doing a clean out, that we remove toys they no longer play with and we give these pre-loved toys to charity or family and friends.
This year there seems to be a renewed push to purge all things old and only keep things that 'spark joy'... Yes I too have been watching the Netflix show by Marie Kondo, the queen of decluttering. I have also read her book 'The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying' and I love her philosophy. However, I do sometimes struggle to throw things away (sentimental) and also keep things as minimal as she likes.
How to KonMari your kids room?
I thought I would share some of my process for decluttering kids room and hope it will help you too.
- Start with one room at a time
- Go through from top to bottom in all drawers, shelves, cupboards. Everything!
- Start making piles
Then I made 4 different piles with all the items I had out:
- Keep
- Keep for next kid/sentimental (store it)
- Donate
- Bin it
Marie Kondo suggests in her book not to declutter by location but by category to ensure you get everything that is scattered across your house. I must admit I did it slightly differently but this way worked for me.
'Deciding what sparks joy in your heart is the most important step in tidying.' Marie Kondo
The hardest part about tidying up and discarding old items is to work out what to keep, what are the items to 'spark joy'?
This was my dilemma. What to do with all the stuff...
With four kids and running an online shop, as a result, we have A LOT of stuff! Although overwhelming at times, I was ready to pass on all the kid's toys and clothes that we are not going to use anymore.
For the larger items, like cots, changing tables, strollers, high chairs and bed linen, these have been handed down through all four kids. In buying good quality furniture and linen, they have lasted all 4 kids and still are in great condition to then go to family and friends.
What did I do with all our stuff?
- Family/friends - we asked around who might need big-ticket items or clothing. The big stuff we gave to the family eg bouncer, bassinet, baby carriers, as well as excellent quality clothing
- Daycare - we gave clothing in very good condition to our children's daycare, so that they could use them as spare clothes
- Donate - we donated clothing to The Smith Family and maternity clothing, cot mattresses, very good condition/new toys to Sydney based charity Mummies Paying It Forward.
- Recycle - H&M recycle clothing and take any brand clothing, in any condition for their global recycling program. You just need to ask for the garment-collecting box which is usually located next to the cashier. They also give you a voucher to use in store in exchange for your bag of clothes (I know more clothes right!)
- Bin - anything that was not able to be given or donated, I put in the bin. This was minimal though, so not too much went to landfill
Once I had given away, donated or binned, the next job was organising how I was going to store the clothes and toys we were keeping.
Storage
For Olivia and Archer's shared room we didn't have enough storage for Olivia's clothes. We put in extra drawers in the end cupboard in their room which we bought from Bunnings.
Above: Olivia and Archer's room and cupboard before the tidy up
Above: Olivia and Archer's room and cupboard after the tidy up with the new drawers
Above: Olivia's clothes in the new drawers KonMari style!
Before: Our youngest Ben is in our room and this was his cupboard space in our bedroom before the tidy up.
After: Ben's clothes and bed linen 'KonMari' style after the declutter
I bought storage baskets from Big W to help with things like socks, bibs and baby things. I will also start to use our new LILLEMØR lifestyle ✕ AY-KASA folding crates as they arrived just last week in store. How gorgeous are these crates that fold to flat when not in use! They have been an absolute sell-out item in store.
Our Olli-Ella Luggy baskets, Polie Shelf and See-Ya Suitcase also make great storage solutions.
KonMari Inspired Kids Rooms
We thought we would ask some other friends to share their KonMari cupboards and drawers to help inspire you too.
Lizzie from Kids Gifts and Toys started her KonMari obsession back in April 2017 and it is still going strong today. The only she finds hard is trying to teach her now 6 and 9 year old how to fold the 'KonMari' way.
Lizzie had some tips in regarding "What to do with the things that no longer spark joy?"
She gave and donated clothes, books and toys to friends and charities. Lizzie also had many near new and excellent condition items, which sold on her local Facebook 'Buy, Swap and Sell' groups. More recently, she has had stalls at local flea markets and council car boot sales. She has found these to be a great way to sell kids things.
Her one tip to keep the KonMari method going long term? Fold all your clothes using the 'KonMari' method as you bring them in from the line. Once they are in the basket you just transfer into the drawers.
Kate from Myhomestyle89 has also shared some of her newly 'KonMari' style kids drawers and kids rooms. Kate's Instagram account provides an incredibly inspired look at living minimally and organised. Her pantry and linen cupboard organisation is to die for!
I hope you enjoyed my declutter and KonMari inspired kids room post. I would love to hear your thoughts on how you keep your kid's rooms tidy? How do you quell the ever-rising amount of toys and clothes? Have you caught the KonMari bug too?
Comment below, I would love to hear from you.
Dong- Maria xox
