Let’s Get Organized: 5 Simple Ideas For The New Year
With a new year comes the motivation to tidy up play rooms, rotate toys and furniture, sort through the old and give away whatever you can. Now that the holiday decor is packed away, find inspiration to tackle the entire house and start the year off with a refresh for both you and your little ones. Read on for our best tips to keep nursery organization in check and switch up your storage solutions. With these 5 easy storage ideas, you can embrace organization everywhere in your home while your littles learn to help keep things tidy.
5 Easy Storage Ideas and Tips to Organize Your Space
Show your little ones that everything has a home to be returned to and that putting things away after play time means you’ll find them quickly again the next time! Along with thoughtful nursery design, toy organization and storage solutions, we’ve got you covered with simple ideas you can try right away. Here’s 5 easy home organization and storage ideas to make this your most rewarding new year’s resolution ever.
- Teach your little one how to tidy up. It may make the process longer, but by age 2 most little ones can understand and participate in sorting and cleaning. If they understand everything has a place, they will be keen to try our toy organization ideas and put things away after play time. Teaching your little that it’s important to keep spaces clean and organized helps them learn to respect their belongings and environment. Try giving your toddler a single task to focus on - like stacking blocks or putting their lego in the bin. Make it fun for your little ones regardless of their age - put on music, sing clean up songs, get them to pitch in with the vacuum or sweeping (or a toy version for practice!) and create a game of competition. Who’s the fastest cleaner in the family?
- Create a toy organization strategy. When parents are mindful of which toys are no longer popular with their little ones, it makes cycling out games and toys your little ones have outgrown a lot easier and more effective. Create a Montessori room that can grow along with your little one (curate consciously and use low shelving and storage your little one can reach on their own). Rotating toys so only a handful of options are on display and in arms’ reach is a great way to reduce clutter and avoid overstimulating littles. Put aside some books and toys and switch it up next month so they see their belongings with fresh eyes. You’ll be surprised how excited they are to see some of them again!
- Optimize small spaces. Whether you need tips for small nursery rooms or ways to tackle the overflow in the front hallway or kitchen cabinets, finding ways to keep even the tiniest spaces clean and functional can go a long way. Look at your home and don’t be afraid to reimagine spaces with storage ideas in mind (especially as your littles grow up). Try a tiered rolling cart to organize bath accessories and potty training essentials or several pom pom minis on bathroom shelves. Use a hideaway caddy organizer to keep toys sorted by type - like block sets, small books, bath toys or stack a few in your little one’s closet to keep extra clothing out of sight.
- Choose the best selection of storage accessories for your needs. Keep small accessories like wipes and keys in an on the go pouch in your front hallway - it’s easy to grab on your way out the door. Store winter accessories like scarves, hats and mittens in a pom pom mini basket so you’re never scrambling to find what you need. For nursery organization, review your little one’s room and decide where you may be able to tuck away storage items - use pom pom pints and bins for toys, books and swaddles and fold sweaters neatly in hideaway storage to tuck away under the crib or dresser.
- Give yourself room to grow. Start with one bookshelf, or one drawer and review all the items. Dust and clean the area, then return only the books and decor you want to keep or haven’t read and donate everything else. If you have too many sweaters to easily close a drawer or your closet is really tight, it’s harder to use and enjoy these spaces. Review the books on your little one’s shelf and keep only what they’re interested in and what’s age appropriate (it might be time for all those soft baby books and contrast cards to go). A hideaway caddy organizer is a helpful solution for the changing table (diapers, creams, wipes stay sorted in separate compartments). Decluttering and finding more open space in your home can lighten up everything in your life.
Takeaways
Staying committed to your New Year’s resolution to embrace organization and implement more thoughtful storage ideas in your home will benefit your whole family. We hope these easy storage ideas and sorting tips inspire you to switch up some of your family’s most-used spaces. Tidying up the holiday mess can be the perfect catalyst for decluttering, organizing and making the most of creative storage ideas. So step back, take a good look at your space and start the year off with a fresh, organized home for you and your little ones!
Frequently Asked Questions
Think creatively and outside the box to find places to tuck away and hide things in each space in your house. Consider using the back of a door, narrow spaces, floating shelves, hanging baskets, under-shelf storage, ottomans and vertical wall spaces.
Ask yourself if you’ve used the item in the last 90 days. If you haven’t, will you use it in the next 90? If the answer is no, it’s okay to let it go.
Get every family member to participate in putting things back in their place. Before bedtime, go to each room and clean up anything that was left out during the day. Asking everyone to collect their belongings and clean up their messes ensures everyone starts fresh the next day and helps keep your home organized in the long term.
Make a list of all the rooms that need to be decluttered (you can sort them from easiest to hardest). Begin with the easiest area of the house and work your way down the list for all of January. Create a schedule and plan how much time you will commit to decluttering every day. Whether it’s 20 minutes a day or 1 hour on the weekend, sticking to your goal will start paying off quickly once you see how much progress you are making.
