here is the before:
and here is the after:
the first thing i did was de-junk the place. we filled an entire truck bed full of old toys that the kids never played with. it was amazing how much stuff we were holding onto. things like cheap toys from mcdonald's happy meals, old dress-up clothes that were ripped and falling apart, cars without tires, barbies with ratty hair and missing limbs. all the usable toys were donated to a local thrift shop. all the junk toys went in the garbage.
after the de-junking phase i began to organize all the toys and compile similar toys into similar bins. all the monster high dolls in one bin, all the video games in another, all the dress-ups in another bin and so on.
now the kids play in the playroom much more often. its a fun place for them to watch movies, play with toys, or play video games. they also can only have one toy bin out at a time and must clean it up before pulling out another one.
surprisingly the playroom has stayed clean since christmas!! the playroom is no longer a dark abyss, but is now a fun retreat for my kids and their friends.
