Tips for making over your family room
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Friday, December 30, 2011
BEFORE: Too many things cluttered in the corner and on the floor.
[Photo by Fank Pinc]
BEFORE: The desk and chair are barely usable.
[Photo by Frank Pinc]
BEFORE: The desk looks like it's tilting.
[Photo by Frank Pinc]
AFTER: The desk and chair
[Photo by Frank Pinc]
AFTER: The toys are contained.
[Photo by Frank Pinc]
AFTER: The family can work and play.
[Photo by Frank Pinc]Jillian Strauss felt overwhelmed and frustrated trying to keep
her medium-sized family room tidy. Because it serves as a playroom,
a sewing room and a home office, her challenges really felt more
like obstacles.
The first challenge was that Strauss wanted her daughter to have
her toys in the room, but out of the reach of the baby. But the
most difficult challenge: Strauss and her husband wanted to be able
to work in the room so they could watch their kids but not have the
playtime be distracting. They also wanted to eliminate the paper
clutter.
My goal was to help this family get organized and stay that way
easily after I left.
We tackled the home office area first. All papers were removed
from the desk and drawers and divided by categories of "to keep,"
"to do" and "recycle." The papers that needed immediate attention
were made easily accessible, while the papers to be kept were
placed in a filing system.
When it came to Jillian's sewing, we concluded it did not make
sense for the room. Much of the sewing supplies were unsafe for the
kids and really would not give Jillian the freedom to enjoy her
hobby without worrying about the kids getting into the sewing
materials.
This decision actually freed up a lot of space. I then suggested
the newly opened space be used to store their older child's toys.
Since Jillian moved a lot of her daughter's toys into this room,
she had more options in her home for where to move her sewing
things.
Next, we started sorting the toys. After taking Jillian's thoughts
on which toys to keep and donate, we put them in different storage
baskets and bins. I suggested using colored mesh laundry baskets or
clear bins.
Finally, after moving some bins back and forth and rearranging, we
printed out pictures to label what belonged in each container to
help the kids find what they are looking for and help put toys
away.
In the end, the room was left decluttered, with several bags of
donated items (all tax-deductible) and storage systems that made
perfect sense for this family.
The kids were given their own space. And now when they see their
parents use their home office organizing systems and put things
away, they will try to do the same with their toys.
Pooja Gugnani is founder of Organizing With You
Inc.
