A Playroom Refresh and My Rules For Decluttering
9:00 AMIt's been a few years since we finished the playroom and it was feeling a bit stagnant. Eventually, This room will have a loveseat and a TV for movies and gaming but my kiddos have a couple more years of playing with toys before we get there. It feels like a good mid-way point to refresh it to reflect their ages. Our toy storage system has treated us pretty well but the room needed a new rug, art, and a good purge! Keep reading for the simple changes we made to give it a fresh look (including a killer rug and a coupon code!) and my tips for decluttering your playroom-- or anywhere kids' toys are kept.
The rug determined the entire direction of the room. I couldn't be more excited to use an heirloom quality vintage rug from Revival in this space. People often balk at vintage rugs in kids' rooms but the way I see it- if they can hold up over 30+ years, they can withstand my kids' mess! They are made of natural fibers and clean up really well. Plus I find it much easier to scrape food out of them (and then rinse) than a cushy rug.
If you've ever shopped for a vintage rug online you know that they can be prohibitively expensive. Revival prides itself on transparent and reasonable pricing on one-of-a-kind rugs. No, they aren't the same price as a rug from a box store but that's because they are one of a kind, heirloom-quality, use natural fibers, and are truly works of art. If you've been following me over the past year, you've heard me talk about balancing budget-friendly finds with high-quality pieces that elevate the whole space. If you, too, want to elevate your space, a rug from Revival is a fantastic purchase that will elevate the entire room.
Rules for Decluttering
-If it Ain't Is Broke... I don't care how beloved it is, if it's broken, I toss it. If it can be fixed, my rule is I must fix it right then in order to keep it. No hoarding it until "later."
-A Million Little Pieces. If it has lots of tiny pieces, the chances are pretty low that it's sticking around (outside of LEGO). If it's a toy that truly holds their interest, I will designate a couple of containers for the pieces but anything that doesn't fit gets donated.
-Battery Barrage. If it needs batteries and isn't a fan favorite, I donate. I hate the battery game. Some toys need batteries every time one of the kids goes to play with them and I'm not interested in constantly buying batteries (Alternatively you can purchase rechargeable batteries and that works if you're looking for ways to hang onto toys. I am not. ha.).
-Boundaries. If the physical boundary is surpassed, it's time to declutter. This is such an important lesson for our kids. It's hard to enforce (consider the motto "I'm working on it" for all of these tips!) but if you have a specific place for something and it doesn't fit that means something's gotta give. I tell my kiddos we parents have the same responsibility- our closets, the garage- if things don't fit, we declutter.
-They Like Big Toys and Chey cannot Lie. If it's massive, it's on the chopping block. While I can't get rid of every large toy, we only have room for so many. I recently decided to store a couple of larger toys under Dax's bed which was one of those "why haven't I done this before?" moments.
-Rescue Me. Along those lines, if I've purged a bunch of items, I'll give the kids a chance to rescue one. That changes their perspective from looking at all the toys they're "losing," to decide which toy they truly love.
I didn't change much about the actual toy storage- the trofast system and the cubby storage have worked well (although I am on the hunt for a lego solution) but decluttering gave us some breathing room- some of these bins (below) aren't full but have larger items in them.
Once the hard part was done, I could focus on the exciting part- rolling out the beautiful vintage rug from Revival and hanging the art. I used the colors in the rug- pale pink, cream, and burgundy (or would you call it magenta?) to choose art. Except for the llama. That was all Nadia. ha! I love the way the pink and green complement each other and I brought in mustard- the This Must Be the Place print- as another fun coordinating color. We used to have a beanbag in the corner but I donated it and use this macrame saucer chair instead. It looks so good with the rug! I love this rug so much- the next phase of this room will be more of a hang-out space and I could see a faux leather loveseat pairing so nicely with it, and even better, I can literally imagine one of the kids using it in their home one day.
Do you have a vintage rug in your home?
2 comments
I love it! We are also in the stage of toy but outgrowing. Plus we have a large age range 2-10.
ReplyDeleteA range makes it harder! If you're anything like me, it feels like you're hanging onto things for forever! Thanks for your comment!
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