Spring Cleaning, Day 3: The Loft

My main task today was getting rid of toys and books. The upstairs is generally pretty clean - the kids don't eat up there, we have a shoes-off-in-the-house rule, so the carpet stays decent. I regularly dust, so that wasn't too big of a deal either.

The toys and books were another story. It's not that I buy my kids TONS of toys. I don't, because I don't believe they need that much stuff. But over the 2 years since we had offspring, we have somehow managed to collect a good amount of junk. Stuffed animals (almost against my religion, except for one or two per child) had piled up without my noticing. Hand-me-downs from friends and family and other random things had filled up our toy bins. And it was high time I get rid of it all. I have really taken to heart the quote in SimpleMoms ebook: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." (William Morris)

I started by gathering every toy in the house and dumping them all into a pile. (And, of course, turning on a nursery rhyme show for Eva.)

My bins (from Target) were already sorted by toy, but they had gotten a little jumbled in the last couple months. So I went through everything, threw out the junk, put the decent-but-unwanted stuff in my "Donate" box, and sorted the rest.

I moved in the bookshelf from Eva's room and sorted most of the books on there. I did put a basket in each of the kids' rooms of books that are special to them. They each have a copy of "Love You Forever," Eva has her Pinkalicious and Purplicious and a few other favorites, and Leighton has some educational board books. I brought in a clock and picture frame from Leighton's room, and I love the way they look in there. I really like the full wall of kids' stuff. Across the room next to the couch, I'm going to get some extra throw pillows to make a little reading nook on the floor. But overall, I'm really happy with the new arrangement. Here's the finished product:

And here's the "Donate" bin with all the stuff I'm getting rid of. It really is cathartic to throw stuff away. Gosh, I think I'm turning into my mother.

As I looked back at this post, I realized I neglected to clean out the TV stand drawer and cabinet. Oops. I guess this isn't a true "after" picture after all. So here I go to finish the job.