Motherhood Monday: Buried Alive – Toys Edition – How to Handle All the New Gifts

Good morning! Happy Monday and Happy New Year to you! Welcome 2021, I hope you are super sweet to us all 🙂

I’m sure everyone is still recovering for the holiday season – I know we are! This weekend, my husband and I took the time to sit down and regroup taking a thorough look at our budget and things we want to tackle. The main thing we both agreed on – donating, purging and reorganizing the house.

If you remember, the kids and I actually went through our toys on Giving Tuesday and donated a lot to make “room” for Santa and also give to those who are less fortunate than us. Along came Christmas and the onslaught of toys so, we decided take another look at the toys we had, where they were being stored and whether or not things should be donated or thrown away – again. We were able to find a lot more, so you can say I was pleased to rid of the clutter! I also went through my closet and found so many things to give away!

Today, I wanted to share some of our methods to keep the clutter under wraps AS BEST WE CAN because hey, we’re dealing with a 1,3 and 5 year old!

First stop was to the basement where we threw out anything that was broken or missing pieces and started a donate pile for any toys that were never used or ones we just don’t see them using. We swapped out all the old with their new gifts and the kids were not phased one bit. We filled 2 garbage bags!

This is beyond perfect, but at least it’s a start.

Next, we decided to reorganize our upstairs living room/play room. We actually have so many different furniture pieces that serve as toy chests or toy storage, so I wanted to share them with you. Having the dual purpose furniture is life changing! We want the kids to be able to easily access their toys, but also make sure they know where it goes when putting them away.

We spent a lot of time trying to make sense of where toys go and show the kids where to put them back.

i.e. games, puzzles and art supplies go in the cabinet below the bookshelves.

Legos and blocks are stored in the bin and bag they came in. Trucks are stored in a velvet black ottoman we have, etc. etc…

This was my main goal after Christmas. To have a rhyme or reason of where things go so we are able to put things away with ease – that’s half the toy battle!

Home Goods Toy Chest

I LOVE this decorative storage chest! Again, dual purpose – this piece holds a lot of toys! Fits a lot of the bigger toys that aren’t used AS much!

Storage Bench

This bench was a gift from my Mom two Christmases ago. We wanted more seating in our living room without blocking the window. I love all the storage we get with this one!

Note my son’s shirt….don’t even ask, ha!

Behind the Couch Storage Rack

We mother-in-law purchased this for us and it has been a game changer! We had toys in the space behind our couch and bookshelf just thrown there for so long! No set spot for anything – constantly stepping on tiny toys and losing things in the mess! This rack has a bunch of plastic bins and the kids know where to find/put away their toys because we have it organized by toy type.

Drawstring storage bags

We’ve been using these for a year now and absolutely love them! They keep all the legos, magnetic tiles and little doll house pieces all together in one place! I may end up purchasing some more because these are a game changer for easy organization!

They have 3 different sizes and are see-through so it makes it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for!

Cubby Shelving

We have these in the kid’s rooms. I love the cubby! It hides so much and stores a ton taking up very little space.

We use the fabric storage cubes – you can find them on Amazon, Target, Walmart and even Big Lots.

Decorative Bins

This isn’t ideal storage, but I’ve loved having these wooden bins in the living room to hold diapers, wipes, big toys, etc. At least it gives them a home and makes the appearance that the space is cleaner than it actually is!

I couldn’t find the exact natural woven bin, but here are some options!


I hope this shows that when you have kiddos, it is hard to demand perfection and a clean house all the time. Every once in a while a toy purge, reorganization and storage update is needed to keep your house in check! Far from perfect over here, but doing our best to keep our house looking tidy and organized.

Hope you are navigating the new year reorganization projects better than I am! Have a great Monday!

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One thought on “Motherhood Monday: Buried Alive – Toys Edition – How to Handle All the New Gifts

  1. Joanne says:

    We used to have most of those same types of storage bins and while it was tough to keep the toy clutter under control I did find that having a set place for things so that the boys KNEW where they went it was much easier at clean up time.

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