The Family Room Provide adequate storage space for all the entertainment-related clutter. If you and your children are movie buffs, you'll need a bookcase or storage chest to hold all of your movies. If you're music lovers, you'll need a place to store all your CDs. Come up with creative spots to store your child's toys. A toy box isn't a good idea for toys that have dozens of pieces since they will simply get mixed in with other toys. Toy boxes can also pose a safety hazard. A better idea is to provide your child with a series of see-through containers with snap-on lids so that he or she can use to store each multi-piece toy. Establish house rules about eating and drinking in the family room. A lot of family room clutter consists of dirty-dishes, half-eaten bowls of popcorn that inevitably get spilled, and other food-and-beverage-related messes. Find creative ways to handle the piles of magazines and newspapers. "One idea I got from my Mom was to put current catalogues and magazines in one of those fancy wicker or twig baskets and toss the old catalogue or magazine out when a new one arrives," says Mary, a 36 year old research biologist. "The baskets don't look as messy as a pile does."
The Bedrooms Don't keep a lot of unnecessary clutter in the bedroom. After all, this is supposed to be your retreat at the end of a long day. Rather than keeping piles of books and magazines on your night table, just keep the novel or magazine that you happen to be reading at the time. Store the rest of these reading materials on a bookshelf elsewhere in the house where they can be retrieved easily when you need them. Help your children to keep clutter under control in their own rooms by providing them with plenty of storage space. (Inadequate storage = more clutter.) A bookcase can be used to store books, trophies, and large toys; a desk with drawers can be used to store writing supplies and school papers; and a well-designed closet organizer can take care of a lot of the other kid-related clutter. Run a thin strip of cork board around the perimeter of your child's bedroom at a height of about three feet off the ground. Your child can then use push-pins to display his or her most recent works of art on this mile-long bulletin board. Another option is to purchase a magnetic strip and to provide your child with mini-magnets. Note: Make sure your child won't swallow push-pins or magnets before using either of these storage solutions in your child's room.
TIP: ART SMART "I have two large bulletin boards in our family room. The boys put what they consider to be their best works of art on the bulletin board. The rest goes into a box under each of their beds. Periodically, we go through the box and decide what goes into a scrapbook and what gets thrown away. (I used to save absolutely every paper they even scribbled on, but there's just too much now.) Also, the box is great to have when an aunt or family friend sends a gift to one of the boys and they want to send some of their artwork in their thank-you note." - Karen, 34, technical writer-editor and mother of two
If one of your children has a stuffed animal collection that is taking over her room, you might suggest that many of these animals find a new home in a hammock suspended from the ceiling. (Just make sure your child realizes that the hammock is for the animals' use only, not for that of a budding trapeze artist. And remember that stuffed animals should never bunk in with babies, for safety reasons.) Encourage your kids to sort through their toys regularly so they can get rid of the ones that they no longer use or that are missing important pieces. If your children can't bear to part with the toys right away, suggest that you put them in a box in the basement for now. If they haven't asked to play with anything in the box six months from now, it's probably safe to donate it to a local women's shelter or thrift store. Clean out each family member's bedroom closet before the start of a new season. That way, you'll have a good idea of what clothing each family member actually needs before you hit the clothing stores. Anything outgrown or obsolete can be passed along to friends or family members, donated to charity, or passed along to your local thrift store. Store out-of-season clothing in sealed plastic containers or empty suitcases and then stash everything under the bed. The clothing is still within reach if you have an unseasonably warm or cold day, but it's not taking up space the rest of the time.
