Forever Org Test

Happy Saturday ladies! Today I thought I would share our playroom with my lovely readers. We all know how easily toys can get crazy and a little out of control, sometimes it feels like they are taking over the whole house. Today I am going to show you how we claimed back our space and gave Hazel her own little place to play.

We don't have a room dedicated for toys so I had to get a little creative. Our kitchen/dining room is huge, so massive that I was really struggling to fill the space. For almost 12 months we lived with it kind of half empty until one day I had a vision (B breaks into a cold sweat every time I say I have a vision).

This is what I was working with, this picture was taken the day we moved in. To the right of the photo we have our dining table, buffet and sitting area with a lounge and rug. That big area was empty for such a long time and was crying out for some love.

I started out by searching for some bookshelves that would hold all the toys and also act as a divider from the rest of the kitchen area. I was looking for something which was tall enough that you couldn't see all the toys from the sitting room but short enough that I could keep an eye on Hazel while I am in the kitchen. After lots of searching for the perfect size, I went with 2 of these bookshelves from deals direct.

When they arrived, I put them together however I left the top piece and the backs off. I made a quick trip to Bunnings and picked up a piece of melamine that was long enough to fit on top of the two cupboards plus an extra 80cm. I also got a big sheet of melamine to go on the back which ended up being about 2.4 meters x 1 meter.

I took one of the left over top pieces and screwed it in between the two book shelves then put the new top and back pieces on. I also got a curtain rod and cut it to size then installed it in between the two book shelves.

The insides of the shelves were still wood so before I put the shelves back, I lined them with some pink poker-dot wrapping paper.

Now for the fun part, storage of course! I picked up 4 pink canvas boxes from masters, another smaller pink canvas box from Kmart, 3 plastic baskets from Hot Dollar and grabbed a big woven basket that I already had.

We did a big cull and sort of all Hazel's toys, tossed anything that was broken and donated some toys she didn't play with. Next we sorted them into categories and divided them into the boxes.

I made up some cute labels using this super easy tutorial and stuck them onto the boxes. At the moment the labels are mostly for B and I, although Hazel helps pack up her toys, she isn't quite at the stage where she can do it on her own. She requires a fair amount of guidance from mum and dad. If you have older ones you could make some labels with pictures to make it easy for them to understand.

I put all the boxes on the bottom shelf so it is easy for little H to pull them out and find what she wants. The bigger toys that are played with regularly are kept out on the shelves and we have one shelf for books (all her board ones that she can't destroy).

Wondering what the curtain rod is for? Dress ups! All Hazel's pretty princess dresses are on hangers where she can see them. We also have a box for all the extra dress up bits and pieces like glasses, handbags, shoes and jewels.

The hopscotch rug is from Masters and the little table and chairs are from Aldi. The section in the middle of the desk lifts up and we keep colouring books and puzzles in there. On the desk are some little tins with crayons, pencils and markers (Markers with a 2 year old? I know I am crazy).

Hazel LOVES babies at the moment so along the wall we have all her doll gear. Cradle, pram, high chair and all her favourite babies. We also have a shopping trolley which holds all the play food. I found this cute bunting at Target and popped it up on the wall to finish the room off.

We absolutely love our playroom. Hazel loves that she has her own little space but can still see what mum and dad are up to and I love that she is happy to play in there while I cook dinner or work at the kitchen table.

If I am going to be completely honest, it doesn't always look like that. Sure it gets messy, all the toys get pulled out and mixed up on a daily basis. However we make an effort to keep it clean and organised. Hazel is free to make as much mess as she wants during the day, boxes get emptied and toys dragged all over the house, however before she has her day time nap and before she goes to bed at night it all gets packed up. Tidying twice a day means that the playroom can't get too out of control.