playroom mini makeover

I consider our playroom my organizational nemesis. I am never at peace with this place. It's the one room in our house that I can never seem to keep clean or organized to my liking. Probably, because it's the kids domain. Probably, because it's something that easily overwhelms me.

I've frequently be heard sharing my disgust of ALL the toys we have. For ALL those toys, I'd like to give thanks to extremely generous grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc who have donated to this cause.

Every six months we give away bag{s} of our toys and yet they still seem to duplicate in record time. I swear those toys are reproducing in the closets!

Once again, it was time for me to give our playroom some love and get rid of more crap, I mean, toys. I want the playroom to be a place for the kids to explore, create, play and have fun. However, I believe that when there are too many options the kids get overwhelmed {just like me}.

I wanted our playroom to encourage play and creativity, without being overwhelming. I made a quick trip to IKEA and bought a few items that helped give our playroom a mini makeover. So far {it's been two weeks} the playroom has been a sanctuary instead of a dumping ground. Let's hope it lasts for at least a couple more weeks!

{I bought these artists smocks to preserve my children's clothing when they want to use the chalk, markers or paint. They love them and have wanted to use them all the time.}

{I bought these glass jars to store the scissors, markers, crayons, colored pencils & regular pencils. I had them in drawers before, but they were always out and everywhere. Plus, this has encouraged the kids to use them more often. For me, I love the way they look!}

{I also pulled all the coloring books out of the drawers and put them in this basket. Once again, they are getting much more use because of the exposure.}

{My favorite idea, which I think would be so darling for a little girls playroom, is the garment rack. I bought this at IKEA for $20. I also bought some wood hangers, which were only $2.99 for 5 hangers. I hung the boys costumes that they love to wear.}

{As you can see, I'm trying to remind my boys that they can do other things besides video games. Payton hasn't caught on yet!}

{Luckily, Parker and his friends have totally caught on and they are loving our new playroom!}