challenge met

Well. The closet looks MUCH better. And it will be so much easier to put things away now. Instead of just chucking everything in there and forcing the door closed, we can put it in it's labeled place and the next person who wants it will be able to find it too! What a concept, huh? ;)

I took the coats and the basket of scarves/hats/mittens up to stow them in the back of the girls' closet. We may still need them once or twice this year, but maybe not. It's been in the 80's this past week and there are some 90's forecasted soon! I also took all the fabric off the hangers and folded it for storage in a dresser I have in the laundry room (watch for that dresser to be an upcoming project later in the year...)

I washed all of the dress-up clothes and got rid of a few that were beyond repair. I hung all of the poofy dresses on hangers, so now the large box isn't jam-packed anymore. It still holds the other dress-up clothing items, but the poofy dresses are better suited to hangers. Daisy helped me sort the accessories into the drawers: scarves in one, hats and crowns in another, and shoes and handbags in the last one. I even sorted the jewelry: bracelets, necklaces, and the last drawer for all other small accessories. I changed the shelving around in the closet to make it easier to get things in and out, and labeled the containers holding toys with small pieces so there is never any doubt where to put them when they are picked up. And the barbies were sorted through and separated into labeled containers holding the dolls, clothes, and accessories.

We are finding that when the toys are stored properly where the kids can see them, they play with them more. This means they make more (and bigger) messes, but the toys are there for them to play with, right? So instead of being in a jumbled mess and therefore being fairly undesirable, they are now much more fun to play with. And a lot easier for us all to put away when playtime is over. My goal every evening is to "reset" the toy closet and the living room to their original state, so they are ready to go for the following day. It is a challenge for me most days, but it makes the day start out so much better when things are all neatly put away when the kids get up and start using them. One more step toward a more peaceful household!