Keeping the playroom organized is a dream for parents. Kids don’t ask before shoving a half-eaten candy under the cupboard, nor do they realize that LEGOS belong in the LEGO drawer, not in the laundry basket (for heaven’s sake). My son often makes a mess out of his playroom, leaving me with tons of toys and clutter he cannot figure out how to handle.
But what if I told you that playroom organization isn’t that difficult? Some pre-planning paired with a few handy tools, and you’re sorted at this front. So, if that cluttered place called the playroom makes you anxious, take a breather, and check out these playroom organization ideas to help you sort out the mess!
7 Easy Steps for Playroom Organization
As cliche as it might sound, having a plan makes things easier. If you start decluttering or de-trashing the playroom without a checklist, it might get overwhelming. Therefore, take a few moments to think of a plan and write things down you must do to make the playroom look organized and take one step at a time. Here are a few quick steps to get you started with playroom organization:
1. De-trash The Playroom
You cannot start organizing the playroom without getting rid of the trash. Fold your sleeves and de-trash the playroom for an easy organizing haul. Think of plastic wraps, pieces of paper, old candy, socks with holes in them et cetera.
2. Declutter All Items In Your Playroom
If your playroom is extensive and filled with tons of toys, tools, and gadgets, ordering it will be time-taking. Now, try to find all the toys and items belonging together and put them in one place, for example, the floor. Make little piles of everything, for example, a LEGO pile, a pile of stuffed animals, all the dolls, their clothes and attributes for a dollhouse, all the building sets, all the craft supplies… you get the picture. While you do so, scan everything to see if something is broken, damaged, or too tangled to keep. Those items you may let go of. Take out broken toys, old battery cells, dried pencils, used paper, wrappers and anything your kid won’t need anymore. Decide if you want to ask your child for permission or just discard it (like I normally do). When in doubt, you could make a pile of suggested items to donate.
3. Categorize All Items
Once the trash is out, categorizing all the items is your next task. Keep four boxes in front of you to start categorizing each item you’ve collected. I always work with these categories:
Keep
First, take out the things your kids use or play with daily or at least, on a regular basis. Pile all those toys and gadgets together and set it aside.
Keep-To-Grow-Into
Especially when you have more children, or if you’re planning on having more, you’ll want to keep items to create different options for them, based on the interests of their specific age. For example, your older children won’t play with dolls anymore, but your youngest is still too young for them. You can put these items in a Keep-to-grow-into-pile and store those in a harder-to-reach storage area.
Donate or Sell
On this pile, you will collect all the items you want to let go of. Make sure these items are still in good shape. If your child has grown out of the doll-loving or LEGO-loving phase, don’t hold onto them. Decide if you want to donate them or sell them. For example, LEGO is very durable and you may get a nice amount of cash for LEGO systems. Or what about a special doll? There are a few options to donate or sell your items:
- Ask if anyone else in the family wants the item.
- Donate to your local preservation society.
- Donate to thrift stores such as Salvation Army or Goodwill.
- Donate the items to a charity auction.
- Sell items via classifieds, eBay, Amazon, Facebook, or Craigslist.
- Have a Yard Sale (here you’ll find 10 Yard Sale Tips to make this a success).
If your kids love doing craft projects, keep some crafts supplies to channel their creativity. Upcycling old furniture, turning cardboard boxes into make-shift storage containers, and changing the stuffed toys’ into something new are some creative ideas you can consider.
Throw Away
And lastly, sort the toys, books, parts, and stuffed animals that are broken, damaged, incomplete, discolored or otherwise out of shape. Those are no good to anyone else, and you may throw those away. Put them on the Throw-Away pile.
3. Store Similar Items Together for Easy Toy Organization
Having collapsible storage boxes and available when organizing is helpful for de-trashing playrooms and organizing them. These tote storage bins are ideal for compact places where adjusting big boxes is difficult. 
Now that you have three boxes in front of you (after removing the useless stuff), it’s time to group them. Further, categorize the toys and classify them according to their type. For example, you can put all LEGO pieces in one storage box, and craft paper and coloring books in another, depending upon your storage solutions. Each sub-category gets its own place. Related articles:
If you have color-coded storage boxes at home, they also work well for playroom organization. Especially since kids love colors and it will help them store their toys better after using them. Group similar items together, so your kids know where every toy belongs. If your children are in the mood to help, hand them a few storage boxes and ask them to categorize their toys. Put LEGOS, cars, bikes, and dolls each in a separate container if possible, to reduce the mess. 
If there are plenty of stuffed toys, use a stuffed toy organizer or wired baskets to store them together. Since this organizer can go on top of a cupboard or under the table, it’s best for compact places. 
For bigger toys, you can use an ottoman storage stool. You can use this toy storage stool in a reading corner AND use it for storage purposes at the same time! 
A turntable with handles is perfect for storing pencils, spray paint cans, crayons, color pencils, and other smaller items. If the playroom has a central study or a craft desk, this turntable will be a smart creative addition. 
4. Find a Place for Every Storage and Organizer Solution
Once the favorite books, pencils, craft supplies, toys, and tools are in their respective types of storage containers, it’s time to organize them neatly. If you already have shelves and cabinets in the playroom, you’re sorted. But if you need additional storage space to adjust the boxes and bins, this ClosetMaid wooden cabinet is a good option. 
You can also use the playroom’s vertical space to adjust bins for storage and bags apart from a standalone container organizer. Hanging collapsible boxes on the door or using vacuum hooks for storage containers are a few ideas you can look into. If you opt for new boxes to put away toys or books and if you want to prevent a cluttered look and feel, same-colored boxes are better. Especially in a smaller playroom, same-colored storage boxes will help prevent it from appearing messy. If you label the boxes or if you put pictures of their content on them, it’ll help your child identify different things and put toys back in the correct box. For example, you can use a red box for all books, a green one for LEGO pieces, and a transparent rack for craft paper and coloring books. 
5. Create Zones
Arranging a big playroom is no easy task; you must classify the drawers, racks, and cabinets to create a harmonious look. Once you separate usable items from the useless ones and store them accordingly into relevant storage baskets, create zones in the playroom. These zones will help contain the future mess by letting the little ones quickly access a specific item. Here are a few ideas you can apply to the kids playrooms depending upon your kids’ interests:
- Reading corner
- Craft area/art corner
- Building area
- Doll and dollhouse corner
- Vehicle corner/garage
- Stuffed toys section
- Legos and smaller toy racks
- Pencils, spray paints, and crayons
These sections don’t have to be super-specific (nor will they remain so), but marking different regions is better for future touch-ups. Once you organize the playroom and put everything where it belongs, maintaining it will be easier in the future for both your children and yourself. 
6. Take Out The Trash
The useless stuff you sorted earlier needs to go now. Bring that box down to the trash or recycling bin and say goodbye to those dried glues, broken cars, and torn books.
7. Distribute the Donation Boxes
You can do this step whenever feasible. Drive to your favorite community center or a deserving children’s play area to distribute the toys, books, tools, and gadgets your kids don’t need anymore.
8. Relax!
Phew, that was one tough job. Organizing a place with hundreds of items lying here and there is no cakewalk. It will most probably take a whole day for you to organize the playroom and put everything in designated storage boxes. Relax, you did well!
Summing Up
Decluttering, categorizing, and rearranging are tiring activities, especially when you’re short on time. But, if you follow an actionable plan and take one step at a time, you can declutter the playroom without burning out. Start with evaluating the stuff your kids have accumulated over time to see how much work is needed. If it’s not much, start right away and put everything where it belongs. But if the mess is too much and you need extra time to handle it, specify a free day for this task. Follow the tips we have shared above and enjoy the fun of uncluttered simplicity!
MORE ABOUT ORGANIZING WITH KIDS:
- Brilliant Tips For Kids’ Clothes Organization (When You Live In a Small Home)
- How To Organize Kids’ School Papers And Art Projects In 4 Simple Steps
- Organizing With Kids: How To Declutter And Organize Toys
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