I am so excited to share this room reveal with you all today! It was a challenge to find ways to decorate and organize in our little apartment, but I made it happen. In case you missed the “before” pictures, you can see them and check out where we started from by visiting this post.
I love organizing, but I’m not very good at finishing big projects. A lot can be blamed on the fact that I have 2 little ones underfoot all the time, but I’m trying to get better about it. This is my first big accomplishment. But enough of all that, on to the room reveal!
Step one: I moved all the toys etc. onto his bed. I knew I was going to be moving his bed to the other wall, and putting his dresser where the bed is in this pic, so I wanted to be sure I vacuumed the parts of the floor that were visible both before and after I moved the furniture.
After vacuuming I moved the bed to the opposite side of the room and put the dresser in the middle of the wall where his bed was standing in the previous picture. I had to do this so that he would no longer be able to use his bed to climb into the crib on that side of the room. Lots of effort, but it worked out ;)
After that I started organizing all the books. Little Man has a LOT of books. I have had trouble keeping his books organized though because he is too young to be able to put them away on shelves and there were too many books for the small storage boxes that I had origionally bought for them. The boxes were so small that the books had to be stacked in just the right way, and that was just not do-able for a toddler. I finally figured out that I could get a large laundry basket and that would be the perfect size for them! It is sturdy so I don’t have to worry about him breaking the basket (another problem with my previous boxes) and it’s large enough that he can fit all the books inside it, even though he’s not able to stack very neatly yet.
Even the obnoxiously large children’s books fit in the laundry basket, stacked in the back. Since his book collection is so extensive I am still using one of our old boxes to store all the baby/ board books. I’m not sure that he knows how to tell the difference in book type yet, but even if they all get mixed together there is room for all the books, and he can easily clean them up on his own.
Sticking with the the laundry basket “theme” I used another one to store all his stuffed animals. In the past, I just has all his animals stacked agains the wall, but that obviously ended up messy all the time! I love using laundry baskets in his room because they are so sturdy! My son is one that dumps toys out of their containers and then uses the containers as chairs or step stools, so I needed something that would last and wouldn’t break under his weight.
Next, I used his colorful bins to organize his toys. I have a shelf that these bins fit on, but he always liked to bang the shelf against the wall, and he always took the bins off the shelf anyways, so I removed the shelf from his room. Little Man is old enough to understand (with prompting) which toys go in which color bin. I think after a few days he will know which toys to put where without my telling him.
*not pictured: I hung an over the door laundry hamper on the door to his room, so I can keep his dirty clothes out of his reach, but conveniently inside his room as well. Having it hanging there has been working great for us, but I didn’t get a good photo of it. You can see the type of hamper I’m talking about here.
After I got all the toys organized it was on to the fun part…Decorating!!!! I had previously had the nursery done up in green and yellow with a frog theme, but now that he’s getting older I wanted to change it up a bit and add things that he’s interested in now. I kept the hanging letters that spell his name and the 2 pictures that my grandmother cross stitched for each of the kids when they were born, and took the rest of the “baby” decor down. My son loves the Dr. Seuss book “oh the places you’ll go”, so he was really excited to see the banner and “balloons” going on his wall.
Below, is another angle of the same wall. I’ve passed my love of pictures on to my son, so I hung a few photos of him and a few of his favorite people on the wall near the window. He loves looking at the pictures and pointing out each person. There used to be one more photo on that wall, but Little Man found a way to knock it down so he could sleep with the photo of his Auntie (thank goodness for plastic frames, no glass!!!). The Fox in socks images on that wall are actually teacher supplies that we ordered from Amazon. You can also see in this photo how I lined his larger trucks up underneath his window.
A few months ago we purchased a lot of Dr. Seuss themed Teacher supplies as decorations for Little Man’s 2nd birthday party, I saved all the decor and decided to use them to decorate his room. As I said before, the boy loves to read, so he recognizes all the characters and book cover print-outs that I hung on the wall, and was absolutely thrilled to see them going up. I found that teacher supplies are a great and cheap way to decorate a room, especially if you don’t own the space you live it. I was able to add so much personality to Little Man’s room for very cheap, and without breaking any of the rules of our apartment complex (no painting etc).
These are hanging up near the ceiling above his bed. You can see a bit more of the decor in the picture below, along with my sweet hubby sitting on the bed <3
I left the space in the middle of the wall blank, because I’m planning on making a huge poster collage of photos of different family members and friends that Little Man loves. That way he can look at the pictures as he falls asleep. I’m still choosing pictures to use in the collage though, so it will be awhile yet before it is finished.
So there you have it! As I’m writing this it’s been a full week since we cleaned and organized his room, and we are doing a good job of keeping it fairly picked up. He’s still a big fan of making messes, but we’re working together to pick it up at least once a day if not twice. It’s still a work in progress, but we’re getting there!
What about you? any tips or tricks in keeping a kid’s room clean and organized? I would love to hear them!
Mikah says
Boxes make life so much easier! And they can make a really good lesson of sorting later on! Great job. :)
Paula says
it’s amazing how great boxes are! ;) such a simple thing but they are such a life saver in his room!
Kassi @ Truly Lovely says
Genius idea with the clothes baskets!!! Looks like a good system for you guys!
Paula says
thanks Kassi! :)
Fawn Weaver says
Super cute! Love the Dr. Seuss book covers on the wall.
Paula says
Thanks Fawn, they are actually just teacher supplies, not actual books, so it was way cheaper and easier! He loves them!!!
Jennifer Dougan says
Hi Paula,
It looks nice! I liked the books on the wall idea.
Jennifer Dougan
http://www.jenniferdougan.com
Paula says
Thanks Jennifer! He loves them! they are teacher supplies I ordered from amazon.
Chymecindy says
Very nice room. So organized. Anyway, you have a lovely blog.
Paula says
thanks so much!
Jocie@TheBetterHalf says
Looks great! we are currently “organizing” some books in my daughter’s room in a diaper box, and not even a cute, decorated one. lol! thanks for sharing!
Paula says
hey, whatever works!!! :) functionality is way more important than cuteness! added bonus if you can have both! but no worries if you can’t. our laundry basket isn’t that cute, but it works!
Melody says
I am visiting from Ashley’s Southern Heart : )
Love the Dr. Seuss book on the wall. So Cute!
We just did some major downsizing in our kiddos rooms. I literally could not walk through my 5 year olds room, without fear of tripping and of breaking my neck! We didn’t do anything fancy. Mostly we just simplified so there would be less things to make a mess with!
Blessing to you.
Paula says
it’s truly amazing how messy a kid’s room can get! lol yay for organizing and downsizing! It’s such a task but I love the feeling I get when I’m done ;)
shelly says
I like the idea of using a laundry basket for books. For stuffed animals, we have those Ikea stuffed animal nets that hang down. It works when my daughter doesn’t take all her “stuffies” out and leave ’em all downstairs. lol
Paula says
I have seen those!!! they are so cute! I was worried about how I could attach it to the wall in such a way that my son wouldn’t hurt himself on it. I’m probably too paranoid. lol I love those stuffed animal nests though, and I love the thought of not having his stuffies all over the house! lol one day.
Katie says
Ah! I know others have already said it, but I love the book covers on the wall. What a good idea! I never know what to do with those – if we keep them on the books, they’re destroyed. If I try to “save” them, they become awkward clutter. How clever!
Paula says
thanks! those are actually not pieces of old books but rather teacher supplies. they are images of the book covers, not the covers themselves. I have thought about using pages from torn books as decoration too though! that would be so cute!!! You will have to send me a picture if you do it! I’d love to see!
Selene Galindo says
I love seeing kids organization posts! You did a great job organizing your son’s room!
Mel says
Great tips, my toddlers are good about picking up their stuff…it’s the teens Im always at LOL. You just keep at it :)
Katherines Corner says
perfect! Organizing makes me happy, giggle. Thank you for sharing at the Thuraday Favorite Things hop xo
hsmominmo says
The cheerful Dr Seuss images make this a fun room, indeed :) Great use of the bins and baskets. The best tip I have for you is repetition with follow-up. The more he picks up and sorts his toys the more it will become a habit, and the quicker you are with following through, making sure it’s done the way you want him to do it, the quicker it will become a habit.
Good job Mom!
Sinea Pies says
This post is an answer to my prayers (really, I pray about just about any little thing). I bought letters to put on the wall of my new “grandchildren room” but didn’t have a clue how I wanted to hang them. It will say KIDS. Well, now that I see the ribbons, that is what I want to do. The letters are all white (did you paint yours?) and the ribbons will add the color! Yipee!
Will you stop by and add this link to my Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop please? Talk about lazy on my part but I use my own blog hop as a library to refer back to when I find excellent posts like yours! Here’s the link:
http://www.ducksnarow.com/2013/07/wonderful-wednesday-blog-hop-30.html
SInea from Ducks ‘n a Row
Alexis AKA MOM says
What a GREAT room! I love the Dr. Seuss theme and the organization.
Stopping by from Sunshine Blog Hop.
Trish @ Uncommon Designs says
Great tips! Thanks for sharing with us this week at Monday Funday!
Take care,
Trish
Ali @ Crafty WI Mama says
I love the Dr Seuss art as a border at the top of the wall. LOVE! You did a great job, keeping the kids rooms clean is such a constant task, all those bins and boxes are great!
Kathy Penney @ Sparkles And A Stove says
Love the fun Dr. Seuss theme! Thanks for sharing at All Things Pretty!
Emily @Sweet Bella Roos says
Love the Dr. Suess theme and the books on the wall! I spent the weekend cleaning my 6yr olds room and finally organizing/ putting up her shelves- we’ll see how long it lasts! :) Thanks for sharing at Pin It Thursday.
Marianne says
Looks wonderful and he certainly seems happy with it!
Jann Olson says
I love this theme for a kids room! Great job on organizing. I love to organize also. Always so nice to have things in it’s proper place. I use lots of baskets and lidded containers. Back when my kids were young, I had their toys in labeled plastic containers. Now they have so much fun stuff. I like that it’s easily accessible for little man and that he can clean up all by his ‘big boy’ self! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Megan says
These are all great ideas! His room looks fantastic.
Kat says
Love the colours!
You should get him a desk after… I like the ones from United Canada Inc.