Space is an issue for many new families when they introduce a baby into their home. My wife and I have lived in the same townhouse for several years and the nature of accumulation and hobbies has filled up many of our “extra” spaces. This reality makes it a creative challenge to find space to continue being us, while allowing Juniper to have her space and belongings as well.
One method we have discovered to allot room for everyone is a simple shelf in our living room dedicated to Juniper’s toys and books. Our living room truly is the room we live/spend the most time in. We want to all spend time there together so we purchased a shelf to house all of Juniper’s stuff.
When I say “all of the toys” I mean all of the toys she currently has out to play with. Between the baby shower, her birthday and having grandparents that enjoy doting on her – we have more toys than necessary for one little girl. That means we rotate some toys on the shelf and others in the closet. This way all of the belongings get played with and our living room stays at a manageable level of chaos.
We purchased the shelf above at target and love its ability to roll around. As you can see it isn’t large, but as a 1-year-old the toys are still relatively small. At the end of the night, we pick everything up and put it back on the shelf to teach cleaning and responsibility. As she starts to tire of certain toys we put them away and pull out new ones from the closet to make everything seem new.
It may seem like a big task to cut the clutter and plethora of toys you have strewn about your house, but I assure you the mental clarity that a clean house offers cannot be replaced. Here are some other shelves that I find to be appealing and could fit the bill if you are looking to do something similar in your home:
Do you do toy rotation? What methods have you used to store your books and toys?
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