Last week we bought Ben the
IKEA mini-kitchen and it quickly took the level of chaos in our living room to
new heights. In addition to all the
other toys Ben scatters about throughout the day; there were now pots and pans,
teacups and play food all over floor. By
the end of the weekend, I thought to myself, “Enough is enough. I want my adult living space back”.
Ben currently has toys in
two areas of our house, in our living room and in his playroom. I’m lucky, at 18 months, he’ll go downstairs
and play on his own for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Since our house is a bi-level, I can hear him
and, when it gets too quiet, I can peek over the railing to check on him.
Even though Ben has a
playroom, over the last few months the toys in our living room seem to have
multiplied. My previously peaceful room
was beginning to resemble a primary color toy store. We even had a red/blue/purple/yellow tent in
our living room (see image here). On Tuesday morning, my
dad took Ben out for a few hours and I did a little reshuffling. I moved some toys (including the tent) downstairs
to the playroom and tucked away a few of his favorites in our TV stand
(previously filled with CDs and DVDs).
You can still tell we have a child but it feels a lot less cluttered and
more like an adult space once again.
Ben playing a few weeks
ago. Lots of toys lined up on the
shelving unit.
The front of our living
room. Some of Ben’s favorite toys are
hiding in our TV stand.
The back of our living room (which
is actually a dining room but we use it as an extension of our living
space). The four baskets still hold many
of Ben’s toys but the clutter on top of the shelving unit is gone.
Musical Instruments
Cars
