Saturday, April 23, 2016

update on Evie's room - toys and books, organisation and space

Our living space is small. It works for us, we're used to apartment living and we really like it - but we simply do not have the space for dozens of toys, nor do we have a "toyroom" or a den to chuck them all in. And as I refuse to have a living area which resembles a toddler rave party, Evie keeps her toys mainly in her bedroom (luckily it is the same size as our master bedroom so she does have a lot of space in there).

I spent a few hours on Friday going through Evies toys and books, trying to organise things and make a bit of space.

Book storeage is my bete noire - the biggest struggle is trying to keep them tidy but still accessible for the kiddo. We have a small upright bookshelf from Aldi which holds a small selection, the rest are at toddler height in her built-in. And no matter how I arrange them, she is compelled to pull them all out all over the floor to get to one mofo'ing book! 


As you can see here, after tidying these seconds earlier she has pulled half of them forward to get the one she was after. It's not her fault, just not an ideal set up. I have seen a fantastic idea for a child-friendly book tub on legs, I am angling to have V make it for me (maybe in our next life when he's working during the day like a normal person and not perpetual vampire shift? hahaha sigh)

Stuffed toys are mainly in her bed - heaven forbid you try to get this kid to sleep without one of her "little friends" in there with her. They all have names and assigned spaces in her cot hahaha Thankfully I have managed to convince her to relegate a few of them to her lovely dolls' bed.


That teepee was such a great buy - it's rather larger than I would usually go for a kid's item but she loves snuggling up in there on her sheepskin with a book.


Any excess stuffed toys I manage to siphon out of her bed on the sly are stored in the bottom drawer of the tall boy.

The dolls' pram and the doctors kit are two much-loved items, that get played with daily.


This cardboard popup Paris came with the copy of Madeline which my brother gave to Evie for Christmas. It tends to get populated with little Schleich animals, and complicated scenarios are enacted involving hedgehogs swimming in the Seine and a lamb eating the flower seller's wares.

The dress-up basket in the background doesn't tend to get used all that much unless Evie has a friend over (especially her cousin who is a bit older and really into dress-ups!) 

That's pretty much it in the way of toys - poor deprived child hahaha Being limited on space is a great excuse for politely telling people not to buy birthday gifts! Until I can wrangle V into making that book bin, I think we are fine for now
xoxo

9 comments:

  1. I think this is a great set up! As a kid (with 5 brothers) we had SO many toys that my parents were constantly upsizing the toy box to store them all. I have many memories of having to go through the toy box to get rid of stuff that wasn't used or broken.

    When we have kid(s), we won't be living in a big house because we love living in smaller spaces, so we will be looking for practical storage like you have in Evie's room!

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    1. Thanks Rhiannon xx It's definitely a plus to not feel like you're drowning in a sea of kiddie paraphernalia haha

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  2. I can't believe your daughter is still in a cot? Isn't she too old for one?

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    1. I wasn't aware they came with age limits? Hehe She still fits in it with room to spare so we are going with the, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" mentality. Luckily it's a Danish brand and that seems to translate as a very long cot x

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    2. Cots are much cosier that a big single bed for small ones. I left mine in until they were over three or until sizewise they were too big. What’s the big deal? Tonkath

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    3. Those Danish cots (I'm pretty sure) are designed to go from a cot to a "small" bed!
      Are sure sure your not just trying to keep your child restrained/under YOUR control?

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    4. Keep your daughter in her cot for as long as you and her are happy!
      My daughter has a white Leander and they are gorgeous, however they are actually European standard size which is 120 x 60 cms, as opposed to Australian standard size which is 130 x 70cms, so a small cot.

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  3. We are trying to be a bit minimalistic too but a whole sunroom has been taken over by toys! It's still probably only 1/6 of the toys her cousins have though (poor deprived child). And to the anonymous comment above - how rude - the current recommendations are that children stay in a cot until they about 3 years old or they can climb out of the cot or are too big. Our mix 23 months is still in a cot and I have no plans to move her out until she can either climb out and I hope that's not until she's 3! The extra baby proofing required if she could wander the room at night terrifies me - I need to commit to a furniture layout and secure all drawers to the walls!!!

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  4. Looks so beautiful. Such a lovely room for her. My son is all about cars and hot wheels cars. It's a usually cars everywhere, they love to tip everything out don't they.
    By the way my son is 2.5 years old and still in a cot :)

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