Seton Magazine Catholic Homeschool Articles, Advice & Resources
Our Cottage Spring Cleaning Adventure-Part 5
Welcome back, dear friends!
Today, we’ll be looking at The Boys’ Room. Since my parents were slowly transitioning into retirement, my father temporarily stayed with us so we can tend to his medical needs while my mother finished packing up their things in the city.
We originally had a twin bed for our son but when Dad moved in, we ended up having to replace it with a bunk bed. This move really opened up some much needed space in the room. There was, however, still a need to declutter a fair amount of small toys and clothes.
Simple Spring Cleaning Steps
Step 1 – Detach
In the Boys’ Room, we detached from the following:
- clothes we had too much of
- clothes that were too big or too small
- PLENTY of socks with no matches
- excess books and old magazines
- artwork that the children didn’t spend too much time creating
- toys that haven’t been played with in a long time
- toys that do not fit inside their assigned containers
Step 2 – Contain
In this room, we used bins, shelves, and drawers to keep things contained.
For example, the shelf inside the closet houses our son’s special things. The brown bin is where he keeps birthday cards, sacramental cards, notes, etc. All lost coins go inside his blue “piggy” bank. It has three slots – one for giving, one for saving and one for spending. It’s never too early to teach little ones the concept of stewardship!
We also use baskets or bins to contain our oft-used books. If you look at the first photograph, you will see a blue wooden box to the right of the bunk bed. This box houses our favorite bedtime books, especially our beloved Father Lovasik book collection.
We found that having bins of books inside bedrooms help the little ones wind down after they have done their night time routine. It also helps get some last minute reading in before we pray the rosary and turn in for the night.
After decluttering, we were able to streamline all our son’s clothes into the two center drawers. The bottom drawer holds our favorite movies and the top drawer contains prayer books, rosaries, candles and sacramentals, strategically placed below the altar.
Step 3 – Systemize
One of the advantages of moving the bunk bed into the room is that it opened up a good amount of storage space underneath. We bought small bins to fit favorite small toys and faced the circular handles out for easy access.
One simple system that has worked in our home is the use of labels. Labels are an excellent way to keep our system self-running. Once the children are done playing with their toys, the bins get turned around and toys are sorted and put back properly.
Since we live right across a family with boys, we are seldom in need of boys’ clothes and toys. Because of this, we need to have simple systems in place so we don’t accumulate too much too fast.
One simple system that seems to work for us is that we keep a maximum of seven pieces of each type of clothing. My son gets to keep 7 shirts, 5 pairs of pants, 3 sweaters, etc. There is, however, a plentiful supply of undergarments and socks.
If you decide to use this system, you can adjust the maximum number of clothes according to your family’s unique circumstances. It doesn’t matter what the maximum number is, as long as there is a limit established.
See You Again Soon!
I hope you’ve enjoyed your visit today. In a couple of weeks, we will be looking at Linens, Laundry and Bath and show how the same spring cleaning steps can bring peace and joy to any space in the home.
Until next time… Happy Spring Cleaning!
