Help! Santa Was Too Generous | Ask The easyStorage Experts

Dear easyStorage

Clearly the kids were very good in 2021 as Santa was a little too generous over the Christmas period! Now their rooms are overflowing and we do not have enough room to put it all away anywhere! Please help!

Mary

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Oh dear, Mary – we sympathise!

You don’t say how old the children are, so we’ll answer generally and then split any age appropriate responses into ‘littlies’ and ‘teens’ as you’ll need to engage them differently.

(If, of course, your children are older than that, print off the article and get them to do it themselves, or shut the door and hope they leave home soon! We’re only tongue in cheek of course!)

As we’re now in February, hopefully you already have an insight into which presents are the ones that the children use, and which ones were ‘one hit wonders’.

Your sanity is important as the children’s happiness, and they’re going to be happier knowing where to get hold of their favourite things. It’s time for a good declutter. By decluttering everything, not just the toys, the youngsters will feel less targeted and you may make space that means that they can keep more to hand.

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Facing the truth

First, an awkward question or two:

·         Is all the clutter in the kid’s rooms really down to them?

·         Have adults dumped extra lamps, unwanted pictures or baby mementoes in the children’s rooms?

·         Would anything that isn’t the child’s be better stored away somewhere else to make room for the children’s things?

·         Have they got enough of the right kind of space to store things in their room?

Anything that’s not down to the children needs taking elsewhere. Getting the right kind of storage for everything else needn’t be expensive. Look on Freecycle or in charity furniture shops for shelving, trunks or shoe racks. Ask friends. Make things. Pound shops may have pretty stackable boxes or baskets. Old shoe boxes can be stacked for storing shoes. Maybe you could have fun with the children making and/or painting things to fit.

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For everything else, a good ‘declutter’ is called for:

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Wardrobes

Let’s start with the wardrobes. Children are constantly growing, so there’s every chance that some clothes here will be too small. Fish them out and put them aside for later. Let’s call this pile one – ‘moving on’.

Then look at the season. How many clothes are hanging here that are simply wrong for this time of year? These can be put aside in a separate pile. Let’s call this pile two ‘store for next season’.

Next up, clothes we no longer like. Teenagers especially will go through fads. One day they’ll want all black, next they’ll be looking like glitter balls. It’s a perfectly normal part of learning to express themselves. Add all of things to pile one – ‘moving on’.

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Take a look now at everything in this pile. Anything still wearable can be either sold or given away. For everything else, we have bin bags (or recycling bags if there is a recycling centre close to you, of course.)

It’s normal for ‘Littlies’ to suddenly want something that’s in that pile more than anything else in the World. I would hang what ever it is back up, but leave it hanging outside of the cupboard on day one, put it into the cupboard for a few days, and then ‘disappear’ it, but you’re here for packing advice not parenting advice! You’ll have strategies for dealing with your own child’s personality traits.

‘Teens’ should prove a little easier, especially if you allow them to sell their own things through any one of a million available apps, from Facebook groups or Facebook Market, through to specialist apps like Vinted or Depop. (Other apps are available.) This works best if you allow them to keep their money, of course.

Next up is pile two ‘store for next season’: these things are going to be stored. Make sure that before storing away, everything is clean and dry.

By starting with the cupboard, we’ve set a precedent that should make the rest easier to deal with emotionally.

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Next up, shoes!

Little feet, especially, grow rapidly, and some shoes will be in good condition.  Any that aren’t, straight in the bin bag (or recycling, if you have that option). Tidy shoes you’re keeping away, and if you are going to store them (eg for out of season sports, or heavy winter boots in summer and sandals in winter), store them clean. Alcohol-free disinfectant wipes are good for removing dust, and good old-fashioned shoe polish is great for restoring good looks. Allow them to dry before storing, and store separately to clothes (to prevent catches on clothes and smells!)

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Drawers

The next most obvious place to create space is drawers. Well organised drawers can save space AND make things easier to find. They are also, sadly, a great place for ‘out of sight, out of mind’. I would stake good money on the average home having piles of instructions, guarantee paperwork, extra fittings, cables saved ‘just in case’ in at least one, if not more, chests of drawers.

You know the drill: empty out for a sort out! Two piles again: pile one, ‘moving on’, pile two, ‘store’. Address the ‘store’ pile first, it’s storing for next season (for example gloves and scarves or woolly jumpers, beach wear or ski gear, get items clean and dry, and where appropriate add to your existing out of season clothes or shoe storage.

If it’s things that have a more emotional pull for you, like baby’s first spoon, shoes, romper, take them out of the child or children’s room(s) and deal with these things separately. Don’t spend hours fretting or reminiscing. Focus on the job in hand – making space for children’s things.

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Socks are always ‘fun’. Unless strictly washed together, socks never seem to have a pair. Many blame the sock monster. Others claim their washing machine eats them. Whatever the reason, right now you are faced with three choices with any unpaired socks:

1.       Put them all back in a drawer, higgledy-piggledy and save the problem for another day;

2.       Take out several hours to pair them up yourself (it can always be be a ‘whilst watching TV distraction later in the day);

3.       Bribe the children to sort them out.

There is, of course, the nuclear option – throw them all in the bin - but unless you have (paired) replacements to hand, that’s a little drastic.

I can almost guarantee you’ll be left with an odd sock. Its pair may be in the wash basket, hiding in the ironing pile, slipped into the bottom of a quilt cover – who knows where those dastardly odd socks hide? There are no truly satisfactory answers for sock sorting! Just make a decision on what actions to take and put any leftovers in a bag awaiting pairs. Promise yourself that any single socks remaining in the bag after a month get turned into sock puppets or sent for recycling.

(My own children earned part of their pocket money by sock sorting!)

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Linen

Children are notoriously fickle, especially youngsters: one minute it’s Peppa Pig in favour, next it’s superheroes and ‘Peppa’s for babies’. If the children have outgrown the bedlinen styles, dye them, donate them, or dump them. (That’s the bed linen, not the children!)

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Electronics and technology

Life moves on so fast that sometimes adults wonder how children keep up.

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Areas to take a look at to see if the clutter can be reduced include:

·         CDs – if they’re gaming ones, they have probably long since become obsolescent. As the kids if they need them. If they’re music you can now access most of it digitally.

·         Spare leads and old chargers

·         Instruction manuals for this long since discarded

·         Broken things: take to be repaired or recycle. (It’s often cheaper to buy new than attempt repair.)

·         Games boxes: if they were for hardware, keep the boxes for anything still around. If hardware is around but not in use, encourage the children to sell the games on. If the software is in use, chances are that the box is simply for show and to hold papers together. Ask the kids if the box is needed. If not, straight in the recycling with it!

·         Televisions and screens: can they be wall mounted to reduce surface clutter?

·         Duplicates: can they be stored somewhere or disposed of, sold on, or gifted?

·         Yesterday’s tech: technology becomes increasingly obsolete increasingly faster. If something’s not being used, can it be disposed of? (Don’t forget to clean off any personal or confidential information first.) Old tech is just that – there is currently a very limited market for it, and it may be years, if ever, before it has any ‘antique’ value. In the meantime, either get it out of the way and store it, or dispose of it.

·         Phone accessories: old phone cases, redundant chargers, earphones etc are tempting for hoarders. If the earphones are working, keep them only if the connector is one that matches current phones. Otherwise, unless they’re an incredibly valuable set that you may be able to adapt, dispose of them. They’re too personal to pass on hygienically. Old chargers and covers, however, if in good condition, could be sold or passed on.  

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Toys

Toys and teddies can be real dust gatherers. If you have young children at home, we suggest watching to see which toys they DO choose, and quietly popping the rest into boxes, somewhere out of site but safe. That way anything that’s missed can be brought back into use.

For everything else, give the items a month stored away before making decisions about what to do with them if you want to avoid any heartbreak.

At the end of the month, you have a tough decision – whether to involve your child or children in the toy cull: deciding which toys stay (try agreeing a ‘one in, one out’ system, where anything going back into usage is replaced by something already in use) and which ones go into pile two (the ‘moving on’ pile.) Some young children love the idea that another child, perhaps one in need, will benefit from their left behind toys. Some are all too happy to have their space back tidy. Others will want the whole lot back.

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We can’t guess for you which type your child will be – and let’s be honest, sometimes they surprise us anyway. Just keep your cool and stand firm if you can. This may be unfashionable parenting advice, but a little bit of bribery can go a long, long way when it comes to getting some kind of compliance. And why not? You’re asking them to give something up – it’s only fair to give them something in return.

Let me introduce you to ‘the ten minute tidy’ game. You need a timer – your phone will do. And some fast music – you’ll have a ten minute race to tidy as much away as possible: the children have 10 minutes until the timer goes off, during which their aim is to become ‘tidying tornadoes’ putting everything away. Older children can even be expected to clean as well. There’s nothing that says smaller children can’t – you know your children’s capabilities best.

This game, unsupervised, is great just before dinner – it gives you the time in the kitchen undisturbed, and gives them a purpose, leaving the time after dinner for calmer, wind down activities.

For very small children, there is no harm at all in getting them into this routine early on. Just alocate a little more time as teddies get kissed goodnight or one last fire engine race, and allow yourself time to be with them. Remember that the guide for a young child’s attention span is their age plus or minus five to ten minutes. Try and make it fun rather than a chore!

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And last up, those gifts

With the general decluttering you’ve just worked through, you may find you have now enough space to store them. If not, it’s time to engage the children themselves, no matter how old. Are they things that they received that they’re only keeping to be polite? Were there things that don’t fit? Duplicates?

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Unless there are some real sensitivities/family politics, let the children know it’s OK to sell them on, swap them, regift them…. basically anything to give them more space. They should have got into the swing of sorting and selling by now, so give them a helping hand or helpful nudge to go through what they do and don’t want.

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Storage

Once the things put aside are ready for storage, you have options:

·         ‘In room’ storage in some of the space you’ve just created;

·         ‘In house’ storage, maybe in an attic, basement or spare room; Just don’t transfer the problem elsewhere, and keep a note of what you stored where.

·         ‘External storage’. easyStorage offers great quality storage facilities at around half the price of standard self-storage. There’s a no-obligation cost calculator on the website: https://www.easystorage.com/pricing

Whatever you choose, make sure that you pack things well (there are lots of packing tips on our blog, and that you have appropriate packing materials.

Good luck – keep before and after pictures to remind yourself and the children how much easier life is when things are less cluttered!

If you have a storage question that you’d like answered, send your question to Alex Fulcher who’ll pick questions for the team to answer each month: Alex.Fulcher@easystorage.com or use #AskeasyStorage and tag us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.