Rotate your kid's toys and keep (most of) them out of sight.

As a professional organizer I go into a lot of homes, and a pattern I see repeatedly is well-meaning parents trying to store every toy their kid owns (even from the time they were babies). Unless you're a true minimalist, this is rarely a good idea. It's stressful on your space, exhausting for your peace of mind, a nightmare for your ability to tidy efficiently, and most importantly it's not improving your kids' ability to play. What I see in most homes is that if a kid's space is overloaded with toys and clutter, they most often have found another spot to play in: maybe they've carved out a corner of the dining room, or they have taken over the kitchen table. Kids crave clear space, and we can give it to them (without throwing away all of their beloved playthings) by creating a toy library.

A toy library is a space that your kid can't access without you: this is usually in a garage, basement, attic, or extra closet. Then you take a portion of their toys and store them in the library. If you're holding on to toys that they've outgrown or toys they're too young for, these should go in the library. But you also might want to store some current toys in here too. Store the toys by category if you can: some common categories are blocks and building toys, puzzles, games, books, soft toys, dolls, action figures, etc.

Swapping out the toys doesn't need to be rocket science. First, decide on an appropriate amount of toys that can live in the play area of your home. Remember, less is more! You can always add to this system. Prioritize a good variety of toys is good condition that your child(ren) are currently into playing with. And make sure you have plenty of free space to play in, and few enough toys that you could tidy up every single one of them in 15 minutes or less. Everything else goes in the library.

You can set reminders on your phone to do swaps weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Or you can be more relaxed about it (like I am) and swap things out as you notice certain toys are being ignored or you just feel like it's time for a change up. Also, and this is important, let your kids know the library exists (just don't give them access to it without you). They can always ask for something from there, or help you pick out what they'd like next, but they need to choose an equal amount of items to swap in for their picks.

As for the logistics of setting it up, here ya go!

Here's a simple metal shelf that will work great for storing your library of toys:

Then you'll want some bins, simple is good! Here's a staple we use all the time.

You'll need to label:

And then just start! It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to clear out some space in your home and ease the burden of storing all the toys all the time.

For more playroom essentials, check out our full playroom collection here on rec league!