Organizing Kid Clutter By Debbie Williams of Organized Times Getting your kids to clean their room is quite a feat in itself, but organizing it and then keeping it that way-- impossible? Not really, if you use a few simple storage solutions to contain the kid clutter in your home. THOUSANDS OF PARTS Remember all those plastic tubs with lids you bought on sale? You know the ones, stacked in your closet or truck of your car? This is the time to put them to good use. Blocks, doll clothes, small toy cars, tinkertoys, playdough, and all the other loose items floating around the house belong together. I strongly recommend using shelves with tubs of different sizes as opposed to toy boxes. Toys last longer when they're stored gently and not stacked, and the kids can find things easier. Reduces boredom and makes for fewer trips to the toy store as well. Small plastic shoe boxes are perfect for Legos, Barbie clothes and accessories, and hot wheels. Find the totes a size larger with handles on the top for easy carrying to and from the playarea. Larger tubs hold blocks, play food and dishes, and other pieces that just seem to multiply in the night. Save the large tubs for train sets, car tracks, doll accessories, and sports gear. Flat under-the-bed boxes are wonderful for out of season clothes and toys. Most closets are not large enough for toys and clothes, so why not store unused toys as you would clothing: kites, beach gear, and baseball gear is stashed during winter months; football, hockey stick, and ice skates are stored during the summer. Try to buy clear tubs for easy viewing, or label with words or pictures for younger children. If they can't see what's inside, chances are they won't use the toys within the nicely organized containers. Kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think? Get creative, and let the kids help you label the boxes with photos or magazine clippings of the items. Good rainy day project, and promotes reading skills for the little ones. IF THE SHOE FITS The best storage solutions for shoe organizing are used where the shoes are actually be stored, not where you wish they would go! With realistic planning and a little trial-and-error, your family will be more inclined to actually use the system you have created for them. If your family kicks off their shoes in the living area, store them on a plastic shoe rack on the coat closet floor. Perhaps that is too structured for your busy lifestyle, so you may want to keep plastic dishwashing tubs in the mud room or near the main traffic area. Assign each family member a different color. Canvas or vinyl shoe organizers can be found at discount and home decor stores. The pouches hold most shoe sizes and pairs can be neatly stored together, eliminating the need for rummaging. Hang one on the back of your child's closet or bedroom door. If closet space is premium, purchase a shoe cubby made from cardboard or make one yourself from a discarded box from the grocer. Look for deep divided compartments like the ones bleach and bottles of laundry detergent are shipped in. If you get creative, you can salvage those strong divided boxes from the liquor store and paint with tempera or cover with contact paper. Don't hesitate to get creative, using what you have to contain the clutter in your kids' room. Wicker baskets, hanging vegetable baskets, and flea market finds are perfect solutions to grouping and organizing the shoes for your children. And I'll bet if you get the kids in on the selection, they'll be more inclined to keep using the new system. TAKE A PICTURE I have a couple of quick solutions to solve your display dilemmas. Both take up very little space and if done routinely, take up little time as well. Create a simple art portfolio using two pieces of posterboard taped together on three sides. Leave the third side, or top, open for dropping in artwork as it is received. You can use this same principle for other schoolwork as well. Each day, or week, when your daughter brings home her treasured work, write the date on the back in pencil (or use a date stamp to save time). Drop it into the portfolio for safekeeping. Or, date it, then replace the "display of the week" with the new one, and file the old one away. At the end of the semester or quarter, it will be time to purge your portfolio. Begin by sorting by type of art: paintings, drawings, collage, mosaic, seasonal, writing samples, tests, awards, etc. Then choose a sampling from each category, perhaps several scattered throughout the school year. File the keepsakes, and get rid of the rest. If you can't bear to throw them away, recycle them by giving them to relatives. Mail in a cardboard tube, or shipped flat between two pieces of cardboard. Or scan the artwork, email it to relatives, and throw away the original. You can turn that scanned graphic into notecards, stationery, or greeting cards. If your child can't bear the thought of you tossing any of her artistic samples away, delegate this task to her. Move the storage into her room with her things, and let her be in charge of sorting, dating, stashing, and even purging. Amazing how they will decide they can actually bear to part with things when their closet is filling up faster than they can find storage containers! Purchase a stackable cardboard storage chest from your favorite organizing company, such as Lillian Vernon or The Container Store. These sturdy units have removable drawers to fill with archived treasures, then stack vertically to conserve space. Use them as your sole art storage system, or for "keepers" only with the portfolio system I described above. * If storage is really a concern, take photographs of your daughter's artwork and discard the original. Either take individual pictures, or line them up for a group shot. A disposable camera kept on hand is a perfect solution for this task, or you can use a Polaroid camera and take them individually. Dedicate a special photo album or box for these treasures to be shared and enjoyed. Got a question about organization? Ask Debbie Previous Columns by Debbie: • Home office management tips for parents • Organizing computer files • Organization On the Move • Automate your Life Debbie Williams is an organizing strategist and founder of the online organizing forum, OrganizedU.com. She is the author of  Common Sense Organizing, from Champion Press.  Copyright 2001, Debbie Williams