Simple Storage Solution
When I re-did the girls' room, there were storage implications. Bringing in a dresser displaced the tiered toy bin, but it also freed up some plastic drawers in the closet. (In Boulder, there was no room for a dresser, so we got these green plastic drawers from Target to hide in the closet.)
Because the girls mostly play with toys made up of smaller pieces when they are in their room, the little drawers were just the right size for some carefully chosen toys. Only problem: while the drawers are plastic, they aren't totally clear, and the girls are used to having their toys where they can see them.
So I took pictures of the items that belong in each drawer, laid out on a white surface. I printed them on my home computer and taped then to the drawers.
Because Clio is learning to read, I also made labels for each drawer. I wrote them in cursive because in Montessori, kids learn their cursive letters first. I just taped those right on, too.
I thought about creating little frames on the computer, or at the very least "designing" the labels, with borders and a cute font, but in the end I decided not to over think it, and to go with something functional and educational for the girls, rather than something all design-y for me. It is all inside a closet, after all, and, perhaps this is sacrilege, but I do think the world has gone a bit overboard in insisting that every last item be adorable, stylish, or both.
What I DID do was make sure the bins were all coordinated, and mixed it up with the green-and-white woven ones on the top of the drawers. Luckily, they also coordinate with the dominant color in the rooms' overall design: green.
And you know what? The system works like a charm. The girls are able to put their toys away where they belong and, miracle of miracles, they actually do.
Because the girls mostly play with toys made up of smaller pieces when they are in their room, the little drawers were just the right size for some carefully chosen toys. Only problem: while the drawers are plastic, they aren't totally clear, and the girls are used to having their toys where they can see them.So I took pictures of the items that belong in each drawer, laid out on a white surface. I printed them on my home computer and taped then to the drawers.
Because Clio is learning to read, I also made labels for each drawer. I wrote them in cursive because in Montessori, kids learn their cursive letters first. I just taped those right on, too.
I thought about creating little frames on the computer, or at the very least "designing" the labels, with borders and a cute font, but in the end I decided not to over think it, and to go with something functional and educational for the girls, rather than something all design-y for me. It is all inside a closet, after all, and, perhaps this is sacrilege, but I do think the world has gone a bit overboard in insisting that every last item be adorable, stylish, or both.
What I DID do was make sure the bins were all coordinated, and mixed it up with the green-and-white woven ones on the top of the drawers. Luckily, they also coordinate with the dominant color in the rooms' overall design: green.
And you know what? The system works like a charm. The girls are able to put their toys away where they belong and, miracle of miracles, they actually do.