We’ve all seen them: the beautiful Pinterest worthy minimalist toy rooms with just a few Montessori style wooden toys neatly organized on perfectly arranged shelves, cozy book corners, and chalkboard walls.
Spoiler alert: we don’t have that. We don’t even technically have a toy room.
As a family of 7 living in San Diego, we have a typical 1950’s small home with only 1400 square feet and 3 bedrooms. We’ve had to carefully consider how to best utilize every square inch of our home and it’s come with a lot of hard decisions over our 12 years here. Initially (and when we only had two children) we used our third bedroom as a playroom to house our little stash of our trains, dress up clothes, Duplo’s, cars and such. But as the kids and our family size grew, so did the pile of toys. Tremendously.
Why We Eliminated the Not So Minimalist Toy Room
Initially there were several reasons we chose to eliminate the toy room. One is that we hadn’t yet embraced minimalism and our little 10×10 toy room was overflowing with the plethora of gifts we constantly received from well-intentioned friends and family. Try fitting 5 boys AND all their toys into a room that size to play. I shudder just thinking about it!
For a time we moved everything into our large living room. Half the room was our TV area, and the rest was used for housing toys, the lego table, books, and whatever else claimed residence here. But while this seemed the only solution, it just wasn’t working out. My husband and I were feeling overwhelmed by the clutter of toys, especially as they were constantly scattered throughout the room, and made their way into other parts of the house as well. We needed a change.
Choosing Minimalism and Big Decisions
Once we decided to embrace minimalism we rehomed a LOT of toys. Like, a real lot. Pretty much most of them. This wasn’t an overnight process and is something we continually work on. But eliminating the bulk of the toys came as such a relief to everyone.
By the time all 5 boys were old enough to sleep in their own beds, we decided to make a bold move: we moved all 5 boys into one room. I can just hear it now… “You did WHAAAAT???” Yes. All 5 of our boys share one room, but they were also given the biggest room in the entire house: the room that used to be our living room. And since they have the biggest room in the house, it’s also where the toys live. The toys are theirs, afterall, so it made sense to keep them in their bedroom.
Minimalist Toy Room + Communal Toys
In eliminating the majority of the toys, there are a few things we kept, but even those are kept to a minimum. Here’s what we have for everyone to use freely:
- Legos
- Keva Planks*
- Art supplies
- Puzzles
- Board games
If you haven’t heard of Keva planks, they are such a fun, natural, minimalist toy! They are simply planks of wood, cut to precise dimensions, that can be used to build all sorts of creations. Our boys have used them to build everything from ships and trains, to marble runs, war zones, domino runs, and towers to the ceiling. My favourite perk of Keva planks is that because they are all exactly the same, kids don’t fight over who gets what piece.
*We chose to purchase the maple wood planks because maple is most durable. We also found that the 200 plank set was used up too quickly so we purchased a second set. You can find the 400 plank set here.
My favourite minimalist toy is definitely the Lego’s, partly because they’re SO easy to travel with. We decluttered from a huge overflowing lego table full of bricks to a small lidded container, and we’ve seen huge benefits from this change. Surprisingly, the kids play with the Legos WAY MORE than when we had thousands upon thousands of bricks. They also use amazingly creative building skills since we typically no longer purchase sets.
Each child also has some personal items they either were gifted or purchased with their own money. Those are kept in their personal cubbies or perhaps on a shelf if need be. Having small areas for personal items helps keep them to a minimum. Additionally, the benefit to having children purchase their toys with their own earned money is that they’re learning the value of a dollar. They have a growing awareness of and appreciation for making sound purchasing choices, thanks to a few regretted buys. These lessons have helped teach them not to spend frivilously and to weigh their choices.
While it was a challenging road to get here, the fruits of minimalism have been significant. Having a minimalist toy room that is actually the boys’ bedroom has helped keep the house feeling more clean and clutter free, and also makes the bedroom a multi-use space. It’s true what they say, that less is more. And in the case of our bedroom + minimalist toy room, I absolutely agree.
Tips for Creating a Minimalist Toy Room
Decide on an aesthetic. Do you want only wooden toys? Are you going for bright and cheery? Toys that are all hidden away when not in use? Choose your furniture and colors around this.
Take inventory of what toys your kids love and use most. You don’t have to keep them all, but especially during transition these might need to stick around, at least for a little while.
Evaluate which toys actually lend to creative play. Toys that can only be what they are, are best not kept. Creativity is key in play, so toys that have multiple or endless uses are best. Think wooden blocks or magnets, wooden train sets, play dough, a doll, marble runs, etc.
Get organized. Have a designated space for every toy. When it’s time to clean up, this will make it easy for little hands, because they know where everything goes. Utilizing baskets is a great way to keep loose toys gathered neatly.
Be ready to make hard decisions. Not everything that your kids play with needs to stay. If you’re unsure about getting rid of a toy, try putting it away for a while and see whether it’s asked for.
Talk to friends and family about what you’re doing. The easiest way to keep a minimalist toy supply is to have less toys come in.
Talk with children about your minimist values. When they understand why you choose to have less, you’ll be able to better explain why you might say no to new purchases. If you do decide to bring in a new toy, choose an old one to donate to a child in need.
Don’t overwhelm the space. You don’t need to be a design expert (I am FAR from one myself) but keeping clean lines and simple pieces is key. Aside from simply having less, a space that looks clean and airy will feel more refreshing.
Lastly, remember that your children do not have to have all the latest, greatest toys, or even that really beautiful set you saw at your friend’s house. There are TONS of great toy options on the market but the key is that you pick what’s best for your family. Stick to a few simple, staple pieces, and you’ll reap the benefits of creative play and less clutter.
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