Storage solutions for kids spaces: How to KonMari the crazy
Welcome Baby Donkie
When it comes to sustainable, eco friendly toys and décor, BabyDonkie is top of the list! Launched in 2012, BabyDonkie is a sweet online space dedicated to making shopping for beautiful and high quality kids items a simple pleasure.
Here at Hope & Jade we're so thrilled to welcome Dong-Maria, the super sweet boss babe behind BabyDonkie to share with us her tried and tested tips for decluttering kids spaces and her top picks for kids storage ideas.
Hello BabyDonkie
At BabyDonkie, our philosophy is simple. We believe in purchasing beautiful things that have been made to last. Each designer has been chosen for on trend aesthetic, incredible quality and true value for money. These are pieces you’ll want to hand down to siblings or friends. And the eco-friendly values of all our brands means you can feel good about the purchases you make.
BabyDonkie - www.babydonkie.com.au
The KonMari effect
Life with kids equals stuff! It seems that no matter how hard I try to clean, store or remove it, our house keeps being filled with kids’ things.
As a working Mum of 4 young children running my online store BabyDonkie, it can be hard to keep things organised on a daily basis and you feel like your life is an ever-revolving mess. However, I decided this year, enough was enough. Fortunately for me, it coincided with Marie Kondo’s Netflix series, Tidying up with Marie Kondo.
What an amazing TV series and together with the book, which I eagerly devoured, I used it as my inspiration to get my house in order. Just before the kids started the new school year, I embarked on a decluttering exercise of all the kid’s rooms and their things.
Oh my gosh, what a change it has brought to our life and household!
I went through each kid’s room, one by one and we removed garbage liners filled with old clothes, toys, books and stuff. However, I didn’t want to just throw the things away to landfill.
Instead, I donated many of the items that no longer ‘sparked joy’ and I gave away high-quality pieces of clothing and furniture to family and friends. Many of the other items in good condition, I gave to my son’s daycare and the remainder of kids and maternity clothes, kids toys, kids furniture and bed linen went to The Smith Family and Sydney-based charity Mummies Paying It Forward.
I was then left with a problem… once I decluttered and donated all our unwanted items, how was I going to organise and store the toys, clothes and books that we had decided to keep?
Storage solutions
One way to solve some of our storage issues was to install new shelving into the kids cupboards. However, I also needed an easy storage solution for toys, books and keepsakes. This is where I discovered the brilliant AY-KASA folding crate system from Lillemor Lifestyle.
The space saving storage system are both eco-friendly, functional and flexible. Not to mention they are seriously stylish as they come in both muted pastels and bright fun colours. They are available in different sizes too, so you can mix and match depending on what you need to store.
I loved the folding storage crates so much I just had to stock them at BabyDonkie! They are now one of my most searched for and bought items in store.
How do you organise and store your kids’ things?
- Only keep toys or clothing which ‘spark joy’ or can be passed down to siblings
- Donate as much as you can to local charities
- Sell big ticket items on local Facebook groups, Gumtree or Ebay
- Organise what remains using functional and easy storage solutions
All images beautifully photographed by Jo Kim Photography and styled by You Give Me Grace as well as The Wonders of Play.
Thank you BabyDonkie!
A BIG thank you to Dong-Maria for sharing her tips with us all. I'm feeling more inspired then ever to crack into some serious decluttering in the kids play room!
Be sure to jump on over and say "Hi" to Dong-Maria on Facebook or Instagram and shop their incredible AY-KASA Folding crates at BabyDonkie today.