Transformation Tuesday #53: Kid's Toy Room

I've been doing a lot of organization work with a friend and had the opportunity to help her kids work on the bedroom/playroom spaces. Honestly, I was a bit anxious leading up to working with the kids, especially the older child, who expressed how much they didn't want to let go of anything.

I talked with my friend about setting the right expectations - I mean, I can make some organizing magic happen, but only if the client, regardless of their age, is ready for the change. Thank goodness she had been talking about it a lot the last couple months, because her daughter was ready! She may have been motivated by our scheduled pizza dinner afterward, but I will take what I can get!

We spent about an hour and a half working on the toy closet/playroom. My nine-year-old client was surprisingly ready to purge and very thoughtful about items that she wanted to save for her younger brother or cousins (set aside in a bag for mom to review as a double-check). 

Once we started filling up bags with donation, trash, and recycling, she saw lots of fun books and toys she had forgotten about. It was pretty cute hearing her tell stories about some of the items, who gave them to her, why they were special. I enjoyed this so much and found myself just chatting away with her as we sorted the toys.

Our big win of the day was letting go of the dollhouse. She decided she wanted to sell it so she could earn some spending money. She even wrote the ad up herself! I love how motivated this kid is. I told her when she's old enough to work, I would hire her as my organizing assistant. I was so impressed how easy it was to talk through giving away items, especially ones that she had outgrown or that she still liked, but knew was time to give away to another child to enjoy.

Do you have any success stories of decluttering with kids? Let me know in the comments!

Also ... if you know anyone in need of a dollhouse, I know the seller will be very excited to earn a little bit of money from all her organizing work :)