Making kids’ clutter history

Floor-to-ceiling shelving makes good use of a small space. Keep books and toys they have still to grow into on the highest shelves. With plenty of shelving you can rearrange their games and mementoes as your children grow and change. Display happy snaps, cute cards and party invites in a big frame. Frame a square of fabric secured over a pinboard backing. You can create a collage, and change it as often as you like. It can be your child’s ‘moving picture’. Put up at least two rows of hooks painted to match your kids’ bedroom colour scheme. They’re a must-have for hanging clothes, and slinging up bags of shoes or nappies. For older children you could use an alcove space to build a bank of drawers topped with a bed platform. It makes use of an awkward corner when you are short on space… and it will be fun for your child to climb up to bed every night. Not everything has to come from the children’s department. Think laterally. Use a wire cake stand to store baby’s cream and wipes, or a pretty teacup to keep cotton wool. Invest in lots of boxes. Storage boxes for toys, linens and books are an essential for quick tidy-ups. Have a big wicker basket for rounding up toys in your living area, and several in the bedroom for more toys and books. If you have hard floors, boxes on casters are useful. Or there are sturdy but flexible plastic designs with two handles for extra manoeuvrability. Trays are brilliant for impromptu storage and for carrying bits and bobs from room to room. Buy bright cheery designs. Brilliant for puzzles and games with lots of pieces. Hanging pockets on the wall are useful for clutter that otherwise wouldn’t have a home. Give grandmas or aunties who love to sew some swatches of brightly coloured fabric to stitch into wall tidies. A wall-mounted magazine rack is perfect for displaying big colourful books. Use awkward spaces and sloping ceilings to build extra shelving, and go for modular units which you can chop and change, or transform into seating, as your babe grows up. Simple, modern cube-style shelving is brilliant for young kids with plenty of space for everything, from a CD player to a nightlight. It’s great as climbing and crawling apparatus, too; in a larger space you can even use it as a room divider.