Living room or lounge: what's yours?
I have to ask this, as it's starting to become something of an issue in our house: does your home have a "living room" (a communal area complete with a scattering of toys and kiddie stuff) or a "lounge" (mum and dad only; kids are virtually banned; the room is tidy).
We don't have much of a choice here at home as our house has only two bedrooms: a smaller one for the boys (my son and stepson) where they keep their computer games, toys, books and all, then the "master bedroom" (I hesitate to call it such!), where Hubby Dearest and I sleep, keep our stuff, and also share with Little Angel and my step-daughter. There is no space in either room for Little Angels huge chest full of toys, her amazing collection of beloved cuddly things, her rocking horse or anything else.
This all lives in our "living room" instead.
I don't mind this too much while Little angel is young, but Hubby dearest really hates this setup. He wants the room where our sofa lives to become the "lounge": no kids, no toys. A place where we can relax at the end of the day and not have to thoroughly tidy up beforehand! He complains that guests must think we have a messy house because of the toys in there. I assure him that people understand: after all, we have children, and children play!
Eventually, we both agree that the bathroom will migrate to the lower portion of our bedroom, and the old one will become the (perhaps a little small) girls room. And there will live the toys, the cuddlys and all their other stuff. But for this, we have to wait: we're still renting from the council, and until we either buy this house or persuade them to do the work for us, we have to live in this scenario.
I would really like to know how you other mums and dads organise your living space: do you have toys in the living room, or are they relegated to the bedroom? Perhaps you're lucky enough to have a playroom, where the kids can play without fear of making a mess? Please leave your comments below. Any suggestions for creating a temporary harmony amidst these toys would be much appreciated!
Technorati Tags: lounge living+room toys home+organisation kids living+space
2 comments
We call our lounge the lounge, but it's for everyone. The kids have some of their stuff in their: my daughters toy kitchen, a Playmobil farm and animals, child sized chairs. My son has his Gamecube hitched up to the TV (we only have one of these in the house). Each of the children has their own bedroom, but my daughter's is a box room, very tiny. It only contains her bed, a small wardrobe and a toy box. My son is fortunate to have a bedroom the same size as ours. Our bedroom seems very full of stuff, and his is nice and spacious. Space for stuff is a constant issue, so we have to be ruthless with clutter and stuff. Freecycle is brilliant, I'm getting good at letting go.
ReplyDeleteTracy, thank you so much for introducing me to Freecycle! I've just signed up for my local group and am amazed at how big this community is in my area! We have loads of unused stuff that I'd much rather go to a loving home than be thrown in the tip, so we'll definitely be posting some of it there.
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