Get Organized! Cutting Down on Kid Clutter

Because they have no spine, thin paperback children's books also present a storage problem on the average bookshelf, making it nearly impossible for a child to find the title she's searching for without pulling out every other book in the process. The solution? Purchase several rectangular plastic baskets (the kind that beauticians use to house their hair clips and rollers) and store books with titles facing forward. When a child wants to find a book, she can simply flip through the titles in the basket.

Another easy solution is to collect several large cereal boxes and cut along the diagonal, eliminating one corner to create a magazine-type file box. Cover with decorative wrapping paper. This works great for storing books in a series; you can file all Arthur books in one, Clifford in another, Berenstain Bears in a third, and so on. For an added visual cue, color copy a front cover, and tape the picture onto the appropriate box.