52 Weeks of Organizing - Week 15 - Organizing the Bookcase in My Boys' Room

I am hopping back into Org Junkie's 52 Weeks of Organizing challenge after a six week break from organizing projects.  I'm always amazed by how quickly time goes by - I knew I had missed a few weeks of the challenge but was surprised to see that six weeks had gone by since my last organizing post!  I've been busy doing lots of other things besides tackling problem areas in our home, most notably working on end-of-the-school-year academic portfolios for my homeschooled children.  We also attended the Grand Prix, Short Course Gold Championships, and a homeschool conference.

For this week, I tackled the bookcase in my boy's room.  The bookcase was overflowing with books, toys, and assorted boy treasures to the point that it was very messy.

The process of organizing the bookcase definitely took some time.  First, my boys went through all of their toys and boy treasures stored on the bookcase and culled some treasure that were no longer treasures.  I placed a full gallon ziplock bag of assorted toys and odds and ends into our Goodwill box.

Then, I went through the shelves one by one.  I looked at every book, magazine, and coloring book.  If I wasn't sure about a particular book or magazine, I asked one of my boys.

• I recycled almost all of the coloring books and magazines.
• I posted a pile of books that the boys no longer wanted on PaperBackSwap.
• I put a small pile of slightly damaged books that the boys no longer wanted into our Goodwill box.
• I packed up a huge pile of books that that the boys had outgrown in terms of reading ability.  I boxed these books up and put them in my office storage area since I want to keep them for my grandchildren someday.  For example, Duncan and Mason had a large collection of Geronimo Stilton books.  They no longer read those easy-reader chapter books but I wanted to keep these delightful early chapter books.

A lot of space was freed up after culling so many books and treasures.  This space will be used when I organize the boys' desk and dresser.  As well, removing the large collection of Geronimo Stilton books allowed me to put Mason's large collection of Goosebumps books on his shelf.

On top of the bookcase is the homemade Valentine's Day mailbox I made with Mason when he was about 4 or 5 years old.  Now that he's a huge almost teenager, I thought for sure that I would be able to get rid of it.  As evidenced by the treasures on top of the bookcase, he wasn't ready to part with his mailbox.

As I spent time organizing my boys' bookcase, I was fully aware of the fact that organizing in my boys' room is much like shoveling the driveway during a snowstorm.  While my boys DO appreciate my efforts to keep their room neat and organized, they are NOT overly motivated to keep their room neat and organized.  But, I am setting a good example for them and keeping the chaos at bay.   

To read about what other bloggers were organizing this week, visit Org Junkie's 52 Weeks of Organizing.