You need bins with lids & do toy rotation. Wal-Mart has bins with lids that come in different colours and it has a black board side so you can write what is inside! The clear ones still look messy to me! I fill baskets with toys geared to certain ages. If it's a day with mostly babies then the baskets get center stage on the shelf.
Puzzles come out one at a time and are brought out by me, the same with Lego, as it tends to end up everywhere. The older kids know they can ask and I will get it for them only provided that they finish the one they started with. I am soooooooooo anal with messes! LOL

Quote Originally Posted by mlc1982 View Post
How do you keep your house from looking like it's a toy haven??!!

I have toys EVERYWHERE and am tired of cleaning them up all the time. How do you all have your place set up ... do you only have a certain amount of toys out at once? Do you only let kids play with certain bins at a time and they must clean up before the next comes?

I need ideas on how to stop the constant mess of toys and the constant clean up all hours of the day!

ps. I try and get the kids to do their own clean up but my own 2 1/2 yr old is really the only one who attempts it. She then stops when she sees she's not getting help. Others are 13 mths, 18 mths and 20 mths.