I've been a school librarian for seven years. I can attest to the fact that "weeding" books that are tattered or haven't been read for years lets the rest of the books shine and makes the whole collection more attractive to children! Also, I have to put in a plug for donating books to a local school. Many librarians have no budget besides what they raise through fundraisers. I know I'd LOVE to receive many of the books you decluttered for our library 🙂. I love how you involved your kids in the process!
As the person who handles donations to our local library, THANK YOU for donating to your public library. Although the public libraries get some government support it is never enough and with rising costs of everything, libraries are under stress. Some of your donations may end up on the shelves which saves the library from buying them and some will be sold at very reasonable prices which helps low income families buy them and gives the library some money to buy things not covered in their budget. I love when people donate a lot of children’s books as they are always in demand.
I put all of my seasonal books in my season decor bins. All the Christmas books are with the Christmas bins. We won’t read them in the off season so they aren’t taking up prime real estate on the bookshelf! Nice job decluttering. Books can be very sentimental to me so I have a harder time decluttering them.
Keep whatever books you want to keep. Then devise a planned campaign of putting books back. All your kidlets are old enough to do it. Maybe start with encouraging more respect for the book, that it isn’t good for the book to just be tossed around and it might get torn or damaged enough they wouldn’t have it to read anymore. Good luck!
I love that you got the kiddoes involved in gathering all books, sorting books and putting them away IMHO this teaches them cleaning organizing and decluttering skills that will help them all the lifelong 💜
wow! Wow! WOW! Erica! 179 books??? That's amazing! A project well worth the effort and time it took to do this! PS: As a minimalist, I went from owning roughly 150 books (of my own! not including my husband's or any other family member!) to .... ZERO! If I want a book, I'll get it from the library or read it online/kindle *grin* That was the most difficult catergory for me to declutter btw. I remember doing a 25 book challenge to a 20 book challenge to a 10 book challenge to....GONE!
INSPIRED! My family of 6 used to be avid physical book readers. now it's more digital, and I've never decluttered any books in my 39 years. I think it's time. I don't want to pack, move and unpack things just to sit on a shelf and collect dust. t Thanks Erica, I was really excited for this video from you.
Great video. Reminded me of when I use to sort my daughter’s books when she was younger 🥰. I have a suggestion: why don’t you remove the two bins of video games off the book shelves and use the shelves for the chapter books to get them off the floor? You could put the baskets on the shelves or just the books themselves. You could put the bins of games under the bookshelf that had the homeschooling resource and seasonal books. That’s a big job. Congratulations 🎉
Agree with this suggestion. When non-book things start going on the book shelves they loos that cool “home library” feel. And when things start going on the floor that’s an invitation for more things to start going on the floor
WOW now that is a book declutter, you did amazing I love your shelving units you bought for the library, so easy to pull a book of the shelves for the kids. Your oldest reminded me of Andy how Andy decluttered, he knew what he wanted and he knew what he could let go… Well as far as myself, I decluttered books a few months ago, I am the proud owner of just 10 books…. I even donated all my cook books, I never used them…My husband has about 30 books and his are kept in his home office , behind doors in a office armoire … I don’t even see them 😀
This was absolutely fascinating to watch as you explained your thoughts and reasoning on what and why and where to keep or donate! My one suggestion is to perhaps move some of their photo albums to a bin in your large utility closet for them to easily retrieve if they want to look at them, then PUT back when done, or their bedroom closets. This way more books can go on the library shelves so you can keep an eye on whether they are getting messy or strewn around the floor.
Absolutely amazing job! You oldest is such a helper to his little sister and brother - he has a gentle competent air about him and he's always pitching in to help them which is lovely to see. I do believe too much stuff ruins the enjoyment of using the stuff - too many choices doesn't seem to be the path of joy and happiness - it's just confusing and you end up spending more time taking care of the stuff than using the stuff. I loved your declutter plan and how it helped you whenever you had a moment of hesitation - having those questions to ask yourself assisted so much with all the decisions you had to make. Thank you for another very satisfying video 😊
Oh! And for seasonal books, I store those in my seasonal bin. I have one large bin for ALL the seasons except Christmas. Every seasonal item, including books, must fit in the bin or we don't keep it. Christmas has 4 bins + a tree bin. Half a bin is full of our Christmas books! But this way they're special only seeing them for a month or so out of the year. Mine are always excited to get them out!
Wow, think of how far you have come in a couple years! Your old self would have only dreamed of such organization. You have made it a reality! Congrats!
What I did was a family bookshelf/family library. Took all books out of the kids rooms. Got rid of all our bookshelves and my friend and her husband made me one unit. It's been a game changer for not only being able to find books but less mess in the kids rooms and everywhere. I don't keep any more books then fit in the space I've designated for them. Good luck with your books!
I had zero books at home growing up , and lived far away from the library. My only source for books was at school. This is why it is so hard for me to declutter books. I have an entire 5 shelf book case full of just golden books and 2 1/2 totes in garage with books plus a small library type book case in my living room used for rotating books, from favorites to seasonal for my grandkids and child I care for. This is all over whelming buy, I vow to overcome and declutter all of them so like you said when I want a certain book I will be able to find it. I do copy work with my grandkids during the summer so accessibility is important. You did a great job and I will definitely be using your sorting/decluttering system to go thru all my books. The golden books are toted for now in storage.
Thank you for this video. I'm a new Empty Nester, w/5 homeschool grads. We had 750 kids books, & I used the container method to keep 500 (on the shelves). It really is an enjoyable, but thoughtful process to keep the Tier 1 books, & donate the Tier 3 ones. Our library's book sales depend on community donations, so that's where the surplus went!
I understand how hard it is to give up books, especially ones you love. My mother always taught me that books were my friends and to treat them with great respect. Hence, it was so hard to part with some. Congratulations on such a great accomplishment! I’m sure that there are a lot of children who Will greatly benefit from and enjoy the ones you are donating. 😃
It’s amazing how many you were able to part with when the goal was mainly to organize rather than declutter! Shows that your decluttering muscle is strong. I recently realized the books like the Magic Tree House books are fun to read once, but not as exciting to read again and again since most of their appeal is the element of mystery. Have you read the Little House books with your family? My kids and I read them again and again.
I agree!! We stopped buying Magic Tree House too, and any book we can get at the library. We do keep classics that will be re-read, and hidden gems that the Library doesn't own. Its the only way we could stop from being over-run with books. The funny thing is the less we have, the more our "keepers" are treasured and savored.
I have been having a very hard time hearing You and Andy on your videos lately. I enjoy listening to your thought process and most of the time have to put on CC to know the full content.
You are just the coolest. I grew up with my four homeschooling siblings and book loving mother. As adults, we made countless passes of books to purge. I kid you not. Had a garage sale consisting of only books. Hardly anyone came but we enjoyed sitting outside reading. Then donating. It's now manageable (siblings all in thirties/forties I might add). Better to keep on top of it like you are... I can imagine the joy! If you haven't already, tell your kids the new rules! 💙
WOW!! Your mom rocks! For her to do the photo album labor of love is HUGE. Also, great job on the books!! I agree with you, books are SO hard to declutter. And raising readers - another "great job, Mama"
I really enjoy your decluttering videos. The typical sped up version of video that many people do isn't as enjoyable or helpful as your videos that show the thought process you go through as to you declutter. Thanks for sharing!
I love my kindle for minimizing the book clutter, it’s easier to read than paper book at night, and I get the thrill of shopping for books by shopping what’s on Libby and at my library.
I had to watch this entire video. I love books, too ! I’m proud to say that over the years, I’ve donated at least 1/2 of my books. I still have 2 large shelves‘ worth. I recently did a mini re-organization of them. I feel a bit anxious b/c sometime when I move next, I’ll prefer to again have only 1/2 as many books. Many I haven’t read, or feel I need to keep to re-read. “Is it in the library?” Great question ! I’m glad to see your all family’s books : I’m not alone! Some of my categories are : Art, Music, History / Politics, Religion, Literature, Reference, Personal Growth, Hawaiian Culture, E Indian Culture, Anthropology, Decluttering, Poetry, & more ! Fabulous job on donating 100 + books ! I’m so glad that you are all avid readers.
There are many of us who are not kindle, audio or books on tapes people (me) I love the feel of my books and my first memory is my mother reading to us and teaching me the love of books. This is what I see with your video today as over the years I ended up with a major issue with books, I used the Dana White method of container. I have one large book case and smaller one in the bedroom and that is my limit. It has taken years to sort down and know what to keep. I agree organization and how and when to let books go. Thanks so much for your video today.
I'm a professional gardener, and have soooooo many garden books. I've also realised that I'm a very visual learner (think pictures, charts, diagrams), so if a book has 'too many words' it's donated. Your flowchart worked fantastic for me (oh, that would be the visual learner thing 🤦).
Erica, seeing all those books just gave me anxiety. 😑 I'm super good at organizing, but even so.. WOW. You did so well! Your kids are awesome. So helpful. So sweet. All the "after" shots are so calmimg. Cheers
Might it help everyone in the family if Andy gave a demonstration about how he arranges and cares for his books? Once you determine where you want various books to live in your household, you and Andy could present the changes as a one month challenge for everyone’s participation. I know young readers often read several books at a time so maybe you could cut some books marks for the kids with the words Challenge or some such expression. At the end of the month you could have a family review to discuss what you all have learned, and a trip to your family’s favorite bookstore. I love books too. I cannot imagine life without to joy of reading. Thank you for your engaging content on your channel. 📕📗📘
I like to store my seasonal and holiday books in the bins with those types of decorations. My children love when we get a seasonal bin out to decorate and they are so excited about the “new” books that they sit down to read for a long period of time… and I can enjoy decorating by myself.
I love books as well! I sort out science and history into subcategories like plants, human body, space, early American history, etc in each of the cubes in our shelves. I also love using an app to keep track of what books I have and where they are stored in our house. I can quickly scan a book at a store and see if I already own it which has cut out on duplicates. I also use washi tape to color code books which makes putting it away easy for even the youngest.
oh my goodness Erica!❤️. I turned on TH-cam and was ready declutter a bookshelf that's just mine! 4 boxes to go to church h of devotionals and bible studies. our families first time through last year we had 16 good size boxes that one person could lift. our family has a great love for books and it wasn't an easy task but like you I had a plan. I love audio books to listen in my commute or while walking or biking. so I went to my library app, confirmed it was there in audio and put it on my favorites list. if it wasn't or it was a bible study I had to make hard choices if i was goibg to really read it. as for bible study books I kept it only if knew it was a topic I still wanted to do. thanks for your help. I really was able to reevaluate my choices and work along with you. ❤️
Erica, I retired from teaching one year ago, and just this week boxed up my favorite teacher resource books. I held on to them to see if I really was going to do Story Hour or pull from these ideas for another purpose in my new era. I found that I can let go of them if I know they will be loved. So I arranged to deliver them to the district where I worked prior to their August In-service, where they always have a 'materials swap'. Perfect!
Great job on the books giveaway. You are so patient with your children and that is wonderful to see. I agree, books are hard to give away, but I love seeing children with the love of reading. The way they learn is so enhanced. Thanks for sharing !!
Love how involved the kids were when deciding what to keep. That pile alone seems like an overwhelming trip to the car! But such a blessing to pass those wonderful stories onto someone else! I’m akin to Andy with series & favorite authors. So hard to let go of, even though I could probably find every Michael Crichton book at the library lol
Erica , consider keeping a small number of truly loved books from kids as they grow. I have done that with my kids truly loved toddler books. Now my kids are grown and their kids love reading same books their mum and dad did. Honestly I kept about 20 but my heart is overflowing listening to those treausred stories again and sharing with my grandsons.
I keep a selection of daytime kids' books in the livingroom and bedtime books in my son's room, both selections accessible to a short person. He's an early reader, so I have some he can sound out for himself and various levels. I feel so happy when he picks one out for himself and just as happy when he asks me to read something for him. I love watching him learn. Sometimes when we're both bored, I grab the first book I see to read together and it makes me feel more connected with him and more engaged. For myself, I have the Harry Potter series and a few favourite books, two "educational" books I may or may not finish, and my kindle. I think I will finish one educational book and not the other. One favourite book has migrated into my bedroom. I want a better place of honour to put the favourites on display, but our shelves are all low, so that was putting them at too much risk with a young kid whose feet and hands are WAY too busy. I don't want him to be yelled at for abusing them, either. I try to make our house have more "yeses" than "nos", because there will always be some nos, but it's his home, too. But those books I've kept physical copies of are the books that make me smile. They spark joy even when I'm not reading them. 🥰🥰🥰 Edit: I will say that for some of my favourite series I DON'T own the physical copies. I might buy them down the line, if and when I have a nice spot to put them. But after a decade of growing into minimalism and still feeling like we have too much with young kids... I'm not in a hurry to add more to manage! 🤣
When our kids were little we had a basket in our lounge that we used to keep our library books in. It was about the size of the one that you put books into on the floor of your library. We kept the book bag with it. The kids could take the books out of the basket and read them whenever/wherever they wanted. A favorite spot was on a bean bag in the sunshine by our lounge window. Our library gave us a print out with a list of all the book titles each time we took out books. The kids used to enjoy crossing their book off the list when they'd finished reading it and putting it in the bag to go back to the library. Another thing they liked to do was pretend that they were a book monitor and they'd walk around the house asking different family members if they'd finished with any of the books still on the list. They usually did this the either the night before or the morning of our library trip.
Thank you for a super inspiring video! I decluttered hundreds of books several years ago but I continued to buy more books, then more books, then more books. Your video here inspired me to depart with over 70 books in Round 1 of a new spurt of book decluttering. I am sure it will take me a few more rounds of serious decluttering to get my book space under control. What helped me the most was your book decision flow chart. I had some very nice classics that I might want to read someday (at least the Fantasy Me wants to read them) but knowing that I can get them at the library or online later helped me let them go out of my designated book space. I had never used that criteria before in my book decluttering episodes. That is actually incredibly helpful. I discovered that I had two copies of Charles Dickens’s “Pickwick Papers.” I didn’t know I had two copies. You know what a huge volume that story is, although I did keep “Little Dorrit”because I liked its easy-to-read binding. But, as I type this, I’m giving that decision a second thought. It might be even need a third thought. . . Thank you again. Well done!
Oh, I have kept a lot of books from our 34 year old daughter! Grands read them and then I still keep them😃. I have such good memories with those good old friends!
Just love watching you work through verbally your process for decluttering. (I have watched you since the dreded basement days.. this from a 65 year with no kids/granchildren.)
My daughter loves Mercy Watson too. It is so cool to see your daughter get excited about the same books. Decluttering books is difficult for us also. One day at a time🙂
I am a teacher. On of my favorite books for 5th grade, but something your oldest might enjoy: Weslandia by Paul Fleischman. I’m so glad he loves The Hardy Boys!! That series was how I started chapter books. :)
Great job! I couldnt get rid of books for sooo many decades. As a child in the 80s books were rare, and my parents didnt like me to read books that were not the holy books since they are radical religious. I was so deprived of literature, knowledge in every category. After years of attending various universities and getting degrees specialized in my job on top of it, i gathered so many books which were expensiv and i had to use them, couldnt resell bc i needed them. And i tried to compensate the lack of education in my teen years. I had also interest in everything, in many languages, and i ended up expanding my library so much. Currently i go to university again. Luckily, most science and medicine books are passed to me as free pdf version, which saves me money and space as well and carry them on my tablet. In the last 5 years, i minimalized a lot of books, dvds, clothing, kitchen stuff, decoration etc, i reduced spending and shopping so i can work only part time and afford to go to university again. There will be happy families getting your donated books 🤗 Keep up being "minimalish" ❤
Wow, it looks so good! I think the thing that got me to declutter more is seeing the library as an extension of my shelves. This works especially for kids who already read chapter books, we definitely had more books before. My daughter is most exited about books when they arrive fresh at our house, so we kind of use the library as our natural book rotation. Yes, sometimes she has to wait a day or two to get a specific book, sometimes even longer time if it’s very popular, but she is used to it by now and she can always find something else to loan in the meantime. And she is much more exited for it when the book finally arrives! Wed have about 5-6 books on loan at a time and it is plenty for her to choose from without it being overwhelming. It also helps her to stay focused on books and not start 10 at a time and forget she started them. She rereads often, but then she she can just get them from the library again. She a couple of her favourites on the shelves, but to be honest I don’t know when she last touched them, new library books are more exiting. Another thing I do is having a google sheets to keep track of series. I have a sheet on the series she reads now, one on the ones where she is waiting for the next to come out, one on the finished ones she might want to reread and one on the new ones she hasn’t started. It is a great way to keep track of progress and always know what to get from the library (especially if it is an anticipated release you might want to get I queue for) and also remind her if there is a series she wanted to start.
I'm pleased as punch that you did this. I have mentioned to you before that I utilize your channel for homeschooling gifts and just stuff I might want around my house for when the grandkids come and this was another great one for me. EXCEPT you didn't say the author of the books that you still love to read to your kids that are probably too young for them now...
I really like your approach, with this being about staying healthy and improving health and not focused on weight loss as such. I can see how you're not depriving yourself at all and its great to see a "weight loss diet" that works with that mindset. I feel that food deprivation is a sure fire way to messing a person up and causing binge eating and the resultant weight gain
As a former homeschool mother (now my 5 granddaughters are homeschooled) I really relate with this. I wish you’d been around as we moved all the books from house to house! I recognized several titles including The Way Things Work by David McCauley. Loved this!
I was looking forward to the book declutter!! I love you all tackled this as a family. I have a 2 year who loves reading and I only keep books that have realistic pictures or the illustrations are close enough. That's because I do montessori at home. Those principles help me declutter books quickly. if she received some as a gift that do not fit our needs I pass them on with gratitude. Our baby boy is due in a few weeks, I hope he will love books just like my daughter. :) I plan on home schooling them in the future. Your videos give me a realistic idea of how I can go about schooling the kids, a topic that usually overwhelms me. Haha! Thanks!
It might be worth also having a bag or basket upstairs for library books as well; its quite an ask expecting a child (or adult!) to schlep downstairs everytime they finish a book. : )
Great video, my daughter and I love reading.... I prefer getting from the library, but my daughter loves having her own collection. Can't walk past second hand books without coming home with an armful 📚😁
We had a lot of books when we lived in the UK, I slimmed them down a lot when I discovered minimalism, but we still had a fair few. Then, when we moved to Canada I had to fit everything we owned into 3 suitcases, so I had to sell, donate and trash 99% of all our stuff. Rebuilding has really enabled me to focus on what is truly important to us as a family, rather than focusing on wants. I currently have 2 cook books, the rest I have gone 100% digital on my kobo, my partner has 6 books that he loves and is currently reading through. Most of our books are the kids, graded readers and bedtime story books that get read over and over, once I feel they are done they will get sold or donated, replaced with more age suitable reading material as they grow. Being in an apartment while we save for a house may be part of this as we do not have the space for large collections of items, but I feel we have enough. Hats off to you for home schooling and managing to minimise in that area, I know that I could not do that. I love watching your decluttering and minimalism videos they inspire me to keep our space minimal, my struggle now is more in not letting too much come into the home and being intentional with purchases. If I don’t buy it, I don’t have to declutter it later.
I totally agree with you on books - if we are actually using them, there can't really be too many. It's so nice to go through the books just to remember what you have and will read!
Have you thought about using the library to introduce a series rather than buying the first book? We used the library with my daughter as the primary source for her books and only bought those that she absolutely loved. Another thought about donating books, so you know if your library would take them? Those books that you had second thoughts on, you could always borrow them back from your library, but would also benefit other kids and families.
Erica, You don’t “know” me, but in my mind we’re besties!! I introduce your channel to my friends as “my good friend Erica’s channel”.😂 In fact, you may recall that I am the viewer/uh hum, friend! who first suggested you refer to yourself as minimal-ISH several years ago. Loved this video, as I’m an avid reader, I have an 11-year-old avid reader, and I’m an elementary teacher/total bibliophile-especially for children’s books! (Those Aaron Becker wordless books are amazing, and we have them all too! They will never leave this house while I’m alive.) Enjoy your new organization and keep being awesome! We love you!🌟
I know this video is older but I just had to comment. Our kids books were just completely out of control and all I could bring myself to was to declutter a book here or there. This video FINALLY was one that resonated with me. Over 200 books donated, many never opened and tons of board books, so it feels as if half our home library is gone due to how much space those take. Our preschooler and toddler are avid readers, they spend half their day "reading" or wanting to be read to. But the amount of books was just too overwhelming at this point and they started not being able to find their favorites and had trouble putting them away, which just caused a giant mess every day. We also go to the library twice a week, which means we really don't need this endless supply we had at home. We are enrolled in the imagination library and family always give them more books since everyone knows how much they love reading so it'll be a continuous effort now to keep our collection manageable. But thanks to this video I know now that I can do it and no longer dread new incoming books. I'm a butterfly too, so 100% yes - toy rotation and book rotation does not work for me. Plus ADHD, so just the thought of all those steps that go into a rotation system stress me out immensely. Plus, when I tried it, my kids constantly asked for what wasn't currently out (they like to see their things as well 😂 ). So now that we're down to only keeping toys that they play with at least weekly, it's so manageable and they can clean up by themselves (toys are by no means minimal for us, our place looks like a daycare but a very tidy and organized one 😊 ). But I never could figure out a reasonable book system that is sustainable and manageable. This video was really amazing to me. Thank you so much. The only thing I haven't found a solution for, is how to organize all those paperback books and early reader books. They are so cluttered for a visual person and difficult to find what you're looking for. I used to have them in a large over the door hanger, which was great but I have the library books in there now to keep them visual and separate from our other books, which has been working great. So if anyone is reading this and has an idea, I'd be grateful. I tried to organize them like I often see Kindergarten classroom libraries organize, in bins by category but for whatever reason, my kids stopped reading them that way, so that's not a solution for us. Btw, our photo albums situation used to look similar to yours, but I actually found a really good and compact solution for that. I got one of those photo storage boxes that have these smaller inner photo organizers inside. So instead of having to lug a big album around, my kids can just grab one inner organizer and put it back easily afterwards. They are also so great to use the container method with and a breeeze to change categories with our ever-growing collection and combine, separate, declutter based on interest and making sure to keep all the favorites regardless. Maybe this helps someone.
You have a bookshelf for each of your boys, get one for your girl's room as well and put her books on it. I know I enjoyed my books being in my room as a kid. We had individual books in our room and our shared books out we we could all access them.
I clicked SO fast! In a way I like that you have books everywhere because it shows your familys love for reading. But on the other hand it would totally drive me crazy to not have them organized 😅 wow, you did an AMAZING job with this declutter 👏👏👏🥳😎 I have a library (it’s just a few bookshelves together and an armchair in a part of a room) that I just decluttered. My kids have their favourites in their rooms and I have even more kids books from my childhood saved, and will keep on saving them. I love books and reading. This summer I want to become better at taking my kids to the library.
As someone with literally thousands of books I have learned that a home library is a personal thing. It has to be your own and it has to work for you. I have no trouble with my collection, I know where everything is and what I have so I don't have to worry about buying duplicates (I highly recommend Libib, if you know you know!) Our household reads and rereads A LOT, but I also know that it would drive many people crazy to have my jampacked shelves.
Awesome job plowing thru those for u and kiddos... seeing that table overwhelmed me. I wonder if there would have been a way to baby step that to ease the overwhelming feeling. But you guys did great.
I love your systems especially for the kiddos! My mama always said make sure they kiddos know the items “home” so they know where it goes when finished. Books are hard for me to purge lol
Great job. To help the children learn to put the books back where they belong, I like the dot method. However, maybe use flowers, or animals or ??? dots/labels (let them choose) and then put a picture of that flower or ??? on the bookshelf where that book belongs.
Hi there Erica, what a fannnntastic job you have done! Good friends of mine who are very minimal, have a large wall dedicated to all their books/bookshelves, it looks so organised, neat and tidy . This emphasised how minimal the other wall spaces look. Great video!!!!!
You can put the seasonal books in with the seasonal decor. That way when you get that season’s decor out, there’s an excitement to read that specific holiday book. I do this with candles and have done it with books in the past.
I can relate to all your book hugs as you were sorting. And classic's are classic for a reason. The only thing that makes me happier is seeing young ones having favorites and really embracing reading.
The books that my children absolutely loved, I've kept. My children are 27 and 24. I'm holding on to those books because I hope to one day have grandchildren to read them to. I have books from when I was little that I read to my own children. Sentimental books never get donated at my house. lol (I'm not a minimalist or a maximalist, I'm somewhere in between.) One thing I've done is to put on facebook market place that I have free books. Several 1st year teachers came and got them. They were so excited!
Our family are avid readers also. At one time the inventory was over 5000! Now down to under 1000. One tip I have is to see if your local library participates in the Inter Library Loan. It is statewide in Texas. Rarely is there a book I want to read that is not in the system and free to borrow!
Kids books are really hard for me to declutter - and my "kids" are 21, 22, 31 and 32! I kept almost all of their board books, pictures books, early novels and science books. Now that I have 3 little grandsons (2, 2 & 1) I have passed along all of the age appropriate books to them! I LOVE reading the same books to my grandbabies that I read to my kids - so many wonderful memories. They aren't quite old enough yet for my favourite series - the "Let's Read and Find Out" series of science books - my kids loved those!
Where can I find these bookshelves?
Hi! Here’s a link: amzn.to/3QsAUIB
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@@michellekathryn44 we love them
@@EricaLucasLoves .
I've been a school librarian for seven years. I can attest to the fact that "weeding" books that are tattered or haven't been read for years lets the rest of the books shine and makes the whole collection more attractive to children! Also, I have to put in a plug for donating books to a local school. Many librarians have no budget besides what they raise through fundraisers. I know I'd LOVE to receive many of the books you decluttered for our library 🙂. I love how you involved your kids in the process!
As the person who handles donations to our local library, THANK YOU for donating to your public library. Although the public libraries get some government support it is never enough and with rising costs of everything, libraries are under stress. Some of your donations may end up on the shelves which saves the library from buying them and some will be sold at very reasonable prices which helps low income families buy them and gives the library some money to buy things not covered in their budget. I love when people donate a lot of children’s books as they are always in demand.
You made me do it. Books that I have own my whole life are now in a giant pile of 260 books to be taken somewhere.
I put all of my seasonal books in my season decor bins. All the Christmas books are with the Christmas bins. We won’t read them in the off season so they aren’t taking up prime real estate on the bookshelf! Nice job decluttering. Books can be very sentimental to me so I have a harder time decluttering them.
samesies
This!
I do this as well!
I tried this, but my kids kept asking for them so now we have them put year-round. At least they’re being read. 📚
This!!!! We do it too!
Keep whatever books you want to keep. Then devise a planned campaign of putting books back. All your kidlets are old enough to do it. Maybe start with encouraging more respect for the book, that it isn’t good for the book to just be tossed around and it might get torn or damaged enough they wouldn’t have it to read anymore. Good luck!
The library is going to love that donation! Ours does book sales to raise funds for books and programs and we love to shop that and then donate back.
I love that you got the kiddoes involved in gathering all books, sorting books and putting them away
IMHO this teaches them cleaning organizing and decluttering skills that will help them all the lifelong 💜
wow! Wow! WOW! Erica! 179 books??? That's amazing! A project well worth the effort and time it took to do this!
PS: As a minimalist, I went from owning roughly 150 books (of my own! not including my husband's or any other family member!) to .... ZERO! If I want a book, I'll get it from the library or read it online/kindle *grin*
That was the most difficult catergory for me to declutter btw. I remember doing a 25 book challenge to a 20 book challenge to a 10 book challenge to....GONE!
INSPIRED! My family of 6 used to be avid physical book readers. now it's more digital, and I've never decluttered any books in my 39 years. I think it's time. I don't want to pack, move and unpack things just to sit on a shelf and collect dust. t
Thanks Erica, I was really excited for this video from you.
Great video. Reminded me of when I use to sort my daughter’s books when she was younger 🥰. I have a suggestion: why don’t you remove the two bins of video games off the book shelves and use the shelves for the chapter books to get them off the floor? You could put the baskets on the shelves or just the books themselves. You could put the bins of games under the bookshelf that had the homeschooling resource and seasonal books. That’s a big job. Congratulations 🎉
Agree with this suggestion. When non-book things start going on the book shelves they loos that cool “home library” feel. And when things start going on the floor that’s an invitation for more things to start going on the floor
Yes, those bins were really bothering me too 😄 Visually and also because it makes more sense to store them with the other gaming stuff.
That's a great idea! I didn't hate the floor baskets, but it makes LOADS more sense for the games to be all together.
WOW now that is a book declutter, you did amazing
I love your shelving units you bought for the library, so easy to pull a book of the shelves for the kids.
Your oldest reminded me of Andy how Andy decluttered, he knew what he wanted and he knew what he could let go…
Well as far as myself, I decluttered books a few months ago, I am the proud owner of just 10 books…. I even donated all my cook books, I never used them…My husband has about 30 books and his are kept in his home office , behind doors in a office armoire … I don’t even see them 😀
This was absolutely fascinating to watch as you explained your thoughts and reasoning on what and why and where to keep or donate! My one suggestion is to perhaps move some of their photo albums to a bin in your large utility closet for them to easily retrieve if they want to look at them, then PUT back when done, or their bedroom closets. This way more books can go on the library shelves so you can keep an eye on whether they are getting messy or strewn around the floor.
Absolutely amazing job! You oldest is such a helper to his little sister and brother - he has a gentle competent air about him and he's always pitching in to help them which is lovely to see. I do believe too much stuff ruins the enjoyment of using the stuff - too many choices doesn't seem to be the path of joy and happiness - it's just confusing and you end up spending more time taking care of the stuff than using the stuff. I loved your declutter plan and how it helped you whenever you had a moment of hesitation - having those questions to ask yourself assisted so much with all the decisions you had to make. Thank you for another very satisfying video 😊
Great job! I know this is a huge relief for you. You could store the seasonal books with the seasonal decor. 💝
Wha?! That’s next level!! Ha
That what I do!
That’s what I do too
I have been doing this for years...It's so nice to know where they are!! (Former Preschool Teacher here) 🙂
Yes! It works great for our family, too!
How perfect! I’m a school librarian. The school year is over and it’s time to weed! It’s so easy for books to get overwhelming. Well done!
Oh! And for seasonal books, I store those in my seasonal bin. I have one large bin for ALL the seasons except Christmas. Every seasonal item, including books, must fit in the bin or we don't keep it.
Christmas has 4 bins + a tree bin. Half a bin is full of our Christmas books!
But this way they're special only seeing them for a month or so out of the year. Mine are always excited to get them out!
I always love when your children help! Nicely done Mom!!
Wow, think of how far you have come in a couple years! Your old self would have only dreamed of such organization. You have made it a reality! Congrats!
What I did was a family bookshelf/family library. Took all books out of the kids rooms. Got rid of all our bookshelves and my friend and her husband made me one unit. It's been a game changer for not only being able to find books but less mess in the kids rooms and everywhere. I don't keep any more books then fit in the space I've designated for them. Good luck with your books!
I’m loving how your kids participated in the decluttering process!
This gave me very nostalgic summer reading challenge vibes. I love going through books in the summer.
I had zero books at home growing up , and lived far away from the library. My only source for books was at school. This is why it is so hard for me to declutter books. I have an entire 5 shelf book case full of just golden books and 2 1/2 totes in garage with books plus a small library type book case in my living room used for rotating books, from favorites to seasonal for my grandkids and child I care for. This is all over whelming buy, I vow to overcome and declutter all of them so like you said when I want a certain book I will be able to find it. I do copy work with my grandkids during the summer so accessibility is important.
You did a great job and I will definitely be using your sorting/decluttering system to go thru all my books. The golden books are toted for now in storage.
Thank you for this video. I'm a new Empty Nester, w/5 homeschool grads. We had 750 kids books, & I used the container method to keep 500 (on the shelves). It really is an enjoyable, but thoughtful process to keep the Tier 1 books, & donate the Tier 3 ones. Our library's book sales depend on community donations, so that's where the surplus went!
Adding = Thrilled to see your 179 book donation to the Library!
I understand how hard it is to give up books, especially ones you love. My mother always taught me that books were my friends and to treat them with great respect. Hence, it was so hard to part with some. Congratulations on such a great accomplishment! I’m sure that there are a lot of children who Will greatly benefit from and enjoy the ones you are donating. 😃
wow n wow! "elevate and prioritize" perfect
It’s amazing how many you were able to part with when the goal was mainly to organize rather than declutter! Shows that your decluttering muscle is strong. I recently realized the books like the Magic Tree House books are fun to read once, but not as exciting to read again and again since most of their appeal is the element of mystery. Have you read the Little House books with your family? My kids and I read them again and again.
I agree!! We stopped buying Magic Tree House too, and any book we can get at the library. We do keep classics that will be re-read, and hidden gems that the Library doesn't own. Its the only way we could stop from being over-run with books. The funny thing is the less we have, the more our "keepers" are treasured and savored.
I have been having a very hard time hearing You and Andy on your videos lately. I enjoy listening to your thought process and most of the time have to put on CC to know the full content.
You are just the coolest. I grew up with my four homeschooling siblings and book loving mother. As adults, we made countless passes of books to purge. I kid you not. Had a garage sale consisting of only books. Hardly anyone came but we enjoyed sitting outside reading. Then donating. It's now manageable (siblings all in thirties/forties I might add). Better to keep on top of it like you are... I can imagine the joy! If you haven't already, tell your kids the new rules! 💙
WOW!! Your mom rocks! For her to do the photo album labor of love is HUGE. Also, great job on the books!! I agree with you, books are SO hard to declutter. And raising readers - another "great job, Mama"
I really enjoy your decluttering videos. The typical sped up version of video that many people do isn't as enjoyable or helpful as your videos that show the thought process you go through as to you declutter. Thanks for sharing!
What a joy to watch your kids be so excited for reading and working together! Love your decision chart!
Maybe baskets by their beds for favorites, or current reads? Might keep them from
Messing up the shelves?
I love my kindle for minimizing the book clutter, it’s easier to read than paper book at night, and I get the thrill of shopping for books by shopping what’s on Libby and at my library.
I had to watch this entire video. I love books, too ! I’m proud to say that over the years, I’ve donated at least 1/2 of my books. I still have 2 large shelves‘ worth. I recently did a mini re-organization of them. I feel a bit anxious b/c sometime when I move next, I’ll prefer to again have only 1/2 as many books. Many I haven’t read, or feel I need to keep to re-read. “Is it in the library?” Great question ! I’m glad to see your all family’s books : I’m not alone! Some of my categories are : Art, Music, History / Politics, Religion, Literature, Reference, Personal Growth, Hawaiian Culture, E Indian Culture, Anthropology, Decluttering, Poetry, & more ! Fabulous job on donating 100 + books ! I’m so glad that you are all avid readers.
There are many of us who are not kindle, audio or books on tapes people (me) I love the feel of my books and my first memory is my mother reading to us and teaching me the love of books. This is what I see with your video today as over the years I ended up with a major issue with books, I used the Dana White method of container. I have one large book case and smaller one in the bedroom and that is my limit. It has taken years to sort down and know what to keep. I agree organization and how and when to let books go. Thanks so much for your video today.
I'm a professional gardener, and have soooooo many garden books. I've also realised that I'm a very visual learner (think pictures, charts, diagrams), so if a book has 'too many words' it's donated. Your flowchart worked fantastic for me (oh, that would be the visual learner thing 🤦).
Erica, seeing all those books just gave me anxiety. 😑 I'm super good at organizing, but even so.. WOW.
You did so well!
Your kids are awesome. So helpful. So sweet.
All the "after" shots are so calmimg.
Cheers
Might it help everyone in the family if Andy gave a demonstration about how he arranges and cares for his books? Once you determine where you want various books to live in your household, you and Andy could present the changes as a one month challenge for everyone’s participation. I know young readers often read several books at a time so maybe you could cut some books marks for the kids with the words Challenge or some such expression. At the end of the month you could have a family review to discuss what you all have learned, and a trip to your family’s favorite bookstore. I love books too. I cannot imagine life without to joy of reading. Thank you for your engaging content on your channel. 📕📗📘
I like to store my seasonal and holiday books in the bins with those types of decorations. My children love when we get a seasonal bin out to decorate and they are so excited about the “new” books that they sit down to read for a long period of time… and I can enjoy decorating by myself.
For scientific books, you kinda have to look at the publication dates and keep the newer (thus updated) ones :)
I love books as well! I sort out science and history into subcategories like plants, human body, space, early American history, etc in each of the cubes in our shelves. I also love using an app to keep track of what books I have and where they are stored in our house. I can quickly scan a book at a store and see if I already own it which has cut out on duplicates. I also use washi tape to color code books which makes putting it away easy for even the youngest.
What app do you use for that?
I too would like to know which app you used for that.
oh my goodness Erica!❤️. I turned on TH-cam and was ready declutter a bookshelf that's just mine! 4 boxes to go to church h of devotionals and bible studies. our families first time through last year we had 16 good size boxes that one person could lift.
our family has a great love for books and it wasn't an easy task but like you I had a plan.
I love audio books to listen in my commute or while walking or biking. so I went to my library app, confirmed it was there in audio and put it on my favorites list.
if it wasn't or it was a bible study I had to make hard choices if i was goibg to really read it. as for bible study books I kept it only if knew it was a topic I still wanted to do.
thanks for your help. I really was able to reevaluate my choices and work along with you. ❤️
Erica, I retired from teaching one year ago, and just this week boxed up my favorite teacher resource books. I held on to them to see if I really was going to do Story Hour or pull from these ideas for another purpose in my new era. I found that I can let go of them if I know they will be loved. So I arranged to deliver them to the district where I worked prior to their August In-service, where they always have a 'materials swap'. Perfect!
Great job on the books giveaway. You are so patient with your children and that is wonderful to see. I agree, books are hard to give away, but I love seeing children with the love of reading. The way they learn is so enhanced. Thanks for sharing !!
Love how involved the kids were when deciding what to keep. That pile alone seems like an overwhelming trip to the car! But such a blessing to pass those wonderful stories onto someone else! I’m akin to Andy with series & favorite authors. So hard to let go of, even though I could probably find every Michael Crichton book at the library lol
Yes! In fact I’m going to make a video about that second step of Decluttering.
Erica , consider keeping a small number of truly loved books from kids as they grow. I have done that with my kids truly loved toddler books. Now my kids are grown and their kids love reading same books their mum and dad did. Honestly I kept about 20 but my heart is overflowing listening to those treausred stories again and sharing with my grandsons.
I keep a selection of daytime kids' books in the livingroom and bedtime books in my son's room, both selections accessible to a short person. He's an early reader, so I have some he can sound out for himself and various levels. I feel so happy when he picks one out for himself and just as happy when he asks me to read something for him. I love watching him learn. Sometimes when we're both bored, I grab the first book I see to read together and it makes me feel more connected with him and more engaged.
For myself, I have the Harry Potter series and a few favourite books, two "educational" books I may or may not finish, and my kindle. I think I will finish one educational book and not the other. One favourite book has migrated into my bedroom.
I want a better place of honour to put the favourites on display, but our shelves are all low, so that was putting them at too much risk with a young kid whose feet and hands are WAY too busy. I don't want him to be yelled at for abusing them, either. I try to make our house have more "yeses" than "nos", because there will always be some nos, but it's his home, too.
But those books I've kept physical copies of are the books that make me smile. They spark joy even when I'm not reading them. 🥰🥰🥰
Edit: I will say that for some of my favourite series I DON'T own the physical copies. I might buy them down the line, if and when I have a nice spot to put them. But after a decade of growing into minimalism and still feeling like we have too much with young kids... I'm not in a hurry to add more to manage! 🤣
When our kids were little we had a basket in our lounge that we used to keep our library books in. It was about the size of the one that you put books into on the floor of your library. We kept the book bag with it. The kids could take the books out of the basket and read them whenever/wherever they wanted. A favorite spot was on a bean bag in the sunshine by our lounge window. Our library gave us a print out with a list of all the book titles each time we took out books. The kids used to enjoy crossing their book off the list when they'd finished reading it and putting it in the bag to go back to the library. Another thing they liked to do was pretend that they were a book monitor and they'd walk around the house asking different family members if they'd finished with any of the books still on the list. They usually did this the either the night before or the morning of our library trip.
Thank you for a super inspiring video! I decluttered hundreds of books several years ago but I continued to buy more books, then more books, then more books. Your video here inspired me to depart with over 70 books in Round 1 of a new spurt of book decluttering. I am sure it will take me a few more rounds of serious decluttering to get my book space under control. What helped me the most was your book decision flow chart. I had some very nice classics that I might want to read someday (at least the Fantasy Me wants to read them) but knowing that I can get them at the library or online later helped me let them go out of my designated book space. I had never used that criteria before in my book decluttering episodes. That is actually incredibly helpful. I discovered that I had two copies of Charles Dickens’s “Pickwick Papers.” I didn’t know I had two copies. You know what a huge volume that story is, although I did keep “Little Dorrit”because I liked its easy-to-read binding. But, as I type this, I’m giving that decision a second thought. It might be even need a third thought. . . Thank you again. Well done!
Oh, I have kept a lot of books from our 34 year old daughter! Grands read them and then I still keep them😃. I have such good memories with those good old friends!
Just love watching you work through verbally your process for decluttering. (I have watched you since the dreded basement days.. this from a 65 year with no kids/granchildren.)
My daughter loves Mercy Watson too. It is so cool to see your daughter get excited about the same books. Decluttering books is difficult for us also. One day at a time🙂
Procedures and routines are magic!
I am a teacher. On of my favorite books for 5th grade, but something your oldest might enjoy: Weslandia by Paul Fleischman. I’m so glad he loves The Hardy Boys!! That series was how I started chapter books. :)
And Nancy Drew! 😍
Great job! I couldnt get rid of books for sooo many decades.
As a child in the 80s books were rare, and my parents didnt like me to read books that were not the holy books since they are radical religious. I was so deprived of literature, knowledge in every category.
After years of attending various universities and getting degrees specialized in my job on top of it, i gathered so many books which were expensiv and i had to use them, couldnt resell bc i needed them. And i tried to compensate the lack of education in my teen years.
I had also interest in everything, in many languages, and i ended up expanding my library so much.
Currently i go to university again. Luckily, most science and medicine books are passed to me as free pdf version, which saves me money and space as well and carry them on my tablet.
In the last 5 years, i minimalized a lot of books, dvds, clothing, kitchen stuff, decoration etc, i reduced spending and shopping so i can work only part time and afford to go to university again.
There will be happy families getting your donated books 🤗
Keep up being "minimalish" ❤
Wow, it looks so good! I think the thing that got me to declutter more is seeing the library as an extension of my shelves. This works especially for kids who already read chapter books, we definitely had more books before. My daughter is most exited about books when they arrive fresh at our house, so we kind of use the library as our natural book rotation. Yes, sometimes she has to wait a day or two to get a specific book, sometimes even longer time if it’s very popular, but she is used to it by now and she can always find something else to loan in the meantime. And she is much more exited for it when the book finally arrives! Wed have about 5-6 books on loan at a time and it is plenty for her to choose from without it being overwhelming. It also helps her to stay focused on books and not start 10 at a time and forget she started them. She rereads often, but then she she can just get them from the library again. She a couple of her favourites on the shelves, but to be honest I don’t know when she last touched them, new library books are more exiting.
Another thing I do is having a google sheets to keep track of series. I have a sheet on the series she reads now, one on the ones where she is waiting for the next to come out, one on the finished ones she might want to reread and one on the new ones she hasn’t started. It is a great way to keep track of progress and always know what to get from the library (especially if it is an anticipated release you might want to get I queue for) and also remind her if there is a series she wanted to start.
I'm pleased as punch that you did this. I have mentioned to you before that I utilize your channel for homeschooling gifts and just stuff I might want around my house for when the grandkids come and this was another great one for me. EXCEPT you didn't say the author of the books that you still love to read to your kids that are probably too young for them now...
Thank you! This is exactly what I needed today. I have been struggling with books. All of the homeschool books, different levels of readers, etc.
I really like your approach, with this being about staying healthy and improving health and not focused on weight loss as such. I can see how you're not depriving yourself at all and its great to see a "weight loss diet" that works with that mindset. I feel that food deprivation is a sure fire way to messing a person up and causing binge eating and the resultant weight gain
As a former homeschool mother (now my 5 granddaughters are homeschooled) I really relate with this. I wish you’d been around as we moved all the books from house to house! I recognized several titles including The Way Things Work by David McCauley. Loved this!
I was looking forward to the book declutter!! I love you all tackled this as a family. I have a 2 year who loves reading and I only keep books that have realistic pictures or the illustrations are close enough. That's because I do montessori at home. Those principles help me declutter books quickly. if she received some as a gift that do not fit our needs I pass them on with gratitude. Our baby boy is due in a few weeks, I hope he will love books just like my daughter. :) I plan on home schooling them in the future. Your videos give me a realistic idea of how I can go about schooling the kids, a topic that usually overwhelms me. Haha! Thanks!
You would be a perfect person to start a little free library at your house; if someone hadn’t already said that. From one book lover to another! 💕 📚
It might be worth also having a bag or basket upstairs for library books as well; its quite an ask expecting a child (or adult!) to schlep downstairs everytime they finish a book. : )
Great job Erica!!!!! I love the book decision tree.
So inspiring how you continue to declutter! I love books, but have paired way down.
Great video, my daughter and I love reading.... I prefer getting from the library, but my daughter loves having her own collection. Can't walk past second hand books without coming home with an armful 📚😁
We love books! This was so helpful to see how you decided what to keep and why and HOW to organize them! Thanks
You did a fantastic job! Looks great! We store holiday books in our seasonal bins!
Nice idea!
Your kids are a joy to watch. And great job on all those books! What a great collection.
We had a lot of books when we lived in the UK, I slimmed them down a lot when I discovered minimalism, but we still had a fair few. Then, when we moved to Canada I had to fit everything we owned into 3 suitcases, so I had to sell, donate and trash 99% of all our stuff. Rebuilding has really enabled me to focus on what is truly important to us as a family, rather than focusing on wants.
I currently have 2 cook books, the rest I have gone 100% digital on my kobo, my partner has 6 books that he loves and is currently reading through. Most of our books are the kids, graded readers and bedtime story books that get read over and over, once I feel they are done they will get sold or donated, replaced with more age suitable reading material as they grow. Being in an apartment while we save for a house may be part of this as we do not have the space for large collections of items, but I feel we have enough.
Hats off to you for home schooling and managing to minimise in that area, I know that I could not do that. I love watching your decluttering and minimalism videos they inspire me to keep our space minimal, my struggle now is more in not letting too much come into the home and being intentional with purchases. If I don’t buy it, I don’t have to declutter it later.
I totally agree with you on books - if we are actually using them, there can't really be too many. It's so nice to go through the books just to remember what you have and will read!
I LOVED this one! Supremely helpful. I like your decision-making questions. Favorite question: “Does my library have this?”.
Have you thought about using the library to introduce a series rather than buying the first book? We used the library with my daughter as the primary source for her books and only bought those that she absolutely loved.
Another thought about donating books, so you know if your library would take them? Those books that you had second thoughts on, you could always borrow them back from your library, but would also benefit other kids and families.
Erica, You don’t “know” me, but in my mind we’re besties!! I introduce your channel to my friends as “my good friend Erica’s channel”.😂 In fact, you may recall that I am the viewer/uh hum, friend! who first suggested you refer to yourself as minimal-ISH several years ago. Loved this video, as I’m an avid reader, I have an 11-year-old avid reader, and I’m an elementary teacher/total bibliophile-especially for children’s books! (Those Aaron Becker wordless books are amazing, and we have them all too! They will never leave this house while I’m alive.) Enjoy your new organization and keep being awesome! We love you!🌟
…and don’t even get me started on Mercy Watson and Kate DiCamillo!! Swoon!
33:33 WOW ERICA! 179 books?! Great work!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I know this video is older but I just had to comment. Our kids books were just completely out of control and all I could bring myself to was to declutter a book here or there. This video FINALLY was one that resonated with me. Over 200 books donated, many never opened and tons of board books, so it feels as if half our home library is gone due to how much space those take.
Our preschooler and toddler are avid readers, they spend half their day "reading" or wanting to be read to. But the amount of books was just too overwhelming at this point and they started not being able to find their favorites and had trouble putting them away, which just caused a giant mess every day.
We also go to the library twice a week, which means we really don't need this endless supply we had at home. We are enrolled in the imagination library and family always give them more books since everyone knows how much they love reading so it'll be a continuous effort now to keep our collection manageable. But thanks to this video I know now that I can do it and no longer dread new incoming books.
I'm a butterfly too, so 100% yes - toy rotation and book rotation does not work for me. Plus ADHD, so just the thought of all those steps that go into a rotation system stress me out immensely. Plus, when I tried it, my kids constantly asked for what wasn't currently out (they like to see their things as well 😂 ). So now that we're down to only keeping toys that they play with at least weekly, it's so manageable and they can clean up by themselves (toys are by no means minimal for us, our place looks like a daycare but a very tidy and organized one 😊 ). But I never could figure out a reasonable book system that is sustainable and manageable. This video was really amazing to me. Thank you so much.
The only thing I haven't found a solution for, is how to organize all those paperback books and early reader books. They are so cluttered for a visual person and difficult to find what you're looking for. I used to have them in a large over the door hanger, which was great but I have the library books in there now to keep them visual and separate from our other books, which has been working great. So if anyone is reading this and has an idea, I'd be grateful. I tried to organize them like I often see Kindergarten classroom libraries organize, in bins by category but for whatever reason, my kids stopped reading them that way, so that's not a solution for us.
Btw, our photo albums situation used to look similar to yours, but I actually found a really good and compact solution for that. I got one of those photo storage boxes that have these smaller inner photo organizers inside. So instead of having to lug a big album around, my kids can just grab one inner organizer and put it back easily afterwards. They are also so great to use the container method with and a breeeze to change categories with our ever-growing collection and combine, separate, declutter based on interest and making sure to keep all the favorites regardless. Maybe this helps someone.
You have a bookshelf for each of your boys, get one for your girl's room as well and put her books on it. I know I enjoyed my books being in my room as a kid. We had individual books in our room and our shared books out we we could all access them.
I clicked SO fast! In a way I like that you have books everywhere because it shows your familys love for reading. But on the other hand it would totally drive me crazy to not have them organized 😅 wow, you did an AMAZING job with this declutter 👏👏👏🥳😎 I have a library (it’s just a few bookshelves together and an armchair in a part of a room) that I just decluttered. My kids have their favourites in their rooms and I have even more kids books from my childhood saved, and will keep on saving them. I love books and reading. This summer I want to become better at taking my kids to the library.
Great job! It is wise to involve the kids and they will be able to enjoy finding and reading their books!
I am caring for my great nephew, 18 months, while homeschooling my 13 year old, and we love 10 tiny toes!
Nice declutter and reorg. Looks like your daughter is ready for her won bookshelf.
As someone with literally thousands of books I have learned that a home library is a personal thing. It has to be your own and it has to work for you. I have no trouble with my collection, I know where everything is and what I have so I don't have to worry about buying duplicates (I highly recommend Libib, if you know you know!) Our household reads and rereads A LOT, but I also know that it would drive many people crazy to have my jampacked shelves.
Awesome job plowing thru those for u and kiddos... seeing that table overwhelmed me. I wonder if there would have been a way to baby step that to ease the overwhelming feeling. But you guys did great.
I love your systems especially for the kiddos! My mama always said make sure they kiddos know the items “home” so they know where it goes when finished. Books are hard for me to purge lol
Great job. To help the children learn to put the books back where they belong, I like the dot method. However, maybe use flowers, or animals or ??? dots/labels (let them choose) and then put a picture of that flower or ??? on the bookshelf where that book belongs.
Wow! I'm impressed at your decluttering methods! Looks great!
Hi there Erica, what a fannnntastic job you have done!
Good friends of mine who are very minimal, have a large wall dedicated to all their books/bookshelves, it looks so organised, neat and tidy . This emphasised how minimal the other wall spaces look. Great video!!!!!
You can put the seasonal books in with the seasonal decor. That way when you get that season’s decor out, there’s an excitement to read that specific holiday book. I do this with candles and have done it with books in the past.
I can relate to all your book hugs as you were sorting. And classic's are classic for a reason. The only thing that makes me happier is seeing young ones having favorites and really embracing reading.
Ooh, Encyclopedia Brown! I loved that series.
Ahhhhh watching this video made me put MORE books in my amazon cart instead of wanting to declutter!! Love your channel :)
Love this video.
Interesting to watch the stages you went through to obtain the finished result.
The books that my children absolutely loved, I've kept. My children are 27 and 24. I'm holding on to those books because I hope to one day have grandchildren to read them to. I have books from when I was little that I read to my own children. Sentimental books never get donated at my house. lol (I'm not a minimalist or a maximalist, I'm somewhere in between.) One thing I've done is to put on facebook market place that I have free books. Several 1st year teachers came and got them. They were so excited!
Our family are avid readers also. At one time the inventory was over 5000! Now down to under 1000. One tip I have is to see if your local library participates in the Inter Library Loan. It is statewide in Texas. Rarely is there a book I want to read that is not in the system and free to borrow!
Thank you for this video. My family and I are big readers and decluttering books has been a struggle for me!
Kids books are really hard for me to declutter - and my "kids" are 21, 22, 31 and 32! I kept almost all of their board books, pictures books, early novels and science books. Now that I have 3 little grandsons (2, 2 & 1) I have passed along all of the age appropriate books to them! I LOVE reading the same books to my grandbabies that I read to my kids - so many wonderful memories. They aren't quite old enough yet for my favourite series - the "Let's Read and Find Out" series of science books - my kids loved those!
Secret of the apple tree is one of our favorites!
This was a terrific project and I was so motivated.
I gasped when I saw the title lol hopeless book worm here!