"Toys Were Taking Over Our Family Room"
 Before (PHOTO: FRANCES JANISCH)

The problem: Two working parents plus four children equals a family room that's comfortable but chaotic. Leighann Greco, 37, and her husband, Vincent, 39, of Flanders, New Jersey, had plans to deal with the mess �? but when Leighann was confined to a leg cast and her husband had surgery, says Greco, "the project was sidelined."
The solution: New York City organizing pro Nancy Heller, founder of Goodbye Clutter (goodbyeclutter.com), showed Leighann how to tackle the family room (which the busy mom also used as an office) one area at a time. A key change: Heller moved the gifts that had been stored in a file cabinet into a closet. Then she put the file cabinet �? now filled with old files �? in the basement.

Board games that were once stashed in the hall closet now have their own shelf in the wall unit. "That created space in the closet for hats, gloves, mittens and scarves," says Leighann. While clearing out an old plastic toy chest, she struggled with its sticking drawers and had a revelation: "No wonder the kids never put things away �? the drawers were too hard to open!" Heller encouraged Leighann to figure out which toys the four kids, ages five to 11, play with regularly. Some toys were moved upstairs, to the children's bedrooms, and favorites were assigned accessible storage spots. It's easier to enforce cleanup now that the kids know where things belong.

Organizing must-have: Wicker bins from Linens 'n Things and Pier 1 Imports. They hide the toys but keep the room looking grown-up.

Leighann's lightbulb moment: "I realized that it's easier to file a bill or put something away immediately than to put it in a 'do it later' pile. Because then the pile takes an hour �? and I don't have that kind of time."