How do you keep your kids' toys organized?

We just got back from a road trip and, after several days in my uncle and aunt's pristine, gorgeously decorated, child-free home, I have to admit that my own house feels like a pig's sty.

There's mud on the carpets. Something gritty under the kitchen table. Things scattered on countertops. Laundry piled on the floor of our bedroom. A downstairs bathroom counter full of bottles and brushes. And a toy-filled family room that is starting to cause problems. Granted, we have five kids, but still.
 
My husband, who does not have my tendency to clutter, has been after me to get rid of many of the toys that fill what used to be our semi-tidy TV room, and I'll be honest with you, I've resisted. "The littlest kids still play with that," I tell him, putting the plastic farm house back on top of the toy box. "What good is a train table if you hide the trains in the basement?" I ask, shoving pieces of wooden tracks into a small bin. He doesn't seem irritated by the big-kid toys in the room -- the drum kit for "Rock Band" or the steering wheel and pedals he and our teens and tween use to play various games on the XBox -- just by the stuff that keep our 4- and 2-year-olds amused.

And I wonder... is it really a clutter issue after all? Since I don't have a degree in psychology, let's say it is.

The most psychological I'll get about it is admitting that I don't see clutter if I think it's temporary. Seriously: If it's something that I figure won't be used for very long, whether it's a couple of days or a couple of years, I tend to look past it at the rest of the room. Dirt, I can see right away -- the mud on the carpet is making me want to vacuum, even though it's past midnight right now and I hate to vacuum. But the wooden blocks and train pieces and farm animals and stacks of colored paper? They don't register.

But I'm all about keeping the peace. So, tell me: How do you fit cleaning or decluttering into your work-life juggle? And what do you do about toys that your older kids have outgrown but your younger kids still enjoy?

Lylah M. Alphonse writes about juggling career and parenthood at The 36-Hour Day and Work It, Mom!, and blogs at Write. Edit. Repeat.