Greenfield Family Has Too Much Stuff

My kids have a lot of stuff.

Admittedly, so do I, but I have three kids and they all share one room in our tiny little house. What would be the third bedroom is used as an office/storage room. It stores toys (theirs) and sewing supplies (mine). Plus, my husband needs a room to work in, so that's it.

As for the kids, the smaller they are, the bigger their stuff. Bouncy seats, swings, strollers, car seats, pack-n-plays, play mats, big plastic toys. You and relatives buy all the latest and greatest, and invariably what they love the most is your magazine and the tag on their blankets.

When they reach toddler age through preschool, the toys multiply. Instead of one or two puzzles, you suddenly have 20. More than 50 board books. Farm sets, dollhouses, car sets, train sets and more. Ooops, forgot about Legos.

In early elementary school come the collectibles. Polly Pockets, My Little Pony, Pokemon, Fancy Nancy, Olivia, Zhu Zhu Pets, Pet Shops and Barbies. 
My oldest has stuff, too. Magazines, hair stuff, nail polish, journals, paper (loads of paper), little figurines.

I feel that we have too much stuff. Have you heard about the book Simplicity Parenting? The author, Kim John Payne, recommends first getting rid of half of your children's toys (donating or giving away) and then I believe he says to do the same with the remaining half. He has some great arguments about how overwhelmed and overstimulated children are with all this stuff. I believe he may be right. My kids drape themselves on the couch complaining about how they have nothing to do all the time. But, then again, sometimes they really play with their toys. And it makes me sad to think about taking them away.

Well, what's a mom to do? I have about five large plastics boxes of toys in the basement they can ask me to bring up for play. They also have about twice that on the two main living floors filled with the above mentioned stuff. I need some advice. How would you go about it? Wait until the outgrow the "stuff"? Reduce the amount in each category? Eliminate some categories?

We've given away about 25 Barbies already and still have about 20 left! We've also whittled down the books (we still probably have more than 50), dress-up clothes, baby dolls, stuffed animals (don't get me started!), Play-Doh and more. They still occasionally play with every toy left (I've given away everything they haven't played with in over three months), but someone help me figure out what to do with the rest. Please!