I have never enjoyed what you might call an austere minimalist design theme in my living areas, mainly because I am a packrat and kind of messy and I’m not very good at picking up as I go. My husband is even worse than I am (I mean, at least I don’t take off my socks and just . . . leave them on the living room floor, for the love of god), but even the two of us combined have NOTHING on the impact a kid has on a household’s decor. Toys, clothes, furniture, balls — and that’s just the toddler! The baby gear takes up even more space, and I sometimes suspect everything is multiplying in the dead of night like Tribbles.
So I’m always on the lookout for good storage solutions for kids’ stuff. Currently we have two major places I’m keeping toys: one is a big tote I have in the family room (it looks a little bit like this, only wider and without the fake croc detailing), the other is a wonderful wooden toy chest in the toddler’s room that doubles as a bench (sort of like this). However, even though I try and pare down and rotate the toys on an ongoing basis, it’s clear to me I need MORE places to cram all the children’s accouterments — especially during that glorious time of night when they have gone to bed and the adults can spend a minute or two de-cluttering before settling in front of So You Think You Can Dance.
Tot Tutors Deluxe Wood Organizer. I like this colorful bin organizer, the open tops make it a perfect place to just toss stuff in a hurry. Plus, you can just take down a whole bin at a time if you need, say, a bunch of crayons or something.
Klutter Katchers. This is a cool idea: mesh bags for storing small, easily-misplaced items. I’ve been keeping some things in Ziplocs, but they tend to fall apart over time.
Canvas Book Display. Love this book holder, although I wonder if smaller books would end up getting hidden behind larger ones.
Arch Book Browser. This storage “browser” can hold both books and toys, and while the pricetag is quite steep ($250) I really like how it looks.
Lifestyle Storage Chest. I don’t think this plastic storage chest would look all that great in the house, but we need something weather-proof for the toddler’s outdoor toys — this seems perfect.
Parents Busy Bench. A cute storage bench that doubles as an activity center — looks like a neat addition to a very young toddler’s room.
Aqua Strip Crunch Can. I have one of these and it’s awesome, I use it as a laundry hamper for Riley’s room and I bring it with me when we travel, because it crunches nearly flat.
Via Toy Boxes. These boxes (which are meant to be stacked) are crazy expensive, but they look amazing. They come in a ton of different colors and feature a variety of fronts.
Magic Cubes. The advantage of these canvas cubes is that they can be twisted completely flat when they’re not in use — another good item to travel with.
If you’ve got any storage products or tips to share, please do so! My living room thanks you in advance.
I love that canvas book rack! I bet my husband could make that pretty easily in whatever size and color canvas I wanted. Project!
Downstairs in our family room, we have an antique cabinet-thingy that had two cabinet doors on the bottom that we removed and then painted the inside flat black. That left an opening about 2 feet wide, 1 foot tall & a little over a foot deep. That space is perfect for two 11″ cubes similar to the Magic Cubes you listed. The ones I got were only about $6-$8 at Target in the ClosetMaid section. They come in several fabric colors or red, black or brown faux leather.
Next to that cabinet we have a little basket full of books. Other than that, if a toy doesn’t fit in one of those two cubes it goes upstairs in the playroom.
In the playroom, I’ve got a couple of really cheap 2-shelf bookshelves (Target, Wal-Mart, BigLots, etc.) with more of those fabric cubes from Target. Love those things!
Cara | May 30th, 2008 at 4:43 am
I really like the first one with the open compartments. Right now we have a toy chest that can also be used as a bench (it’s plastic) and it is totally stuffed to the max. We do have a giant book shelf and plastic totes too. Our problem is all of the bigger stuff that we can’t put into the totes or toy box, remote control vehicles etc.
Eric's Mommy | May 30th, 2008 at 11:34 am
We have something similar to the first in our playroom and to be honest, I hate it! When I first bought it I would seperate all of their small toys into the appropriate bins until I realised that I was spending waaaaay too much time cleaning up. Now we just use them to throw all the smaller pieces of large toys into. If the kids are ever missing a part of something they tend to dump each of the bins though until they find what they are looking for.
Like another commentor already said, our biggest issue is the larger toys that take up too much space in the traditional toy bins. Ive been contemplating buying some shelves that can be placed far enough apart that they give enough room for the larger toys but also can not fall over or be used for climbing.
Cherish | May 30th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
We had that first bin organizer and hated it, also we hated the big plastic toy chest. The toy chest went to grandma’s house and we gave the bin thing to a friend. We now have 2 of these http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=260282-63605-901&lpage=none and one of these http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=260264-63605-1016&lpage=none in our daughters room and we love them. We put stuffed animals and dolls on the top of the bench and stack puzzles and dress up shoes on the small shelves underneath. For the cubby holes we bought some of these canvas bins http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=260292-63605-1012&lpage=none and we left some of the holes open to use as shelves for her books and we even put doors on two of the holes and she keeps her coloring and painting stuff in one and a couple of her bulkier toys in the other. The best part is she pulls out one bin at a time and plays with what ever is in it, cars or dress up stuff or her little animals and when she is done she puts everything back in the bin and puts the bin back where it goes. The best part is these could work in any room not just the kid’s room and they are great to teach children to pick up after themselves because it is so easy to keep organized. Because trust me I am so very not organized but these make it so easy.
Sorry for such a long winded comment.
Dawn | May 30th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I bought some of these http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/S49819508 at IKEA for our playroom - and they work well in there for storage.
IN the family room I have tow low square wicker style laundry hampers for toys. They blend in with our decor and when it is adult time - they double as extra end tables for drinks and plates.
Sleepynita | May 31st, 2008 at 11:24 pm
I have twin 2 year old boys & a lot of stuff. I love plastic shoe organizers. I use them everywhere & not just for shoes. I use them in the play room behind the closet door to hold little toys such as matchbox cars. I use them in their bathroom to hold water toys (the toys dry in the pockets w/out molding) & all their soaps & lotions. I use them in the coat closet to hold gloves, hats & small umbrellas. The best part is they are cheap. Any home store sells them for $10-$14 & if you have a coupon then they can be 20% less. I hope this helps.
Lori Bruhns | June 1st, 2008 at 2:12 am
We use one of these in our playroom :
http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/50103086
except laid on its side. It’s great because it holds larger toys- we fit lots of little people play sets in the cubes and on top. They have a 4×4 and a 5×5 shape too, but I was worried about kiddos climbing up the tall ones. They also sell door and drawer inserts that fit inside. I love it so much I’m thinking about getting a second one. I think they’ll still be useful as bookshelves after we’re done with all the big baby toys.
We also have something like this:
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/hd8501/index.cfm?pkey=rromplycre
but my father-in-law made ours because haaaa, $500 for a kid’s table and carts haaaa.
Laura | June 1st, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Thanks for this piece — I really need some help with setting up my new house toy-wise. Right now for toys the best thing I have is a lap desk from Michael’s like this: http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=kd0947
Marlo’s really into coloring and I keep paper on one side and markers in the other!
I second the over-the-door shoe organizer…I also use one in the home office as a neatly organized “junk drawer”.
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