My kids have a TON of small toys that go to sets of toys and I am having a hard time finding a way to store them without making the house look cluttered. RIght now I have one of those tub storage shelves and my kids just dump all the toys out and play with the tubs. I know...why not let them play with the tubs? NOt that I mind them doing that but then I have every little toy spread all over my house and it is like pulling teeth to get them to pick them up. I would love to have a storage bin with other small storage bins on the inside so it can be tucked away and look neat. I am looking for something inexpensive and am not opposed to making it myself if I knew what I needed. Any ideas of how I can make this? I also am looking for dress up storage. I would love to have it themed so they know it is for dress up things.
A friend used an old entertainment center to house the toys. She put felt on the inside of the drawers and even made a puppet theater where the TV would go. It was on wheels so it could be moved for the theater. The only toys allowed out of the kid's rooms were the toys kept in there. The toys were rotated and small parts were not allowed (out of the room) because they had pets.
I just got the Expedit unit that K. A. mentioned below. I'm using it for bigger toys, so I didn't end up putting any bins in them. However, the bins are good (they have a few different kinds) and I may use them someday. We got one that is 4 x 2, but they also come 2 x 2 and 4 x 4 (that is the number of cubbies, not the size).
I have other similar ones from Pottery Barn Kids that I also really like. In those, I do have a few baskets. One holds cars, one holds blocks, and one holds dress up clothes. The other shelves have things like board games, puzzles, big cars & trucks, coloring books, etc.
We also have a couple of "catch all" baskets that hold the toys that can't really be grouped with anything else.
Picking up is still a pain in the neck and my kids make a huge fuss about it, but at least everything has a place.
I have tried several things (toy boxes, baskets, bins etc.).
What works best now? Plastic see through shoe box bins.
You can get them for $1/ea, see through them & they are small enough to
store in entertainment center cabinets or under the bed (closet, too).
This way they can see what's in the shoebox & pull it out to play with.
For dress up clothes, I first I used one of those kid's cardboard toybox w/a
lid (looks like a treasure chest shape) but they quickly outgrew that so I
bought one of those 3 shelved drawer plastic totes by Rubbermaid. It's on caster wheels too so I can move it about the house. It can house their
scarves, princess dresses, crowns, cowboy hats, heels, toy guns, binoculars, badges, army hats etc.
We use the Itso cubes from Target for the "big storage" and small Rubbermaid containers (think shoebox and lunch sized) for the smaller sets and things with small pieces. We also rearranged my son's closet to function as a toy closet as well. He's little and doesn't need a HUGE closet for clothing. Half for clothing and half with shelving for toys. It's kept the mess contained pretty well. My daughter is very little, so her things are in cloth bins around the living room so that she can get to them. We also go through their things pretty regularly and trash/donate items that they have outgrown.
Get an Ikea Expedit organization unit. Get the bins that go in them. Then, buy small, clear storage containers and label them (if you're into that, that is!) and stack them in the Ikea bins, which then go into the cubes in the organization units.
Well, my son is now 10 se the wee parts games and sets are mostly vehind us.
I was never interested in having the shelf/bin/basket approach displayed in the house.
Best thing we ever did? We bought 2 armoires from Ikea andEVERYTHING got stored in there--out of sight until he opened it & located what he wanted. And it can look neat in 5 or 10 minutes, if needed. Doors that close are a wonderful thing.
Honestly, the investment wasn't THAT big when you consider all of the bins, shelves, plastic boxes, etc you might buy & it will still look cluttered & junky!
For games & pieces? Ziplock bags IN the original game boxes. Never list a piece of a board game yet.
Good luck!
You could get any kind of shelf, book shelf, etc and then buy plastic totes and baskets to fit what you need - could get different sized containers too.
For dress up stuff, I would just use one large bin, tote, chest etc. And I LOVE hooks on the wall for dress up stuff!!!! So maybe put the tote/chest full of misc items and then put a bunch of hooks, or hook board thing up behind the chest??? I like to hang up large items and purses, bags etc. You can also hang up a bag and use that for storage of scarves, hats etc. OH - and I also love the over the door shoe organizer things - you can put dress up shoes and other items in it!
we do shoe boxes in this house.
Not what you asked as such, but have you considered removing/ donating/ regifting 1/3 to half the toys? there goes 1/3 to half your clutter problem. Alternatively, maybe you can get a few large storage bins, and put a couple of toys in each i.e. 2 puzzles, some kind of blocks, some kind of bars, some games, some dolls, some dress up, some craft supplies. Keep the storage bins in the garage. Allow one or two out a week and rotate.
Anything that we have that has pieces, that isn't somehow self contained goes into a ziplock first.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
Check out Pinterest for storage ideas. I have gotten so many awesome ideas.
I use cubes like the ones Maureen suggested -- you can put pictures of the toys that belong in each if they're too young to read. and I also used big sterilite drawers for dress up accessories and small costumes and hooks on the wall for larger costumes.
