My husband and I don’t have kids and so the few toys we have – for little ones who visit, not my husband (most of the time) – fit nicely in a storage ottoman in our bedroom.
But I do have a pair of 2-year-old nieces and lots of friends with kids so I have some sense of the importance of toy storage. Therefore, I'm not surprised at all toy storage ended up on our list of 30 Home Must-Haves.
However, I’ve got no expertise.
So I’ve turned to Jessica Albaugh, a mother of two adorable girls and owner of a home in the historic Meridian-Kessler neighborhood.
I visited the Albaugh’s house last year to preview a home tour and saw the family’s fantastic play room – shown at right.
Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to design a basement room meant for playing and stowing away toys. Still, I thought Jessica’s ideas about toy storage were definitely worth passing along.
So here are Jessica’s tips:
The shallower the toy storage bin the better. That way you can see from top to bottom as you can’t fit so many toys that you forget what’s at the bottom. (At right is the TROFAST system from IKEA, $224 in this combination.)
- Ziplock bags are the BEST organization tip! They keep playing cards, flashcards, small puzzles, markers, colored pencils, etc. all in one spot so you can keep many of the same type of game/toy in the same bin while still being able to have all the pieces in one spot.
Clear plastic jars – ideal for art project items. Those pesky containers the foam stickers come in look great, but the minute you open then they EXPLODE and never go back together quite the same way. I bought a 3 pack of plastic jars from Michaels for $10 and use them for everything from stampers, stickers, beads, etc. I love them and keep them on a shelf just out of reach from my 3-year-old so I have to get them to down and know she’s playing with them (the 1-year-old can’t play with these items so I keep it supervised). The ones at right come from Craftynest, where you can see a tutorial for making your own.
- DONATE!!!!!! Don’t be afraid to donate toys – when you have to many it actually over
stimulates your child and they can’t play and be as imaginative as they could be with less. I go through our toy room about once a month and purge what is not being played with (or has been to played with).
- More floor space is better than more toys. Give your kids space to spread out and enjoy the toys they have and especially in a space they can be a kid – not on a wool rug in the formal living room
Thanks Jessica for your great advice.
Below are some other nice kids storage photos that I found while browsing for this post. Before I show you those, though, check out the options at the top of the post. From left: Platinum elfa Mesh Classroom Drawers, $539 this combination, Container Store; Medium Locker in Red - KidKraft Furniture, Levitz, $75; and 3-Cube Bench, $49-$189, Land of Nod.
Below is a hallway-turned-play space in the West Bay Idea House that was featured in Southern Living and featured on MyHomeIdeas.com. These built-in shelves provide lots of easily reachable storage space.
Below is a kids storage unit I found at HGTV.
Low, built-in bookcases provide great storage in the Southern Living/MyHomeIdeas.com photo below left. If your toys need to be in a main room of the home, you might want something a little less obvious, like the baskets in the Cottage Living/MyHomeIdeas.com photo below right.
Are you a parent? How do you store all your kids’ toys?
