Tell me about your toy storage! Specifically, what do you do with toys that do not fit into bins (we have a cube shelving unit in his room that is half for books and half for bins with toys). And what room do you store the toys in? Kid room? Family room? If you have a toy box, can you PIP or link?
We have cube storage with bins, one of the 8 cube units. 7 have bins, one cube is open for mega blocks. Bigger things go on top of the shelf (little people farm, parking garage for cars etc) or in a corner (ride on car, vacuum etc). The play kitchen is in another corner.
He doesn't really have toys in his room they are all in our living/family room. He has some books in the living room and then a 4 cube shelving unit full of books in his room.
The individual bins are great bc things stay somewhat organized - cars and trucks in one, blocks and stacking toys in another, puzzles in one, etc. Ds can find things easily. with a toy box things just get thrown in there, too chaotic and unorganized for my type A personality
I have the bigger doll items and playhouses sitting on top of our storage. I use the 2x4 expedits and the Trofast systems. It's nice to have the bins holding all the little pieces to the play houses right near each other.
Toys are in the basement and their bedrooms. Some small things are in cute fabric boxes in the family room, in our TV stand.
Post by humpforfree on Sept 2, 2015 15:24:35 GMT -5
Pretty much all of the toys are in the corner of the living room. I made the corner into a mini-playroom because I was sick of them all over the living room. They do spread a little, but it keeps them slightly more contained. Fabric bin for randoms, red metal bin for balls, toy box (my dad made) for bigger toys, a couple of baskets of books under the coffee table. Oh and I have that white ikea recycling bin that holds mega blocks/duplos/whatever they are called.
Post by thebreakfastclub on Sept 2, 2015 16:12:28 GMT -5
Toy storage is the bane of my existence. Most stuff is in our living room.
I try to store by end use. I have a basket of all puzzles, a basket of all little people and a basket of Thomas the trains. Duplos are in a tub. Mostly I rotate stuff in and out of the living room, or I keep things in the corner of the family room where I don't have to see it.
I keep some books downstairs in a smaller version of this.
My toys are so much better organized ever since I started storing them in all of those little plastic zipper bags that sheets, comforters, shower curtains, some tshirts, etc. Come packacked. They work great to store toys with lots of loose pieces like our tea set, magnatiles, little people, cars, etc. Then we throw those bags into either our large traditional toy box or we have 4 of the stackable open cube ones.
The bags work so much better than plastic containers because they can hold more, hold oddly shaped items, and compress and move to fit more into the big storage bins. The toys are always organized and the kids just have to grab one bag and bring it out to play with. It's easy for them to pick a toy and see what they want too because they can easily pick up and move the clear bags.
I took bags from my mom and sister and am constantly hoarding them. They are more durable than zip lock bags too. I wish I could buy just the bags!! Maybe I should check amazon.
Eta: Oh, and all of our storage bins line the wall of my dining room that is open into my living room. There is no where else to put them so we have just accepted this.
Post by whitepicketfence on Sept 2, 2015 17:58:59 GMT -5
My older girls share a room so there's only room for minimal toys in there. If it doesn't fit in the baskets they have in their night stands, it goes in the playroom.
In the playroom, we have two tall bookshelves with bins throughout. We then have one horizontal bookshelf that we use to store books, DVDs, video games, and CDs. All large items (dollhouse, Barbie castle, etc) are lined up along the wall. Everything else goes in the closet. I had DH install a ton of shelving in the playroom closet for this very purpose since we had no place for all of the odd size toys before.
I'll try to post some pics once the kids are all bathed and in bed for the night.
For irregular shaped stuff like big tonka trucks or dress-up hats (he has several of each), I found a tall laundry basket that works GREAT. Kinda like this. Everything is contained and it looks okay.