I love my kids with all of my heart and soul, but why did they have to come with so much stuff?! Since before my oldest son was born 8 years ago I’ve been fighting against the colored plastic jungle that seemingly over takes homes. Tho I know many parents disagree with me, I never wanted my house to look like my kid was the only one living in it. My husband and I loved our old house (as well as our new one) and enjoyed how it was decorated. In the same way that we didn’t want to lose everything about our pre-baby selves, we also didn’t want to give up our entire home to our new roommate either. Over the years I’ve come to actually want my kids toys in our main living spaces because that means my kids are in my living spaces (instead of being tucked away in their room) but have come up with creative toy storage for living rooms so they don’t detract from our decor.
A floating couch is a great way to hide toys in plain site. We have stored large play sets, ride on toys, and things that wouldn’t fit in a cabinet behind the couch. Would you have guessed?
Toy storage and organization ideas:
- Avoid large items
- This seems to be a big killer of home decor. Overall I feel like we’ve done ‘ok’ in this area, but sometimes there are just things you can’t avoid receiving (or purchasing). I’ll never forget the day the baby swing came into our living room. It was well intentioned, and in truth very mild in colors, but it was huge and fit only in 1 spot – directly in front of the fireplace, smack dab in the middle of the living room. It was a decor season that I didn’t love but the adorably squishy, cuddly baby more than made up for it. The swing didn’t last long there because our son didn’t use it and we were happy to have it moved. For other larger toy items try and find a spot in your home where things can be tucked away. One thing that has been awesome for our toy storage for the living room is in both our current and our former homes we’ve had a floating couch. This is a GREAT trick for toys to live when they aren’t being played with. No one ever walked behind our couch in our old house and very few people do now either. But it’s a great spot for larger ride on toys, large playsets (play mobile, dollhouses, etc), and even bean bag chairs.
- Avoid ‘kid storage’ pieces in living spaces.
- We all know what ‘kid storage’ looks like – a cubby shelf with pull out fabric drawers or some sort of shelf with removable plastic bins. These serve a great purpose, and I own one of these myself, but often these don’t shout ‘adults live here’. Instead invest in a dresser, credenza, or buffet. Use the drawers/doors for toys. We have used dressers for toys since the boys were infants. The white cabinet in our living room has small plastic bins with legos and other toys in it. The best part is that it closes up and when the day is over we can relax without the barrage of toys taking over. I have cabinets, dressers, and storage ottomans placed all around this house. At varying times they are more or less full depending on the toy season we are in.
- But what about those cubby shelves? Honestly the Ikea Kallax we have is so non intrusive I would have it in our living space. (Many people do, it’s an extremely versatile piece.) Its in our boys room and I love the look and the insane amount of storage it provides. The key to using a cubby shelf, especially in a living space, is to make sure that the bins you use in it are good quality and don’t should ‘KIDS TOYS HERE’. I bought the Knipsa baskets to use on the shelf and have been impressed with look and quality. If I had a cubby shelf in my living area but it had plastic red, blue, and yellow bins, it wouldn’t match the rest of our room and it would be the first thing that people noticed. With a neutral color shelf and natural baskets the piece blends in with the rest of the decor. Of course if you’re living room is decorated in primary colors then this point isn’t for you 😉
- Organize the toys
- You can have all the right pieces of furniture but without organization it means nothing. One of the best things I ever did for our toy storage was invest in storage bins for the toys. Not only does it help corral like items together but it is an easy way for our boys to know where items belong. Once you have your dresser, buffet, cabinet, etc pull out all the toys and separate them into categories. The categories will be different depending on your needs. Once you have each item separated, measure the inside of your storage space and hit the store. (Don’t skip measuring your storage piece! You will spend extra money buying pieces that don’t quite fit, or don’t utilize all of your space if you don’t measure first.) Find containers that fit the inside of your piece. We prefer clear containers with lids because the kids (and us) can easily see what’s inside. The lids make it easy to maximize vertical storage space because you can stack containers. I’ve used containers with removable lids since our oldest was 2 and neither of our kids ever had an issue getting the lids on/off.
- Find a long term storage place
- Another key to our success has been rotating toys. We have a large family and our kids get a lot of stuff at their birthdays and Christmas. Instead of putting it all out at once we hold some back to rotate in and out throughout the year. In our storage room we have a bin with ‘Toys to Keep’ (the special ones that you just can’t part with) and one with new toys. We also use part of our large guest room closet for toys that are on their way out. The closet serves as a buffer. It’s available for them to access if they want to see what’s in there and play with it, but it’s not in the regular rotation. This also helps me see what is actually getting played with vs what they are having a hard time letting go. I find that often they come and tell me the toys in the closet that they are ready to get rid of. Another bonus to this is that we fairly regularly have additional children at our house, many of which right now are younger than our boys. This serves as a great ‘guest toy’ closet that is fully stocked so that we don’t have to drag out everything from their rooms when friends come over.
I know I’m not the only mom fighting the toy battle. What are your best tips for storing kid items?
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