I've got toys upstairs in each of the kids' rooms. I've got toys in the basement. I've got toys in the front room and the family room and throughout the backyard. There are toys in the garage and toys on the front porch. There are toys in the bathroom as well. I really, R E A L L Y, need a good storage system for all these toys!
In our furnished rental in Jersey there were bookshelves with doors on them that contained nearly every toy the kids owned at the time. It was the only system I have ever had work well for any length of time - mainly b/c the kids couldn't get to every toy at once. Well, we've moved from the rental and I can't find shelving with doors on them without it costing an arm and a leg in our new area. Oh, I miss Ikea!!!
Now, our toy ownership has expanded drastically and we have all kinds of toys for all kinds of reasons. Bath toys, sand toys, bikes and wagons, boy toys and girl toys, swim toys, winter toys, board games and stuffed animals that, I swear, are multiplying completely on their own when no one is looking. One system won't work in one room of our house anymore. Sad, but true.
We have purged and downsized in an attempt to see how much storage stuff we need so these are all toys the kids play with over and over. No kidding! So, where, the heck, do I put them?!? The boxes and open plastic bins are not working as a long term solution and now that the majority of our painting is done we can finally get each room set up to use. I can't wait!
Anyway, what works for you all? What do you suggest? Think fully functional, slightly pretty, and very affordable. And, what toys do you put in the kids' rooms and what toys stay in the family areas? Is a separate playroom worth setting up? And, is there a container a bit more pleasing to the eye than a plastic tub but not as breakable as a basket?
With a little thought and some helpful suggestions I hope to get a handle on this organizational disaster in our house. Ah, one more thing to cross off our list as we get established in our home! Yippee!
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3 comments:
I suggest starting with going to HGTV.com and search "organizing toys". They have different storage and shelving ideas.
Well... when we were kids, we had this giant red claw foot tub in our basement. We kept almost all of our toys in it, and if we wanted to get toys from the bottom of the tub, we had to climb in-- which was easier than climbing out. There ya go... toy storage and play-pen all in one!
I love the tub idea :) I say definitely designate a play room...I don't know what it'd be like as a mom, but when I've babysat kids with playrooms, it made things so much easier because it doesn't matter if it's messy or not!
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