Show-and-Tell: Toy Organization

Toni79

How are you organizing your LOs toys?  Feel free to share your pics!

Currently we have a few baskets and things sort of along the walls of our living room.  We're going to be putting our house on the market very soon, and I need an attractive way to organize her toys and books.  I was thinking about one of the following ...

ClosetMaid cube system 

https://www.amazon.com/ClosetMaid-8-Cube-Laminate-Storage-Organizer/dp/B0002I261Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399580085&sr=8-1&keywords=closetmaid+8+cube+white 

However I'm not a fan of the fabric bins.  We have one and DD has destroyed it.  I've looked online to try and find plastic bins that would fit, but I haven't had much luck. 

OR

Ikea Kallax cubed storage

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20275885/#/80275887

I think this replaced the Expedit cubed storage.  The cubes are a little bigger, and Ikea has a variety of fabric and plastic bins, as well as baskets.  

I'd probably choose white shelving to go with our decor.  I'd like to think this would grow with her (and us).  I'd lay it horizontal, so that DD can access all the cubes.  I don't plan on filling every cube with a bin.  Maybe just the bottom row.  I'd leave some open for organizing books and other bigger toys. 

Then maybe get a white mesh pop-up hamper to toss all her stuffed animals in.  Right now they are shoved in her cozy coup, wagon, and any other free spot!

What's worked for you?  Do you have either of these shelves?  If so what do you like or not like about them?

Thanks!

vvvvvfee

have you looked at the ikea trofast line? that's what we were considering at one point but we never got around to figuring out what size we needed. right now we have a pretty random/lame system consisting of a plastic set of drawers, a bookshelf, a couple of yaffa blocks, and a giant trader joe's popcorn tin for duplos.

anyhoo, i would probably go with the expedit-replacement you linked above since there is a nice variety of baskets you can use with it. and since it doesn't look like kid furniture, you can replace it. agreed that the closetmaid fabric cubes get smushed.

i also firmly believe in frequent toy purging. lots of gifts for DS go directly into to the goodwill bag, especially stuffed animals. i partly don't want to get a huge storage thing because i don't want to be tempted to let it fill up!

Toni79

@vvvvvfee - Yeh, I've looked at the trofast.  The only thinkg I don't like about it is that the plastic bins slide into a groove on the shelf.  I'm worried that might be hard for kids to do themselves.  And that you don't have the option for an open shelf to display stuff. 

Oh!  And I totally agree about not wating a huge system to fill up and the need to purge toys!  Thankfully the grandparents haven't spoiled her too much ... yet! 

vvvvvfee

@Toni79 that's a really good point about the trofast, i hadn't considered that. i think i'll cross that off the list! (also i wonder if the plastic lips on the bins would be prone to breaking off... it's really too bad ikea doesn't allow for reviews on their website!)

SJandVA

These are the ones we have. I've been happy with all of them. The Trofast is nice. It's pretty sturdy. Ours double as steps up to DD1 bed.
They are kind of a mess right now. We've been collecting toys for years though.

ccam

We have the Expedit shelf in DS's play area between our kitchen and living room (open floor plan).  It works great.  We have the top half of the shelves open with books, stuffed animals, cars, etc.  And the bottom half has baskets in it that he can easily slide in and out.  He knows that his balls go in one, his cars in another, etc.  Plus once the toys are out of that area, it will be able to be used as a buffet table since it coordinates with the rest of our furniture. 

Besides this, his toys are all stored away in our coat closet. 

ccam

When we first bought the shelf...

jesslovesreg

We also use the expedit - it is under our mounted tv and was originally our entertainment center, but it has been taken over! I haven't found any baskets that have held up to our cat though It has one bin for blocks and one for baby supplies, and I try to rotate the toys on display for dd. The rest are kept in a closet. We also have a toy box next to it and other random toys scattered about... A playroom is on top of the list when we move next month! I'll be keeping the expedit in the playroom and probably adding another - I love ikea for kids' stuff.

If I was staging our place to sell I would probably box away as much toys as possible though. Keep it as neutral as possible in living room and move kids stuff to their bedrooms for now.

twinkletoes3126

We have the Ikea cube system too in the playroom with half baskets and half open shelves for bigger toys and puzzles. In our family room we have a kidkraft toy box which actually matches the play kitchen we have. Somehow though we still manage to have toys everywhere.

brandyleighxx

In their playroom, we use plastic bins and store on what used to be a changing table. DH also has a plastic mickey chair that doubles as a toy box. Lastly, DH turned old doors into corner shelving for books. In their bedrooms, they have 1 bin of toys in each closet. We also don't do stuffed animals.

brandyleighxx

you can see some of the old doors turned into shelving in this pic

LindsayDesigner

We keep most of Mina's toys in fabric drawers in the bottom of her bookcase.  We can take the bins out to other rooms as needed.  Clean up is really quick because we just throw everything in and slide the bin onto the shelf.  Her bigger toys are on shelves in her closet and her stuffed animals are on another shelf on her bookcase.  It's probably going to get harder as she gets older and her toys increase.

Toni79

Thanks ladies for sharing your ideas and pictures!  We're making the trip to Ikea this weekend to check out thier Expedit/Kallax cubed shelves.  I like the look of it, and I think we'll be able to got other uses out of it in the future.  In our current house we have the space for it, and then I'll store her bigger toys in the garrage or basement while the house is on the market.  Hopefully when/if we sell our house, it will fit in the new house. 

ccam

@CourtandNate It's the Expedit shelf from Ikea.

abbyful

We got these cubby bins from Target. We got a 2-bin and a 3-bin one.

https://www.target.com/p/badger-basket-3-bin-storage-cubby-espresso/-/A-13259860?reco=Rec|pdp|13259860|ClickCP|item_page.vertical_1&lnk=Rec|pdp|ClickCP|item_page.vertical_1

Megispreg

We just got a Kallax for Audrey's room. I still have to buy baskets for it, so it's not too organized right now. But you get the idea.

LindsayDesigner

PeopleKnowMe said:

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Reilly626

Plastic tubs!