NWMR: Toy storage in living room?

Nita14701 · January 2014

Although LO doesn’t like being in her pac n play much anymore we still have it in the living room (it’s sage green so it matches walls and doesn’t stand out that much). When I want the room to not look like a complete disaster, I go around and pick all the toys off the floor and coffee table and put them in there. At daycare they have those huge rubber things that are low enough that the kids can pull toys out but when filled are sturdy enough that the kids can’t topple them over. I would love something that matches a little better with my décor but that also lets LO have access to her toys as she wants them. My house is not fancy by any means, I just want it to look more chic than shabby. I have an old wood trunk that I refinished a few years ago. It would work with the room. If I removed the lid so that I wouldn’t have to worry about LO getting her fingers smashed she would have access to toys and it would be sturdy enough for her not to be able to tip over or move. Anyone else foresee any other safety issues with this? Does this seem like it would work? (Our house is not big enough to have a play room, kitchen/dining room, living room, no basement, bedrooms upstairs)

thanks for your ideas!

jf198400 · January 2014

We have a piece of furniture from target that is like 3 cubes wide by 3 cubes high. You can put storage drawers in each cube. It works well for storing a bunch of toys, and keeps things compartmentalized so you can find things easily- ex: one drawer has play food, one has trucks, one has dolls, etc. it was pretty cheap, but looks decent, like normal furniture. I personally hate the storage units that are bright colors and look like they only belong in a daycare.

djm31012 · January 2014

we have a toy chest from babies r us thats cherry wood, and there is an opening so when DS closes the toy chest his fingers cant get caught. Take a look there. I also know like pp said Ikea has something similar.

WBMom · January 2014

jf198400 said:

We have a piece of furniture from target that is like 3 cubes wide by 3 cubes high. You can put storage drawers in each cube. It works well for storing a bunch of toys, and keeps things compartmentalized so you can find things easily- ex: one drawer has play food, one has trucks, one has dolls, etc. it was pretty cheap, but looks decent, like normal furniture. I personally hate the storage units that are bright colors and look like they only belong in a daycare.

This is what I use and my sister. I have mine along a wall but my sister actually has hers set up on the ends of her couch and also uses them as end tables. They work well with our normal home decor.

MommyAtty · January 2014

We use a lot of big baskets from Target and World Market. Like 4 of them. Those work well. 2 are on a low shelf that's part of a built-in. The others are on our fire place. The chest sounds beautiful, and you can replace the hinges with locking hinges so the lid locks in an open position. I have a big chest my grandfather made me, and we plan on putting locking hinges on it and putting it in DD's room when her changing table comes out. (Our living room is small or I would put it in there! Jealous you have that option!)

JessAnnJ · January 2014

We have a storage unit from IKEA. When installed on its side it is two cubes high and four wide and you can put storage cubes in each slot. They may have smaller ones as well. We put cubes in half of the slots and the rest are open with larger toys that our daughter can see and grab. It comes in white, light brown, and dark brown. We also have the same unit in our daughters bedroom.

jlaOK · January 2014

I'm not a fan of having one large toy storage container because I feel as though toys get lost at the bottom and DS only plays with the ones on top. We have 6 small canvas bins from Target that coordinate with our living room that we have toys in. We keep 3 handy and the other 3 in DS's room (we also are tight on storage room in our house). The toys are separated by type - trains, cars, puzzles, coloring supplies, etc. I like that we can pull out one bin at a time when he wants to play with a specific set of toys and it also has taught him to clean up and put away toys by what bin they go into. We also rotate out the bins that way toys he hasn't played with in awhile start to be played with again.

We've done this for a couple of years and it has worked well. As he has outgrown toys we move them out. For example, DD now has one of the bins full of her baby/teething toys.

peekaboo716 · January 2014

Storage cube/ottoman with removable lid? I feel like they are small enough so things don't get lost in them, but do a good job of concealing.

shannm · January 2014

Also, if you are set on your wooden chest you could consider changing the hinges to those that have a "slow close." I'm not sure what they are called but I bought a cheap storage bench thing and the kids go in and out all the time without issue and the lid does not slam. From target.

groovygrl · January 2014

I think that sounds fine! We also own the 2x2 ikea cube thingees which are pretty good, but my favorite living room storage ended up being a coffee table I bought pre-kids which was unknowingly super kid friendly- rounded corners and 2 huge/deep drawers at either end, one holds books and the other random toys, etc. Our TV console also has small cabinets on either side meant for things like movies, stereo equpment, etc but we use that for some toy storage too.

Keep your eyes pealed for some random piece of furniture w/ a bunch of drawers, that can work too (sometimes places like homegoods, etc have that sort of thing).

litzo27 · January 2014

I really wanted a wooden chest but I didn't find any that would have the lid close slowly and smoothly so out of safety opted against it. For hidden toy storage in the living room I got something like this: it matches our other furniture, has many shelves to organize toys by groups and can be tethered to the wall. It doesn't house a ton of toys but I periodically rotate some from the playroom/bedroom to the living room.
Mia Accent Chest

ccam · January 2014

We own the same Ikea cube shelf that everyone is talking about. Works great since it is right in our great room and it's a dark finish that matches the rest of our furniture. When the toys are put away, you wouldn't know the difference since everything is hidden.

xyzabqsmvb53 · January 2014

Sounds like a good idea to me and I second some PPs who mention toy rotation- that way the chest always seems exciting to both get into and also put toys away in because who knows when the toys we put away might get switched for different ones?

I have also seen friends clear off the bottom shelves of some bookshelves in their living room for toys and kid books if you've already got some storage furniture in the room. That might be a captain obvious suggestion though... haha!

cedenton · January 2014

I have some wicker baskets, a storage bench and in the playroom an inexpensive 3 shelf bookcase with some colorful fabric bins.

MommaP12 · January 2014

Our "leather" ottoman from Target opens up and I store toys in there. I also store toys in a "leather" bench that we have under our windows. All other toys are in the kids rooms so they are not taking over our tiny condo.

2-Step · January 2014

jf198400 said:

We have a piece of furniture from target that is like 3 cubes wide by 3 cubes high. You can put storage drawers in each cube. It works well for storing a bunch of toys, and keeps things compartmentalized so you can find things easily- ex: one drawer has play food, one has trucks, one has dolls, etc. it was pretty cheap, but looks decent, like normal furniture. I personally hate the storage units that are bright colors and look like they only belong in a daycare.

We have this too, but since I've seen a way nicer looking one at Costco for only like $30 more. Ours is kind of in the corner on the end of the couch so you can't really see it from most places in the room. We try to keep it organized, but mostly the bins are just full of random toys and the boys will dump one out, play awhile and then I make them pick it all up and back into the bin before they get out something else. It works, but it still can look pretty messy because stuff gets stacked on top of it etc. I have a basket that holds all their books in the living room and it looks cute and works well.

Nita14701 · January 2014

THANKS for all the great suggestions! Love this board.

mrsshawnavanb · January 2014

jf198400 said:

We have a piece of furniture from target that is like 3 cubes wide by 3 cubes high. You can put storage drawers in each cube. It works well for storing a bunch of toys, and keeps things compartmentalized so you can find things easily- ex: one drawer has play food, one has trucks, one has dolls, etc. it was pretty cheap, but looks decent, like normal furniture. I personally hate the storage units that are bright colors and look like they only belong in a daycare.

I think we have the same thing, also from target. we actually use it as a play room bookcase/toy storage with the "fabric drawers". It would work well in a living room I think.

https://www.target.com/p/threshold-6-cube-horizontal-organizer-espresso/-/A-14161912

MommaP12 · January 2014

Our "leather" ottoman from Target opens up and I store toys in there. I also store toys in a "leather" bench that we have under our windows. All other toys are in the kids rooms so they are not taking over our tiny condo.

lindseyb624 · January 2014

I think your trunk with no lid sounds perfect. For Christmas DD got a toy chest from pottery barn kids that is white with her name in navy script on the front. It does not have a lid and isn't super tall so she will be able to get toys I and out herself and it doesn't look bad in our living room. They had regular wood colors as well. I love it because it keeps us organized but doesn't look too kiddish. Also she will be able to use it when she's older to store blankets or stuffed animals I her room because it doesn't really look like a toy box. Sounds similar to what you want to create with your chest.

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