Let's talk toy storage

shellbell3845 · August 2014

My living room is being taken over by toys, so I'm curious what/how you all do about picking up and storing toys. Once upon a time, all of lo's toys were on the bookshelf in his bedroom. As his toy and book collections have grown, that option has not been able to remain. Also, we do most our playing in the living room. What do you do? Bonus points for PIP'

ShePersisted · August 2014

Rent your toys! Sparkbox.com is like Netflix for toys

Just return them when done plus LO gets new toys every month. It's a win win :-)

shellbell3845 · August 2014

Hg45 said:
Rent your toys! Sparkbox.com is like Netflix for toys

Just return them when done plus LO gets new toys every month. It's a win win :-)

That's not going to help my current mess. Nor will it make the grandma stop getting toys!

ShePersisted · August 2014

Oh sorry! Yes I was thinking ahead. We have a bed with storage drawers underneath. Right now all toys go in there so we are managing that way.

I like what @DreamingBabies‌ suggested.

shellbell3845 · August 2014

@utpony‌ I was looking at a larger three sprouts bin. Can you tell me about the quality? I don't mind spending money for something good, but I don't want something there the sides will collapse, etc.

JackieP1023 · August 2014

Uh. We pile them in the general area of the playmat she rarely uses anymore. We have no room for anything 'special' although our ottoman has storage in it--it is currently holding blankets that otherwise have no home. Unless I can figure out something that will fit under the couch...

shellbell3845 · August 2014

KatyBriggs said:
We have a giant blue bucket for toys in his room. I throw his living room stuff in an empty diaper box. It's not pretty, but it was free. One day I might cover it with pretty paper, but not in the forseeable future.

Hmmm, I wonder if I could go all pinteresty on a diaper box to make it fan-ceh....

versed · August 2014

We have ikea shelves and little sprouts storage. Amazing! (The messes are made in 30sec and cleaned up in a minute)

keags5496 · August 2014

We have his little toys on the shelves in his room. When we're playing we can just pull a bin or two into then living room. We have an oddly large entryway that we turned into a mini play room. We have the bigger toys in the furniture (from Ikea). The only things out in the living room are the exersaucer and the play mat.

magentawarped · August 2014

I have this huge storage area called the floor.

I am very not helpful.

shellbell3845 · August 2014

magentawarped said:

I have this huge storage area called the floor. I am very not helpful.

You're my kind of lady.

It's like the mail filing system I have. Called the kitchen table.

boogerbearoriginal · August 2014

I use the drawers of our TV stand to hold the stuff that's out there. I don't want to talk about LO1's bedroom aka the toy store.

Flyingtoast · August 2014

Right now I have a few toys in each room. I also cut the top portion of boxes off so they fit under the PnP. But I also will not have that many toys about. I'm sure that will change with time, but right now(read construction) I just don't have any place to have tons of toys.

shellbell3845 · August 2014

Flyingtoast said:

Right now I have a few toys in each room. I also cut the top portion of boxes off so they fit under the PnP. But I also will not have that many toys about. I'm sure that will change with time, but right now(read construction) I just don't have any place to have tons of toys.

Oooh, that's an interesting idea! But then where would I store all my shoes? Ha!

versed · August 2014

We also have like 4/5 of these cheapo drink buckets that are great for quick clean up. I think they were $2 in clearance.

I'll also add that we didn't need this much storage until after this Christmas. Toys have just gotten crazy, and we've started donating to downsize.

shellbell3845 · August 2014

Guise, I'm a freaking idiot. We have two storage ottomans. That are empty. In the living room. That I never put my feet on because I'm on the floor all day.

My other thought in the back of my head was to do something with those wood crates from Michael's (https://www.michaels.com/search?q=wood crate). But is wood a bad idea?

versed · August 2014

@shellbell3845‌ - wood is tough at this age because they're going to pull up on it, and they're going to knock they're faces on it.

Even the activity cubes cause lots of bruises at first.

shellbell3845 · August 2014

That's what I was worried about, @versed. That, and them chewing on whatever I painted/stained it with.

I wish the Three Sprouts ones came in something that matched the nursery, even thought it will probably be in the living room. #fwp

RedSoxGirl10 · August 2014

@hg45 I like this idea! What kind of toys is your LO getting right now?

breadpudding · August 2014

You don't want toy storage tips from me. I kind of use anything. Storage bins big enough for me to fit in, (it's huge. And full. It's as wide as DS1's bed), sand buckets, diaper boxes, dump trucks, and Halloween pumpkins. Anything goes.

kak808 · August 2014

If no one is visiting, basically her stuff just lies in the middle of the floor of the living room. If people are coming over or I get annoyed, I put her toys on the activity mat and move it somewhat out of the way, but our living room is pretty small. I've also got a small, plastic Ikea tub that I keep diapers, wipes, and a changing pad in that I can move out of the way, if necessary.

Seeing the other responses has caused me to notice 2 things:

1) LO has about 1% of the toys that everyone else's babies have! Maybe that's why she likes DC so much. She has seriously had the same like 3 toys for 6 months...

2) We never ever play in her room. We only do stories and sleeping in there. To be fair, it's like 9x9, so there's not a lot of space, but maybe we should be doing more of that?

ETA:

In the longer term, however, we do have a shelf in a built in cabinet where I plan to shove things. I was supposed to have 2 shelves, but somehow now 1 is filled with beer. When this no longer works, I think we'll put a storage bench against the wall.

shellbell3845 · August 2014

@kak808 We never play is LO's room either. I might have him play there for a few minutes while I clean/organize, but it's too small. Thus the need for toy storage in the living room. Eventually LO will have more toys in his room, but I don't anticipate still living in this house at that point.

versed · August 2014

@kak808 -

1) my LO has little/no toys. He just plays with big brother's toys. DS1 is first grandbaby/grandson, so he has way too many toys.

2) DS1's birthmonth board didn't talk toy storage until after the kids' 2nd Christmas when they were 18m. We didn't need to address toy storage until that point.

kak808 · August 2014

versed -- Luckily (at least I think), no one in our family is a toy giver. MIL bought one which I hated, I think she got that, and she never bought another. Oops

shellbell3845 · August 2014

BlueDot818 said:

@shellbell3845‌ 3 sprouts also makes a storage chest for toys. It has animals on It too... but maybe one will match?

Nursery is trains. If they made a train (plane/car/truck) one, I'd buy immediately. We just added a jumperoo to the mix, so now I need storage that isn't super big. Or a bigger house.

Yeah, I definitely need a bigger house.

iwubrory · August 2014

DS has a ridiculously stupid amount of toys. They're in the great room, play room, and his room. They haunt my dreams. The Expedit in the playroom is full and has been good for containing smaller items but wait until the large toys start rolling in. Talk about no where to put them.

I don't even want to think about adding in DD's girly toys that are sure to come along.

dunvilles · August 2014

We have milk carton wicker crates (3 of them) under our sofa table. 2 for baby toys and 1 for big brother toys. We also have a family room with a long and low ikea book shelf and a train table. We don't keep a lot of toys around due to clutter.

We donate toys regularly and only keep as many toys that fit our storage areas (exceptions are swing, jumperoo, bouncy seat, train table, kitchen set, shopping cart)

iwubrory · August 2014

greenbunny79 said:

iwubrory said:

DS has a ridiculously stupid amount of toys. They're in the great room, play room, and his room. They haunt my dreams. The Expedit in the playroom is full and has been good for containing smaller items but wait until the large toys start rolling in. Talk about no where to put them.

I don't even want to think about adding in DD's girly toys that are sure to come along.

You have a room in your house called "the great room"?

Is this specific to my area..? If the main living area of your house is one big open space containing the dining and living area then it's called a great room. I go back and forth between great room and family room since family room is what I'm used to saying from the old house but had to use the correct term when dealing with our builder.

iwubrory · August 2014

greenbunny79 said:

iwubrory said:

greenbunny79 said:

iwubrory said:

DS has a ridiculously stupid amount of toys. They're in the great room, play room, and his room. They haunt my dreams. The Expedit in the playroom is full and has been good for containing smaller items but wait until the large toys start rolling in. Talk about no where to put them.

I don't even want to think about adding in DD's girly toys that are sure to come along.

You have a room in your house called "the great room"?
Is this specific to my area..? If the main living area of your house is one big open space containing the dining and living area then it's called a great room. I go back and forth between great room and family room since family room is what I'm used to saying from the old house but had to use the correct term when dealing with our builder.

It makes it sound like you live in a midevil castle.

Hmm, kinda but with sweet indoor plumbing.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_room

Flyingtoast · August 2014

Great room is a common term up here and in Cali

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