Titus 2:11-13

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus."

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Toy Storage

Toys. They are a never ending problem around here. Well, not the toys themselves, but the organization and storage of them. Every toy has a place, but I've never been quite satisfied with the look of those places. In my eyes, the kids' bedrooms and the basement family area, though they be picked up and tidy, just never really look good.

I'm itching for a solution. Just ask my husband. He knows. :-)

Part of the problem must undoubtedly be that we have never spent any money on toy storage solutions barring two inexpensive wicker baskets and a used cabinet, all of which I purchased to provide hidden toy storage for our living room (the look of which I am well pleased with, mind you :-)). For the bedrooms and the basement family room, however, we have basically relied on two plastic dressers which Travis had in his college apartment, a couple empty ice cream pails, and a few empty Velveeta boxes to adequately house the kids' toys. Admittedly, these frugal solutions worked well for a time; but now that the kids are growing and beginning to accumulate toy collections which will be kept and loved for years to come, I feel that the purchase of some practical, flexible, presentable toy storage solutions is moving beyond justified and verging on necessary.

Okay, maybe "necessary" is a little too strong a word... BUT!... In my defense, I am the manager of this household and I do hold a certain responsibility and desire to make my house be welcoming, accommodating, and eye-pleasing; and the lack of appropriate places to keep various toys is becoming an obstacle for this already decorating- and organizing-impaired woman. :-)

So...

I've been doing a little a lot of online shopping (the kind where you look but you don't spend... ahem... yet...); and I've come up with some reasonably priced ideas that I think might just work! Ah! Just the thought of having every toy in a place that makes sense and looks good makes me smile!

Now, onto the next obstacle--convincing my husband to take me to IKEA.... ;-)

11 comments:

Amy S. said...

I wish we had an IKEA nearby! I've never been to one. You should check out brownpaper--packages.blogspot.com It has great storage solution ideas!

Jenilee said...

IKEA has a lot of great toy storage soluntions. My current toy storage solution is to MINIMIZE our toys! Ah! the girls really do have too much right now! Great post! :)

Amanda Fisher said...

I bought a 9 cube organizer from Lowe's (but they have them at Target & other places too.)
Then I got 4 cheap & sturdy canvas cubes from Walmart Office section for the boys' playroom. It has made things so much more organized & it looks nice. They have a lot of toys in it & on top of it. Just a suggestion if you can't go to IKEA. ;)

Elder Family said...

Love, love, love Ikea!! We have several Ikea pieces of furniture and they have held up to the test of time and at least 2 moves!

Anonymous said...

What kind of toy storage are you thinking about getting? I don't even know where to start....looking for tips from a pro!

Thanks!

Angela said...

Anonymous,

I'm no pro, but I have given a lot of thought to what will accommodate our toy storage needs in the years to come. (If I'm going to spend money on something, I want it to work for a while, you know? :-)) What I am seriously considering is the Trofast line at IKEA. I think that with the right size bins, one of these units would work well for LEGO storage/organization and another for other toys. Here is the link: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=trofast+storage

I hope this helps!

Angela

Kelsey (formerly anonymous) said...

Thanks! My kids are a little younger than yours, so I'm not sure what's yet to come as far as toys go, but you're right, with different size bins they would be good for years to come.

Melissa said...

Angela, we will be in Minneapolis the weekend of June 4. Keep me posted as the time approaches if you would like us to stop by IKEA. I'm not sure yet how long we will be in town yet, but I'll know more later. (It's a relative's wedding.)

RickinSC said...

I think the key idea is that your child can see ALL the toys. If they are in a chest or box their curiosity makes them get them all out every day. Here is a toy cabinet that gets kids to put a toy back before getting out another one. Barbie Doll Cabinet Get Kids To Put Away Their Own Toys

camping air beds said...

Thanks for sharing information...They are some great storage boxes and children's toyboxes for your family. Toy boxes make an excellent storage solutions for kids of all ages. The classic Toy Box design is an easy way to encourage young children to pick up their personal items, and avoid frustration because of the ample and easy storage space. With sturdy construction, wood toy boxes are a wonderful way to organize an area and to make child storage easy. Use them for everything including toys, blankets, and pillows. Take a look below at our great storage box ideas. We invite you to click on any of the storage box ideas that you see below that best fit your needs....

wicker storage baskets said...

I wish we had such an IKEA nearby! I've never been to one.

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