Keeping Your Kids’ Toys in Check

Are your child’s toys taking over your home? You are not alone; this is a common problem for many of my clients.

Now is the perfect time to take action, get organized and add some style to your children’s play areas. The first step in organizing is to purge any unused, broken or duplicate toys. One way is to give back and help your community by donating gently used toys to women’s shelters where toys are needed. Another way to purge toys would be to sell them either on eBay, at a yard sale or through a local children’s consignment store. If there are toys you can’t part with for sentimental reasons, one option is to ship them to a grandparent’s house to be played with on special visits.

After you have gone through the process of reducing the amount of toys, it’s time to evaluate how you’ll store the remaining toys. If you have limited storage space, I strongly encourage investing in vertical storage units or shelving. Vertical shelving helps maximize storage, and the height will balance the space visually. Organize the toys in stylish baskets and bins to keep things clutter-free and easier to maintain. Favorite age-appropriate toys should be kept within reach on lower shelves to accommodate little ones. To keep kids safe, always brace tall shelving units to the wall.

There are tons of great vertical storage options today that come in a variety of sizes and price points, yet all style-savvy! Here are some current favorites:

Pottery Barn Kids Cubby UnitCameron 5 Cubby and 3 Open Base Set from Pottery Barn Kids

Land of Nod BookcaseWhite Bankable Bookcase from Land of Nod

YLiving Cubby UnitModular Cubby Unit by YLiving

Seaside Dreams Bookcase
Seaside Dreams Bookcase
from Rosenberry Rooms

Ikea Red Bookcase
Linnarp Bookcase
by Ikea

Cristin

Cristin

Cristin, founder of Simplified Bee, resides on the San Francisco Peninsula with her husband and two children. She loves creating functional yet style-savvy spaces and embraces quality over quantity.

Comments

  1. Leah

    November 2, 2011

    Wow! The only advice you have is to buy a bookshelf? There are so many creative storage ideas, this article was seriously disappointing…

  2. Jen

    November 2, 2011

    I agree with Leah…..there are so many creative play toys to build your nursery on, and also, suggestions to build upon current sets of toys is great too. I feel it goes way beyond just the way you store them, but what are you storing?

  3. Zsa Zsa

    November 2, 2011

    Awesome storage solutions! I love how these shelves come in great colors — they can definitely bring life into a room, not to mention help you organize your kids toys. :)

  4. May

    November 2, 2011

    I personally think going vertical is the only way to go! Love the Ikea suggestion. Just what I am looking for.

  5. Kimmy

    November 5, 2011

    So true! My kids’ toys are invading my space! And I can’t seem to get enough storage bins and boxes.
    Anyway, I so love the Seaside Dreams Bookcase! The modular cubby unit is cute, too.

  6. Casey

    December 28, 2011

    Totally bummed by this article, was hoping to get some creative ideas for our family room…not everything is a book,

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