Kids gotta have toys. And parents gotta have peace. If you find your kids’ toys strewn about the living room floor every day and want a convenient place to store them, read on for some solutions. A toy display shelf both stores toys and displays them so they’re in sight. A toy box stealthily contains toys out of sight. A stuffed animal storage ottoman contains plush toys out of sight while also providing a foot rest or cushy seat. Here we’ll check out these convenient products and how they can meet your toy storage needs!
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Corner Toy Display Shelf
This simple, attractive Montessori corner toy display shelf is probably my favourite furniture purchase. These are its most obvious wins:
1. Safety
It can’t tip over. Because of its ‘L’ shape, there is no way a child can climb the shelves and cause it to tip toward them. No having to drill a hole in the wall to secure it in place with a bracket! This safety feature is a huge plus, especially if you’re like me and routinely move smaller pieces of furniture around.
2. Accessibility
Young children can reach all of their toys. My baby can pull himself up to grab toys on the topmost shelf, but even babies who can’t yet stand would have easy access to the bottom shelf toys. The shelves are deep enough to fit most normal-sized toys but not so deep that they’re hard for little arms to reach.
3. Convenience
Toys are easily visible instead of being buried inside a closed toy box. Kids won’t have trouble finding their favourite game or other toys when they’re on display. When toys aren’t hidden, they’re more likely to be used and enjoyed. If my kids’ toys are out of sight, they’re out of mind. On the other hand, visible toys are inviting toys.
4. Attractive Design
This toy display shelf is architecturally simple and its light colour is bright and airy. The top shelf is high enough to be out of babies’ reach, so it serves as a nice place for non-toy objects like plants and lamps. Designed with clean edges and smooth surfaces, it’s easy to quickly dust or clean. It’s specifically shaped to fit a corner, so it looks better there than a normal rectangular table or shelf would. It’s actually a more efficient use of that space.
Slow-Close Toy Box
A toy box is great for toys that you’d rather not display but keep stowed somewhere convenient. It’s also useful for holding toys that you want to ‘rotate out’ to keep toy options fresh.
1. Overflow Toy Storage
Say you’ve got the favourite toys (or quietest toys…) displayed on the toy shelf or somewhere else that’s easily noticed. For all those other toys that don’t seem to have a good place in plain sight, a toy box makes a great overflow location. Switching out which toys remain in the box and which out of the box helps to keep some variety in play options. Think of how grocery stores put new exciting products on display, or how bookstores showcase their newest releases. In the same way, you can always take what’s in the toy box and display it elsewhere by trading which toys are in or out.
2. Accessibility
A toy box is easy for kids to open and access their toys. Whether they think to do so on a daily basis depends on the child, but at least they can. It’s a lot easier for everyday use than keeping toys stored in a bin in the back of a closet.
3. Attractive Design
A toy box is likewise more attractive than utilitarian storage bins. And it’s certainly preferable to having toys piled in a corner somewhere! This white personalized toy box is similar to a handsome one I ordered last year (and which is no longer available), but you can also find plenty of other toy boxes of different colours and designs.
4. Versatility
If you purchase a plain toy box that isn’t embellished with your child’s name or kid-like designs, you can also opt to use it to store other things. Years later, when kids are long grown, a toy box makes for great blanket storage. Or a magazine stash. Or random things that you don’t want to display but want to keep accessible.
Stuffed Animal Storage Ottoman
How is it that kids end up with a million stuffed animals? Maybe it’s because there are just so many cute ones. Or because that’s an easy gift idea that everybody seems to use. Maybe your child especially loves stuffed animals. Whatever the case, stuffed animal storage can be tricky because animals often aren’t small! Growing up, I had what was called a pet net. It conveniently hung from the ceiling so it didn’t take up floor space, but it’s not exactly accessible for younger kids. A plush animal storage ottoman, also sometimes called a stuffed animal beanbag, is something I discovered more recently. It’s a great way to store stuffed animals without making them inaccessible, so it’s great for younger kids!
1. Accessibility
Simply fill up the empty bag with as many stuffed animals as you can fit inside and zip it up. You (or your children) can unzip it at any time to remove stuffed animals, should someone suddenly miss Mr. Bear. The animals aren’t in sight, so this is a great storage option if your kids don’t need to play with them every day. And even if they do want some animals out in sight, you can still keep most animals in the bag. Then, however often, simply rotate different animals in and out as discussed above with rotating toys in the toy box.
2. Versatility
What makes this stuffed animal storage solution so appealing is that it also serves as a comfy seat or ottoman. Use your plush surplus to everyone’s comfy advantage! Your kids will love sprawling on it. All family members will love using it to kick up their feet while sitting on the couch or elsewhere. How full you stuff it determines how squishy it will be. For a nice, taut ottoman that keeps its shape, try to stuff it as full as you can. If you don’t have enough animals to fill it, blankets work nicely. Oh, did I mention: these make for great blanket storage, too! But if you want something with a lot of ‘give,’ fill it more loosely.
3. Convenience
Don’t want to use a stuffed animal storage ottoman anymore? Kids suddenly decide they want to see every animal they own, all the time? (In bed with them every night?) Just fold it up and tuck it away somewhere. This won’t take up any more space than a small blanket, because it’s basically a fabric bag with a zipper. Unlike a solid piece of furniture, this convenient storage ottoman can conveniently be de-stuffed and stored itself, just like that!
4. Simplicity
As charming as it can be to display fifty stuffed animals strewn on or around your child’s bed, in reality we need much simpler solutions for their bedroom. Especially for young children, we want to create a calm nursery by minimizing visual clutter. And that includes too many stuffed animals. So while a few favourites can remain visible, the rest can safety and snuggly fit inside a storage ottoman in their room.
These are my favourite toy storage solutions that I only recently employed. While they all nicely round up toys, the toy display shelf is a winner because it showcases toys as well. So yes, you would still see toys in your living room, but they would be neatly contained on shelves as opposed to strewn about somewhere less convenient. Anything you’d like your child to engage with is a prime candidate for shelf space. Anything else can hang out in the toy box, and plush friends serve their own fun purpose in an ottoman! Remember: toy storage isn’t solely utilitarian. It can be attractive, convenient, and easy.