toy storage ideas

Update: this post was written a few years ago, but I know that cleaning & decluttering is always relevant, so I wanted to share it again today. I accomplish this by putting most of their toys in their rooms but hiding all of the other kid-things downstairs. If kid toys were “coastal colors”, I’d be on board, but the red, blue & yellow look just isn’t my style.

(I’m all for forts being built, toys being brought out, obstacle courses being made… all in the living room, but I just want them “hidden” (put away) at the end, because I also like our home to be kept neat.)

Here are my favorite toy-hiding storage ideas & the affiliate links to find them. I even have my kids use the little tikes shopping carts to clean up their toys.

They pick them up with the shopping cart and dump them into a nice toy box or ottoman. Our kids fill up their shopping carts, drive them over to the ottoman and dump them in. 4- Use an Ikea bookshelf turned sideways to hide toys like this one from 2sisters2cities.com. (Ottomans that hold toys, living-room sofas that double as beds or a DIY wall-bed, making a guest room into a playroom) If you can have your cups, plates, etc.. where your kids can reach them, then they can help you clean up and put things away. I tried to visit the webpage to see how it is done, but it takes me to a page that is no longer in use (so you can’t find this one anymore).

Our daughter, Allie, has a beautiful walk-in closet, but she is three and can’t reach any of her clothes. Her clothes are hanging up top, and Mickey added a second shelf for her shoes, etc… At the bottom, she has all of her doll houses, princesses, toy cars and baby dolls. She sits in that closet and plays for hours (literally) with her brothers, myself, Mickey or just by herself.

You can hide toys in the seat, but you can use the rest for decorative items.