Toy Storaqe

I have 4 daughters so I can relate to clutter. What we just bought were the new storage things that Target carries-they are a brand called itso. You can configure the things in many different ways-right now I know they are on sale too-it was pretty inexpensive and we were able to do our whole playroom. I could send you a pic of the few that we put together if you would like-just email me. I saw good storage ideas in Ikea, but had never ventured out there. When I saw these storage things at target they were comparable to what I had been looking to purchase from Ikea.

We have two baskets/trunks from Pier 1 that we love. One is smaller that we keep in my duaghter's room and the other is a pretty big one for our family room. It holds a ton of toys and it's so nice to have everything confined in there once the kids are in bed for the night! We just close the lid (hinged, stays up when open so no slamming on fingers) and enjoy a few plastic-free hours. :) I looked on their site, but I don't see them listed. I'm pretty sure they still have them in stores though. Good luck!

I love IKEA for storage stuff like this and you can browse on their web-site to get an idea what would work in your situation. I always liked a big toy box/hope chest/w/ a seat. Something that was safe to sit on but located in a spot that, equally wouldn't cause any harm and had enough air spaces in it, should they ever climb into it (they didn't but could have - my paranoia!) That was probably purchased after their 1st birthday. I also had rubbermaid bins in a closet - easy to pull out. Since we didn't have a playroom either, I liked being able to put everything away but kept it accessible for when they wanted to play. When they were under a year old.....our living room, daily, was scattered with things that beeped and moo'ed. Not a ton of stuff but enough to entertain my toddler, at the time. In the evening, the rubbermaid bins were reloaded and placed in a small closet. I also have a craft drawer & cabinet in the kitchen, which has paints, paper, colored pencils, crayons and the kids have easy access to it. Once our children got a little older and had their own bedrooms, their toys moved in there.

Good to always think of the influx of toys - For over 10 years, I have had regular 6 week visits scheduled w/ AMVETS (just happens to be my charity - there are many to choose from) and, especially, in November and about a month before each birthday, (so twice a year)I go through all toys and stuff and move some of it out. When they were younger, I would even pack away some toys that didn't totally excite them but had potential and rotated a few...every couple months so that they enjoyed the variety and possibly grew into it or I would finally decide that it would never excite them and donated it to AMVETS.

Enjoy this time - you'll love seeing the holidays through the eyes of your little one! It's a whole new experience! Great memories await!

We have several of these canvas bins from The Land of Nod.

http://www.landofnod.com/family.aspx?c=106&f=957&...

They are about eight dollars each, and just gently fold when a baby leans on them (no sharp bits to poke a baby.) I also like that they come in many different colors including some muted ones.

I like the storage options at Ikea. There are also some good bins at Target. My method is small bookshelves and bins -- large toys (trucks, castle, dollhouse) go on the shelves, small toys or sets (train set, race track, blocks) go in bins either on the shelves or lined up on the floor behind our couch. I use one of those pop-up hampers for balls. Some things I've learned from experience:
don't buy bins that have sharp corners (some at Target do)

Be aware that if your child is a climber, s/he will use the bins as step stools, so make sure they are sturdy and childproof accordingly

There is a "dump everything out" phase that starts around 15 - 18 mos when children will empty every bin you have just for the fun of dumping. It's exhausting, but a good time to teach about cleaning up (I use the clean up song "Clean up, clean up everybody do your share/clean up clean up everybody everywhere").

If you put like things together (all cars in the red bin, all musical instruments in the blue bin) and have some type of system that's easy for your kid to understand, you are more likely to get help with clean up. You are also less likely to hear "Mom, where's my..."

If you don't like looking at all the stuff on the shelves (or want to look less cluttered when company comes over) -- use a tension rod and an inexpensive curtain to cover the front of your shelves.

Try baskets or a larger trunk basket. Ikea has nice ones; I also saw one last weekend in Target for about $50; also world market or pier one has nice baskets. I try to limit the amount of toys and request 'learning toys' from family or specific items, i.e. : wooden train set from northstar toys.

Make sure you tell people not to bring milions of toys for birthdays and x-mas etc.
I always tell one person to bring a toy and the rest to give them money for college.
I do this for Christmas and birthdays and my kids still have more toys then they need....

I have a small book shelf that I have filled with 2 shelves of books and one shelf of rubbermaid 1 quart (I think that is the size) containers with my daughters toys in them. This helps to keep them organized for all the pieces to each toy- Mr. Potatoe Head and parts in one- Doll and accessories for doll house in another etc.... When she was younger and the toys were a bit larger I would hide the larger toys behind the couch- out of my site! Since then I have gotten a white toybox (Target) for our family room and use that for the larger toys. I also put a cushion on the top so it looks like it belongs.

Biggest thing, especially as your son gets older, is to only have a few toys out at a time. I have several boxes of toys that I rotate out regularly so my daughter does not get bored. I have been doing that since she was 1 year old. I keep out her absolute favs that she ALWAYS plays with and the rest get rotated about once every other week or as I notice she is bored with them.

Good luck getting organized.... seems like each time you get a little ahead you soon will fall further behind! lol Ahhhhhhhhh parenthood! I can not wait to take back my house- in another 16 years! lol

Blessings to you!