Let’s face it… I’m a mom and I have four children. Their toys, books, games, art supplies and drawings – no matter how hard I try to keep them contained to one room – almost always end up in the living room, kitchen, hallway, bathroom… basically every room is fair game.
Instead of stressing about messes, I decided to create spaces within my spaces to store toys and such – while minimizing the cluttered look. While our home has multiple children in it, I don’t believe that the entire house should appear as if toys rule over style. I prefer to find a happy medium and incorporate toy storage within our home decor.
For example, the entertainment center in our living room has shallow woven baskets in the bottom two shelves of each bookcase, and those are full of soft toys for our little crawler. Mixed in with some of my simple decor on the higher shelves, we have larger woven baskets filled with Wii games, card games and other miscellaneous activities for the whole family. And finally, under the TV we store books and puzzles for all of the kids to enjoy. I love that our living room has style and functionality, but also promotes independent play at anytime of the day.
A low row of book ledges along a wide wall or a few book ledges going up a narrow wall creates an inviting space for all ages. Add this simple design trick to your living room, den, library, bedroom or child’s playroom as a fun and practical way to store books and magazines. In my baby’s nursery, I have three book ledges stacked on top of each other and have styled them with all of my favorite children’s books from my childhood – It has become part of the decor and acts as a bookshelf without taking up precious floor space in his small room.
Kitchens, mudrooms and bathrooms tend to collect the most clutter. Wall shelves, cubbies and wall hooks make it easier to sort and store frequently used kid accessories as well as toys that are used indoor and outdoors or for toys strategically used while you’re preparing a meal in the kitchen.
Chalkboards, magnetic boards, corkboards and hanging cable systems are a great way to not only display your child’s art work, but they also act as a great family system for reminders and important notices. When configured with hanging baskets and hooks, you can actually store art supplies or smaller toys up high and out of reach from curious little fingers.
Family rooms are the most used rooms in the house – especially during family time with the kids. Large, sturdy baskets make a great alternative to a toy chest and can hold almost anything. Plus, come clean up time, it’s really easy for the kids to help pile the toys in the basket – then you can slide it behind the couch after the kids go to bed. Just make sure your basket of choice is the right one for the flooring in your home. You’re probably not going to want to get a large metal basket if you have delicate hardwood floors, but a woven, canvas or metal basket will work just fine with an area rug or on carpet.
Written by:
Christina Holt, Writer/Teacher- Mommy Loves Coffee
