Old Style Storage

Punky

I am lucky to have a playroom for DS where most of the toys go and the rest in his bedroom. During the day I don't mind the toys thrown to the four corners of the house but by bedtime they are tidied away to these two rooms!!

We have a small play table with two large / deep drawers underneath bought from Little Fish Toys plus child size shelves with plastic colour boxes - one for cars, one for balls, etc. I think we got it from GLTC but have seen them very cheply on EBAY and at car boots.

I also use homemade draw string bags for loose toys like wooden jigsaws, hand puppets, etc. Plus a book shelf that allows the books to sit face out for easy viewing.

None of these options were particularly 'cheap' but I believe cheap alternatives can be found in places like ARGOS etc. By properly storing toys we've found they last longer and are even played with more! I 'rotation' of toys also helps and a 'culling' every birthday / christmas!

newlywed

In the past I've used cardboard boxes (preferably ones with lids - can get plain cardboard ones from office suppliers) and then just painted them up or covered them with fabric using wood glue.

newlywed

Every now and then Lidl does wooden stacking toy boxes.

blessings3

Thanks everyone for some great ideas -

broomstick27

those very expensive cardboard boxes you get with clarks shoes are great for crayons and crafty type bits!

broomie

x

jessicamb

How old are your kids? If they are old enough to be tidying up after themselves you could take a tip off my mum: if its not tidied up by the next time I go in there I'll tidy it up into the bin. Worked every time. In terms of storage we had the big plastic crates mentioned above - really good for things like Lego which you can just chuck in, and shelves for 'boxy' things like board games. I think you can get them in the supermarkets for a few pounds each.

Mermaid

Just bought a bucket of 'Cars' popcorn from Asda for grand total of £1.50, it's now empty, washed and dried and is the perfect home for my 18 month old's toy car collection. He's so impressed that he put away all his cars by himself this evening.

I also have a lady bird shaped laundry hamper from 'The Range', which I use for storing bigger toys in the living room. I've been trying to enforce a 'Just one box of toys per child' rule but it doesn't really seem to be working - prehaps I need to be firmer with them!

Make the most of the space you have by getting shelves that go from floor to ceiling. Mine are from Shelfstore, which weren't cheap, but as it is a modular system, you can get exactly the right size to fill the space available. This system attaches to the wall, so it is pretty stable.

Mermaid

MimiF

We have a box for every kind of toy and it makes tidying up so easy.

Little People are in boxes which roll under the bed as is dressing up stuff and dolls clothes, potties, baths etc.

DS's toys like Power Rangers are in 2 lidded boxes also under bed with cars. Asda do great square big boxes in their food storage section which have a lid and carry handle, they are only about £1.49, Star Wars figures, Lego and Beyblades go in here and then on book shelves.

Finally I bought one of those plastic sets of drawers for in the toy cupboard from Argos, once again every kind of toy has it's own drawer.

All drawers are labelled (I love my labelmaker) clearly and tidying up is such a doddle.

I'm a great believer in having nothing on the floor as this just adds to a cluttered feel in a room, plastic boxes etc hide it all away and go easily on shelves etc.

And I follow the bin rule too, if it doesn't get tidied I get the black bag out!!

MimiF

groatie_queen

Hello everyone

On offer in Sainsburys as present is SPC Nature's Finest fruit, which comes in a very handy reasonably robust square plastic container with a round wide screw top. Ideal for storing dry foods, e.g. nuts, raisins, rice etc, and also fits neatly in the fridge door for HM yogurt and HM nut milk. The capacity almost to the rim is 1 litre. The drained weight of fruit is 610g. The fruit is in juice, not syrup.

At present the peach and pear varieties are down to £1.19 from £1.79, and the pineapple is down to £1.39. I don't know when the offer ends.

I do love Lock & Lock, but at present for me is a tad expensive. This is a great way of picking up some fruit for my breakfast and collecting some handy containers at the same time. HTH

GQ

Seakay

Thanks for the tip - I'll definitely look out for them in my local Sainsburys.