Toy storage for Living room- reducing clutter

summerday

This is the first chance I've had to come back to my thread, many thanks for all the replies. I will definitely be checking out all the various storage systems that people have suggested to see which will fit best in our living room.

The playroom idea is a great one, I only wish we had another room downstairs, even a dining room that I could convert, but sadly we don't, so it's a case of making the best storage space in the living room.

I'm no stranger to children, being a primary school teacher and having babysat for many, many families over the last 15 years (having worked for a babysitting agency), and have noticed a huge difference in how well families do and don't cope with keeping the main living room tidy. That isn't meant to sound judgemental, some people aren't at all tidy/houiseproud by nature and I'd never judge them for that. But I wish I'd paid more attention now to the houses I'd visited that have managed to keep things organised and copied their ideas, though lots of you have been kind enough to suggest what works for you.

Thinking about it, the less 'stuff' you have, the easier it is to have to find space for it- I like the idea of rotating boxes of toys, so not much is kept in the living room. Lots of well-meaning friends have already offered us toys that their kids have grown out of so I do suspect that we will amass quite a few.

Looking back, I'm sure my sisters and I weren't that bad- Mum says we tried drawing on the walls etc once but after being sternly told off never tried it again! Also had rules about putting things away before being allowed to get more toys out etc. But the more I think about it, the best solution seems to be to not allow too many toys into the house in the first place. Having visited third world countries, I do feel that kids in our country have far more than they need or appreciate, so I'm sure my child won't suffer if I ration their toys.

skintchick

OP - we don;t have a playroom either, and DD prefers to play downstairs so what we did when she was a baby was just have a big wicker basket downt eh side of the sofa with her toys in, and now she is 2, she has the bottom two shelves on our two bookshelves, so things are visible but tidy, and her toy kitchen is in a corner, not exactly invisible but it's not too bad.

We also have some wicker picnic baskets (about £8 each from second hand shop locally) which are great for putting toys in then stacking up - they look quite stylish and are easily moved round the house too, plus the buckles on them are educational as they have to learn to how to use them.

If we had room for a sideboard, then I'd have one of those and hide it all away.

barbiedoll

Kids accumulate toys in the same way that we accumulate clothes, jewellery, shoes, handbags etc etc......gradually! You won't suddenly have a huge pile of toys to find space for, you will find a space for stuff as you need to. My son's toybox went from being a small box that someone gave me to keep his nappies and stuff in, to being a huge cardboard box that once carried his climbing frame! (Yes, I soon got rid of that!!)

It's nice to see a few of the kids' bits and pieces around, it makes a house look like a home. But I can't stand clutter either and I'm quite ruthless about chucking stuff out too. If it's broken, it's in the bin, end of story.

I can remember visiting a friend's place after she had her third baby. She was lucky enough to have two "reception" rooms and one of them just looked like a bomb had gone off in there. It was kept as the children's playroom and she just opened the door at the end of the day, chucked all of the toys in there and closed the door. The rest of the house looked perfectly normal! :rotfl:
I don't think that I could have a room like that though...it would haunt me! :eek:

dondo

julie03 wrote: »

ikea trofast is great for toy storage

I can second that- it's what we've got- very flexible system