KIDS TOYS - Tip 4

Tip 4:
When we were on a meagre budget, I merely lined the children's baskets of toys along a wall of their play area (our family room) or placed them in their bedroom closets. The baskets also fit under an end table we had.

Eventually I re-purposed a 4 ft. high bookshelf we had. The baskets fit on these shelves perfectly and the kids could reach them all.

1. Go Vertical:

The best way to make good use of space is to go vertical. I purchased several 6' high by about 18" deep white shelving units with doors on them. The shelves are adjustable.

I placed these cupboards in a row against a wall. I had enough wall space to have 3 with doors 1 without doors. The open one was handy as a bookshelf.   They opened up to the main playroom area.

I added grown up decor to the tops--baskets of flowers, and their treasure boxes that held their baby cards and other treasures.

Of course, if a child wanted to take a few upstairs to play the whole basket could be taken up. 
The plastic dollar store baskets fit perfectly on these shelves and could be double stacked in some instances.  The doors closed with no problem. Other large toys like a large castle or dollhouse could fit on the bottom shelf with a larger opening.

These shelves were $75 - $100. Watch for sales as these often go on sale in January.

2. Out of sight, out of mind = peace. Shelves like these transform a room when toys are put away and the doors are closed. Talk about tidy in an instant.

3. Future Uses.

As the family has grown and evolved and we have moved, the cupboards and baskets have served new purposes.

Before the basement of our third home was finished, we used the cupboards to form a dividing wall sectioning off part of the basement.

Once the basement was finished (4 years later) they were moved into the laundry room where they fit perfectly.  The bright white colour of them made the laundry room look fresh.

Then when I began homestaging, out went the toys and in went homestaging supplies.
From Barbies and cars to table games and puzzles, to linens, craft supplies and homestaging inventory, they have served in multiple ways.

The open shelf in one home transformed for a place to hold children's books to hold sports equipment, painting supplies and tools, and now it holds gift bags and extra linens.

**Even if you don't have space for a full set of shelves, still think verical.   You can store a lot more by going up.

Is there a closet you can add shelving to? Is there a crawl space that can be better used? How about the wall at the end of a hallway?

Copyright All rights Reserved Rosalie Garde