If there is one thing in this house that we have “too much” of? It’s TOYS!
With my type A personality plus 8 gazillion toys in our home…it’s crucial that we ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE {to keep me sane}.
My dad built this custom shelf/cabinet unit that I have shown before. I really wanted the PBK storage shelf unit, but I really DID NOT want to pay the PBK prices. I just can’t cough up almost $2,000 for playroom storage.
This built-in “knock-off” cost closer to $350 after material and paint. And, in my opinion, is EXACTLY what I wanted.
I try to keep our books up high on the shelves because if not, our 17 month old likes to tear out every single page.
I love when my doctor tells me to “read read read to him…” I’m always like, “Yea, I do, but about 2 seconds in he’s ripping the pages out of the book.” LOL!
Anyone else have this problem????
I like to mix it up when it comes to storage bins. I’m not a matchy-matchy type of person.
I’ve picked up most of the storage bins from Target, but a few from Lowe’s too.
A HUGE part of me really wants to pretend that I have the toys organized in those bins. You know….cars in one bin, trains in another, etc.
But, let’s be real, that only lasts for roughly 1 hour and then it’s back to mad-chaos.
I’ve learned it’s a waste of my time to try and be THAT organized. Although, I do tend to go in there once a month and try to re-organize.
My dad also built these shelves to match the storage unit.
Another favorite item in the playroom is the spot where I display the kids artwork.
I got this wire hanger at Ikea {along with the clips}. The kids LOVE to hang up their artwork each week.
You should see how proud they get.
Do you have any cool ideas for displaying kids artwork?
Or better yet…how do you store the gazillion toys in your home?
I know, if you have kids, then you are like me and have the toy-store-exploded-in-my-home problem.
Share your playroom storage tips below! Or check out my entire playroom HERE.
I love your playroom! Our living room is currently full of toys. I organize as much as I can, but the house is just too small. Our next house will have a play room, not having space for one is a deal breaker.
My 16 month old does the same thing with books! He grabs them away and either rips pages or turns 5 pages at once in a board book and misses the actual story. A lot of times he points to stuff and says “this?” and I tell him what everything is. I also ask him to point out stuff for me. Sometimes he will flip through one book while I read him another haha. It’s hard because I know reading is so good for him, but he doesn’t stay still much anymore.
LOVE your playroom—can you send your dad over here to do some construction for us?!?! Ha Ha! We actually decided to do a week all about organization this week at http://www.thechirpingmoms.com—and one post is hopefully all about toys—seriously it’s a never-ending battle right! But I love what you did! Thanks for sharing!
Julie
LOVE your playroom… my fave of course is the shelves, but the I love the missy matchy baskets (esp the lego head one!) and love the display for the artwork. The sunflower seed artwork is super cute!
I was just walking around my house today trying to find more space for the toys I am tired of looking at in our living room! They ended up in my craft/guest room that my daughter isn’t even allowed with but they say it’s a good idea to rotate toys anyway right!? I’ll switch them out in a couple weeks!
I do the same as above when it comes to reading, I let her play with one book while I read another but she also loves to make the animal sounds so when we read books with animals she pays way more attention and just makes the sounds as we go! She is 18 months 🙂
Cute! Looks great!
Love the toy room! And yes we do have TONS of toys. I use our spare bedroom as a “toy” room but our problem is not only do we have lots of toys but so many of them are BIG! Tractors, trucks, cars etc…. I have no idea how to organize them so that the boys can get to them and for me to be able to clean in there!
Thanks for sharing this with us!
Another amazing room with great shelving and storage solutions! After fully stalking your fantastic blog & photos, I’ve come to the realization that I just need to kidnap your Dad (and his tools) so I can’t get some of these things built at my house! LOL! My husband has many wonderful talents and qualities, but… well, not so handy with fixing or building things. ;D
Thanks, again, for your inspiration!
Awww, thanks for all your comments today! Glad you have found some inspiration here. I would love to see pics of your “clone home” in AZ! 🙂
Hi Mandy,
Just saw toy storage ideas from Traci @ Beneath my Heart so I popped over! I LOVE the wire hanger to display art work! I sooo need that! We are in the middle of organizing and (decluttering) our million toys… right in time for Christmas! Ours is much like yours… shelves with baskets and books and stuff. 🙂 Thx so much for sharing… blessings!
I love your storage ideas! I have a very tiny house and am desperately trying to organize and declutter. It was my husbands starter home and five kids later we are still here. I have three little ones in one small room and hope to use some of your storage ideas to make it house all their things. Right now the living room tends to collect a lot of toys and that is where they play. Hopefully I can move their toys back into their room and get some order to my living room. Thanks for sharing your work!
Jodi
Love the storage idea!! This is exactly what I need in our hosue for the toys. I also love how you hang the artwork the kids do.. I saw another one similar on pinterest where they put the word “masterpieces” above all the kids art… Very cute you just gave me an idea to combine with that one! Love your blog!
I have an art display wall that is similar to yours but I used an actual curtain rod with curtain clips instead to match the existing rods in my house. I have an Pablo Picaso quote in vinyl wall art above it. And then below the display area I have my son’s easel and a chalk board vinyl on the wall for him to draw.
I love your huge storage built-ins. For storage I have a 9 cube organizer in my son’s room and one in the playroom. I do actually keep his toys organized in bins by type of toys. Letter/phonics/reading toys in one. Transportation in another. Art supplies in another. He actually does a really great job of putting things back in the proper bins. And for the shelves without bins, I store his puzzles, workbooks, and board games. I also have a hope chest that I use as a toy box in his room for all the miscellaneous toys. I think he enjoys that everything has a specific place. I keep all of his dress up/character clothes (cowboy/pirate/etc) in a $3 Ikea pop up clothes hamper, so it’s very easy to clean up after he dresses up at something.
His books are stored mainly on a bookcase in his room, but I also built those front facing ledge style shelves for him and mounted them to the wall in his play room. This way he can see the fronts of the books he wants to read. I switch them out with the ones from his main book case in his room from time to time so he has new ones to choose from often. We do most of our reading in the play room and not his room. I highly recommend the front-facing book shelves. My son LOVES picking his books out from these shelves verses his regular book case. He can quickly find his favorite books without having to take each one down.
Something that we started doing a couple of months ago was a “toy library” (I can’t claim credit for the idea but I love it regardless) They had a few things like stuffed animals or big pillows that could be out all the time, but the rest go into the library and have to be “checked out” Before they can check out a new toy (or set of toys like cars, trains, legos etc) the previous one had to be picked up and put away. Our library is a big cabinet with doors, but for some reason having it behind doors and having this check out policy has curbed the toy volcano dramatically without feeling like we had to get rid of all their toys. They can play with what ever they want , whenever but because they understand the concept of a library it keeps their room clean!
I like the idea of the toy library. I don’t do a “library” per say, but I have a rule that one toy must be cleaned up before another one taken out. My toy storage is not behind doors like yours though.
I found your blog (again) via Pinterest (not sure why I never saved it to my favorites) and I am soooo glad I found it again. I LOVE your elephant nursery, which is what I searched for on Pinterest. The colors are perfect. However, I had to check out the rest of your blog again when I noticed the house tour page. I wish I had a toy room! Our toy/play room is also our TV room and my husband would rather keep it less toy filled then not, but we do everything in that room. Organization is definitely important and we’re trying to figure out a plan for a built in my dad can do. I love this one – open to see everything but storage for lots! We’d have to add in a giant TV for my husband though unless I can get him tricked into putting on in our living room… oh well. I guess we’ll see what happens when/if we ever have a #2 kiddo. And by the way, I love the name Sloane for your son. That’s my middle name and it used to be a last name in my family before my grandmother started the trend of it as a middle. But our’s doesn’t have the E on the end. Thanks for sharing!
So glad you found me again! 😉 Thanks for the sweet words! Love that your middle name is Sloan!
So clean and organized! (at least for the time being;-) We have a huge upstairs playroom in our new house that is just waiting for some bins and buckets to keep everything in! xoxo
I love your home! So create, modern, and adorable. Everything looks so nice. Thank you for the tips on how to decorate on a budget. You have so many great ideas.
Thanks for sharing!
Emily.
love your mix-and-match style, and your happy attitude! Thanks for the way you share how you make use of what you have and deal with life as it comes.
How’s baby doing? still tearing pages? it gets better, really, so hang in there!
Thanks so much!! He does better now…he lasts for about 5 minutes now. 😉
The key is keep reading! Read anything, a recipe, an instruction manual. It isn’t about sitting content and listening at that age. They just need to hear the rhythm of your voice. As they begin to realize the books interest you, their curiosity will bring them in, for a closer inspection. I grew up loving books, and recently realized, it was my dad who gave me this gift. As I watched him reading to my youngest child ( mine are 23, 21,5,2 years) it all clicked in my head. He read everything to me, I mean everything. I heard him say to my baby , “well let’s see here,” I was transported back in time. I sat enthralled in the Yes, Yes, No, No book like I had never heard it,much less read it before. In my memory I saw him reading every soup can , package, storybook. With excitement, patience and cheer. It was an amazing memory, and it renewed my zest to read the same story to my little again and again.
Oh I forgot to say I love your playroom ideas, I hadn’t thought to have shelves to the ceiling, had only been thinking in their reach!
Stumbled onto your blog via Pinterest, LOVE all your rooms! I agree with everyone else, your storage is wonderful! You are lucky to have such a handy father. I also really love your paint colors in your playroom…mind sharing?
Thanks!! The colors are the same as the bedroom colors which you can find here: https://houseofroseblog.com/master-bedroom-wall-makeover/
I love your artwork display!! We have a small house so I didn’t have room for one in our little play room so I have an artwork wall in my living room!! I was going to send a pic but can’t figure out how from here haha!! But anyways your house looks so amazing!! You’ve done a wonderful job, everything is just gorgeous!! 🙂
Can I get the measurements of everything? We are looking to build something like this soon!! Looks almost just like I want.. With a few minor tweaks. 🙂 so excited to find you!