Hi Idea Room Readers! It’s Becky from the Clean Mama Blog and CleanMamaPrintables.
Today’s organizational tips are all about kid storage. I have a lot of ideas from my years as an art teacher and even more practical, “it just works” ideas from my own kids. Hopefully today’s post will help you find some new spots and ways to organize the kid stuff in your own home. I try to follow 4 “rules” for organizing kid stuff: hide toys whenever possible, label anything that can be labeled, use baskets and bins when appropriate, and have art supplies easily accessible.
HIDE AND SEEK
(furniture can have great places to stash the stuff)
looks like a normal coffee table
doubles as games and puzzles storage
tv stand/cabinet
doubles as toy storage
LABEL, LABEL
(pictures are worth a thousand words – or at least a thousand times of asking them to put it away)
frequently used toys are in the front closet – labeled, clear containers for easy identification and clean up
CONTAIN IT
(baskets are my favorite storage option)
small toys that are dumped out every day are in open baskets for easy access
I love having books in baskets – pull the basket out and it’s an instant library
EASY ACCESS
(art supplies ready for when creativity strikes)
favorite art supplies in the pantry
marker storage by cool colors (greens, blues, purples) and warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows)
these containers were made by covering coffee containers with scrapbook paper
an art supply turntable is a fun storage technique – I made this one with a lazy susan, scrapbook paper, paint and mini flower pots
Your turn – what’s your favorite tip for storing and organizing kid stuff?
Wealth of information. Love all of these organizational ideas. Really loving the coffee table.
Denise
Extreme Personal Measures
Do like your organizational skills, especially the arty turntable – now I know what to do with my pens, paintbrushes etc.
I love the labels, that's a great idea.
When the toy sets get bigger (like little people villages, legos, etc) my parents graduated to large rubbermaid totes. There were still some toys inside, but the totes were stored in the garage. Once the house was clean, we could have one inside at a time. (That way we only had legos out, or imaginex.) It also provided us with excitement because we didn't have everything all the time (Ooh, we haven't played with our instruments for a while.) My mom was happy because her house was not a disaster. :)
Fab ideas! I love having a place for everything and having toys accessible but not necessarily in plain sight.
Great ideas! My sons preschool does the labeling boxes with pictures. They say it really helps.
That's a super cute coffee table! Where did you get it?
Coffee table is from Pottery Barn about 10 years ago :)
Thanks Becky! I love the art turntable idea! This would be perfect for my kids and homework.
Great tips. Mom always said, "When you buy a piece of furniture–try to get pieces with storage!". I guess she was right. Great blog BTW.
Warmly, MIchelle
I really need to do this for the grandkids! Thank you!