How to orgazine toys?

[maciascl]

I am sure there have been lots of threads about this & I looked but didn't find any in the last few pages. We are moving & I really need to condense & organize the toy area. We have had this for the last 5 years honestly, I hate it. Many toys are too big to fit in it so it is half empty & most of the toys are in a pile on the floor. However I don't know what to do with all the cars, dinosaurs, bean bags, & other random toys that are still in it.

We have no money to go buy a new storage system. We do have something like this (but it is only 3 shelves) that we could put plastic storage conatiners on. I had wanted to use that for closet storage though.

I am just overwhelmed & need some outside perspective & ideas. Please tell me about your toy set up. Thanks!

[confustication]

We use very low open shelves (I think they were originally designed for shoes?) I found them in the storage area, outside- I washed them up, and as I make my way through some of the other furniture, I'll refinish them as I have time.

They are sometimes a mess when the boys are playing, but they're easy for them to access and they are easy for me to put things away on. We also have duplicates/doubles of several things because our boys are very close in age, and it makes life easier.

Having everything open (and not in bins) allows me a lot of flexibility, and it allows our kids to get what they have their eye on without frustration.

In use:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._1244451_n.jpg

Back together again:
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...4_933156_n.jpg

[RoundAbout]

I use open shelves too, along with some baskets to group together smaller toys.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35781818@N08/4113326944/

Works great. DS (3 yo) will get out a basket or two at a time for play in the living room and its easy to get him to clean up.

ETA - I am thinking about making some drawstring bags for storage/toting using fabric that fits the theme of the toy (ie. sealife print for his plastic fish, Cars/road for his matchbox cars, etc.) I don't know if this will work better than baskets but I might try it out.

[TearyCloud]

Wow, having everything on shelves like that would drive me insane! I guess I prefer it to appear less cluttered, so I have shelves that I got off of freecycle and I have wicker baskets on each shelf. DS can easily clean up in just a few minutes and everything always looks nice and clean, even though the baskets themselves are full of toys he tossed in.

I don't like those plastic bins, the size really isn't right, and it's an eyesore. Check out your local freecycle, or even craigslist, and you can probably find super cheap/clearance baskets to put on the shelves.

[confustication]

Originally Posted by TearyCloud

Wow, having everything on shelves like that would drive me insane! I guess I prefer it to appear less cluttered, so I have shelves that I got off of freecycle and I have wicker baskets on each shelf. DS can easily clean up in just a few minutes and everything always looks nice and clean, even though the baskets themselves are full of toys he tossed in.

I don't like those plastic bins, the size really isn't right, and it's an eyesore. Check out your local freecycle, or even craigslist, and you can probably find super cheap/clearance baskets to put on the shelves.

It does drive me nuts at times- I long for a dedicated playroom! but our toddler is hearing impaired, and his expressive language is delayed as a result. We moved to completely open shelves to avoid further frustrations in his daily life. Totally worth it to me.

[happyhats]

I too have open shelving. I got an inexpensive shelving system made for storage/garage use. I then got cardboard boxes for free and painted them with leftover paint we used in her bedroom. I suppose you could (and I may) go a step further and label each box. For now we pull down a box or two at a time, and we rotate toys. She's only one and a half, and lots of times she has more interest in pulling books off the shelf or just discovering other things to even play with her toys. But she'll play with them if there's a few. When she seems bored of them I put them neatly up and get a few more out. They are categorized in the boxes, and older playmats can easily access everything. I don't find it an eyesore because all the boxes match and hide the clutter-extra points that it's behind her door.