How do you store things?

[TheSlingMama]

We're working on really overhauling/creating DD's playroom and making it more like how we want it to be - Waldorf!  I'm curious as to how you mommas store toys?  She doesn't have many but some sort of storage would be nice!

[mommariffic]

We have a lot of baskets that I've collected..small ones, big ones, dark ones, light ones. I love and am addicted to baskets! 

[TheSlingMama]

How do you keep them from destroying the baskets?  DD LIVES to break apart the weaving on the baskets she has.    I've been thinking about the canvas bins - are those unacceptable in a Waldorf playroom?

[boatbaby]

who cares what is acceptable, do what works for your family and looks nice too.

we got really nice baskets at the dollar store that look grat and hold what we need. and easy to replace if anything happened to them.

we also use cloth bags (that i sewed from fat quarters of cloth) with certain items inside.  one for silks. one for capes. one for blocks, etc.

we have a few canvas bins too for art and seasonal books and sewing. 

[TheSlingMama]

I agree I was just curious. Lol, I don't mind going against the grain to do what works better for our family but I like to know I'm doing it kwim?  Like with tv and other media - it's not eliminated within our household but strictly controlled and regulated.  This works better for us.  I think I may have come up with a brilliant solution!  We have a larger dresser in her room and she's constantly getting in the drawers.  I think the bottom two drawers will become "her" drawers since she can't get them off the track or anything & put her toys in there.  Then I can finish proofing the other drawers for her clothes and diapers.  Obviously her soft toys won't work that way but I think we may rig a hammock for them under wear we're putting her playstand.  Then the one basket that's not destroyed and seems to hold up well will be available for silks, etc. when we add those.  She's a little young for a whole bunch of them but she just started playing with "boas" (EVERYTHING is a boa.  Lol, even one of those unstuffed dog toys with the squakers in the ends.  She wrapped it around her neck and acted like the queen, roflmao!).  Thanks ladies! 

[appalachiamama]

On our back porch/play area, we use a combination of plastic drawers and longaberger baskets (because they were gifts and I am trying to wear them out to test them).  Haha.  Inside, items just have a specific place that they live in.  It helps a lot to have predictable locations for items so that your child can find it with less frustration.  For us, we just have less stuff.  I'm a super minimalist, but I know not everyone is.

[TheSlingMama]

We are pretty minimalist too. The few plastic toys we kept are now stored in the drawer. Her stuffies are in a basket out of reach until I can rig her sling. Her blocks and remaining toys (M&D shape sorter, toolbox and caterpillar) are all in a basket on the floor. Once we get her playstands they'll go under there.

[appalachiamama]

Sounds like a great plan.  After dealing with my desk being ransacked all the time, I emptied it out and made a drawer that was just hers.  Same thing for the kitchen.  Works well, even after a year.
 

Originally Posted by TheSlingMama 

I agree I was just curious. Lol, I don't mind going against the grain to do what works better for our family but I like to know I'm doing it kwim?  Like with tv and other media - it's not eliminated within our household but strictly controlled and regulated.  This works better for us.  I think I may have come up with a brilliant solution!  We have a larger dresser in her room and she's constantly getting in the drawers.  I think the bottom two drawers will become "her" drawers since she can't get them off the track or anything & put her toys in there.  Then I can finish proofing the other drawers for her clothes and diapers.  Obviously her soft toys won't work that way but I think we may rig a hammock for them under wear we're putting her playstand.  Then the one basket that's not destroyed and seems to hold up well will be available for silks, etc. when we add those.  She's a little young for a whole bunch of them but she just started playing with "boas" (EVERYTHING is a boa.  Lol, even one of those unstuffed dog toys with the squakers in the ends.  She wrapped it around her neck and acted like the queen, roflmao!).  Thanks ladies! 

[Gunter]

we have the ikea tall and half baskets that fit on their cube bookshelves.  we got the full/tall baskets years ago before kids & they work great.  we do have one basket that was peeled apart but i don't know where it came from; a friend gave it to us.  the half baskets are great b/c the children can see inside of them easily.  we have some other random thrift store baskets which were maybe $1 a piece. 

you are so thoughtful to care and ask!

[TheSlingMama]

Thank you! 

Originally Posted by Gunter 

we have the ikea tall and half baskets that fit on their cube bookshelves.  we got the full/tall baskets years ago before kids & they work great.  we do have one basket that was peeled apart but i don't know where it came from; a friend gave it to us.  the half baskets are great b/c the children can see inside of them easily.  we have some other random thrift store baskets which were maybe $1 a piece. 

you are so thoughtful to care and ask!

[Gunter]

of course!

i had to look up our bookshelves for a friend who asked about them so thought i would post them here.  they are called expedit, from ikea.  we have two of these baskets in the full size. and, we have two which are the half size.  we have storage boxes like this on the very top, which have different art supplies in them.  my kids are young and when they got into the crayons without me, i realized for my sanity, i needed to have them within my reach but not theirs.  (we had one incident where the walls & their wooden fridge got covered by my youngest very quickly.)  thankfully, we do art every day and my oldest can now reach them with a stool.  but, for the sake of my walls and furniture, i moved them out of reach before anything else happened.  the crayons, scissors, glue, paint and one set of colored pencils are open so they can see them for inspiration.  the rest is in three boxes. 

we have two bookshelves that are side-by-side which kind of forms a wall between the playroom and the main living space.  it works really well.  i like that they can be accessed from either side b/c that makes clean up so much easier when things are in the living room space as well as the playroom space; people can work together.  and, everything is so visible for my babes to see and touch.

[dogretro]

In the playroom, we have the Ikea Trofast shelf, the short long one: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20087525  Two of the sections have wooden shelves, one has a small green bin.  On the shelves either sits one toy or a basket w/ stuff in it, like pinecones, play silks, or building blocks.  Our seasonal table takes up one third of the top.  I usually get baskets at the thrift store.  The kitchen toys are stored in the play kitchen and a few other toys are on the playstand.  We have a small cabinet for art supplies & the bookshelf is in the girls' room.  The doll house is in there, too, on a big train table.  Our stable is on the living room floor.  That's it!

[TheSlingMama]

Oh those Ikea shelves are awesome!  Lol, now I want some!  :)

[JudiAU]

Our primary play space is integrated with our living room so it needs to remain neat and organized. One large wall contains lots of Ikea Billy bookshelves. The other wall contains a few of the bookshelves but with doors in the front. We have the doors that can be decorated so we have a happy fabric covering them. Almost all of the toys are stored, sort of Montessori-style, so that they can be seen and selected and played with and can be returned to there shelves and aren't jumbled about.  I think this gives each toy a certain amount of respect and certainly makes it more attractive when all its pieces are visible and available. It also helps clean up. I don't actually like bins. I just wish we had another storage area that would allow us to rotate toys rather than keep them all together. Toys I don't like or don't actively promote (you know the ones), extra art supplies, and goodies are stored in My Secret Closet Of Mystery.

You can buy willow basked or canvas buckets (like those used in the Expedit above) but they tend to take up too much room so we have some clear plastic, lidded, hinged containers that fit exactly into the fairly narrow shelves from Container Store. I don't like the plastic but they are pretty neutral and since you only see them when the doors are open, they don't bother me that much. The containers house tracks/little cars/play food/duplo blocks.

The Billy bookcase is really narrow and doesn't take up much room plus I love the custom doors. A few things won't fit there and are stored randomly wherever I can cram them.

[Mittsy]

DD(6 in Mar) wants this Ikea wardrobe, to store toys and clothes in. It's made of rubberwood.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00099162

We also have this Ikea cubicle bookcase for our living room, the bottom half is devoted to kid's toys, the top half is books for parents and decorative stuff.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60208648