Guest Feature with Gemma- Toy Storage

WARNING- this post is photo heavy! Enjoy ;)

<<<<<<

One of the biggest questions I am asked over on my Instagram profile is  "How do you store toys and books?" So I thought it deserved a post of its own. 

BESTA STORAGE IN THE LOUNGE ROOM

These units are so darn awesome! You can join them and stack them, have a couple or a heap , no shelf or three! And everything is hidden behind lovely streamline doors. Check out the BESTA range. 

So this is our living area storage, we don't have a playroom, so this is it. Unfortunately EXPEDIT sized baskets don't fit so I use a range of toy sacks. 

In here we have a sack for - wooden blocks, cars , train tracks, hot wheels tracks, superhero toys and dress ups. 

The third from the left has masks/hats for dress ups. (Dress ups are mighty popular in our house!)

The far right top has paper and puzzles, and the bags keep everything else tidy in this area. Its amazing what these cupboards can hold!

Books- 

This is where we store all of the shared books - picture books like those by Pamela Allen and Kate Lester. Love the width of these units for stacking up the books like this, so easy to flip through. I've also used some baskets (these were from Typo a while back) for their Grug collection and for my childhood books. Ace, Evie and Lola all have their own books in their rooms. 

The IKEA STUVA bench and pull out toy box are the best! Perfect for stashing big, soft, *cough cough ugly* toys. Two together looks awesome but no space for that here (Liz has just installed a double at her house and they look mint, think she will show you soon!). The girls both have one each, perfect for popping playmobil, doll houses, little figure toys on or pillows for a reading corner.

That green cupboard on the left of the pic below, houses a few different types of tins ( I bought these from places like IKEA, T2 etc) . The little tins are awesome for keeping small collections safe. Polly pockets, Strawberry Shortcakes, LEGO figurines etc. 

This IKEA TROFAST unit is in Evie's wardrobe. A tub each for barbies, Strawberry Shortcakes , Baby Clothes/accessories and bags. And the perfect little book shelf space.

This TROFAST unit is inside Ace's wardrobe. We are lucky to have robes in every room ... and I don't hang clothes, so they're perfect for toy storage. This is Ace's loose LEGO pieces, all colour coded. 

And the last TROFAST unit is in Lola's wardrobe. A tub for instruments, books, baby clothes/accessories and puppets. The shelves at the top of the wardrobes act as storage for tubs of clothes, school books and baby items.

This vintage bookshelf is in Lola's bedroom and houses all her favourites , its cute but practical. 

Evie's room has a few smaller cupboards, her large drawers (for clothes and bedding) and a fair few vintage prams (this my be my obsession/addiction)

These cute Down to the Woods wire baskets are super handy for storing our plastic, wood and schilech animals.

Hattie (our youngest at 8 months) has one for her toys.

I absolutely LOVE String Shelves for the display of special stuff . I bought mine from HERE. They are an artwork in themselves but look super cute when combined with collectables and 'precious' items.

This is Ace's room ( he is our eldest and is 6 and a half and a typical boy!) 

He is really into superheros, LEGO , Playmobil and all that usual boy type stuff. 

These printers trays are great for displaying and storing smaller collectables and figurines and they look pretty cool too! I picked mine up from a second hand store and there are plenty floating around. Otherwise try Ebay.

Ace also has this Industrial metal cabinet in his room. Its great for storing all the Playmobil and LEGO items and keeping them safe from his little sisters while he is at school. I bought it from my local hardware store, so try and think outside the box when it comes to storage and the places you look for it!

As you can see, it doesn't always work but it generally keeps Lola at bay! 

And lastly, all the kids craft/paints/pencil items are stored in a IKEA PS unit in the dining area. Its convenient as they sit at the table to create and make mess, and its lockable! 

Seeing as though we don't have a designated 'Toy Area' or room, our toys are scattered through the house but they are still kept neat and tidy . By using baskets, bags and tins it keeps different collections safe and organised. 

The key to organisation and cleanliness for kids toys or anything in general really? 

Everything to have a place and a place for everything! 

Any suggestions on what to post about next? Hit me!!