Expedit Shelving Unit from Ikea, $69.99
I would love to say that I have some new excited thing to show you. I don’t at the moment (although I have a few swirling around in my head). Instead I am feeling overwhelmed by the toys in our little house. We have officially entered toy storage hell. Okay, maybe that is an overstatement, but the toys are taking over, particularly the Legos and little characters. My old storage systems are no longer working now that the kids have gotten older (and the toys more plentiful). It is now time to rethink and readjust! The kids playroom (the old nursery) has become the holder of a lot of the toys, but it is chaos in there! There is dress up clothes all over and little characters and vehicles lining the floor. We have also entered small Lego world, which means stepping on them at least once a day. We don’t have a lot of shelves for toys right now. Before we relied on low bins and tables to house everything. I now need to think more vertically. I am also looking for some more storage for the kids clothes (particularly out of season and clothes that they haven’t grown into yet), plus artwork storage.
I’ve been perusing shelving and bin options and I pretty much always end up back at the Ikea Expedit. I don’t love it, but it is so functional and affordable. I feel like they are overused, but the other shelves with similar cubbies are 3 and 4 times the price. I have vowed not to buy cheaply made furniture anymore, but it may provide useful storage for the foreseeable future for the kids. I also need to decide on something and move forward.
Land of Nod Container Options
Land of Nod Felt Containers
One thing I am not a big fan of are the box and bin choices for the unit. Fortunately I received a new Land of Nod catalog the other day, and there looking at me (in lots of pretty colors) were some really nice bins, baskets and tubs. They are designed to fit their system (which appears to be about 12×12 verses 13×13 for the Expedit). I am willing to give up that inch to get better looking containers.
Land of Nod Plastic Containers
Of course now comes my second conundrum. I love the softer felt containers, but I’ve heard that clear plastic ones work better with kids so that they can see what is inside easily. I think I may need to compromise and use some of each. I am thinking of also mixing in some boxes from the Container Store. Now if I can just get Maisie to stop “packing for trips” and hoarding toys in strange places, we might be able to get our house back under control.
Does anyone have any advice for toy storage for kids in the 3-5 age group or older?
