Our re-fi is coming up soon and my 5 year old has a purple with black accented room which we are trying to spiff up, while still being practical. We don't have an official toy box so things get dragged from a closet and stuffed animals are always everywhere. Any interesting and (hopefully) economical ways to save space/store stuff while being aesthetically pleasing?
I would love ideas for purely decorative items, as well. I love DIY projects, too!
Thanks! :)
My sister used to have a big net in her room and she put all of her stuffed animals in that. It worked well and kept them off the floor, so it didn't really take up space. It's kind of like a hammock, but the sides are taller so the animals don't fall out. It's easy to clean up too, because you can just throw them all in when you're done playing.
You should join Pinterest - there are so many cute, DIY ideas foe exactly what you are looking for!
Also, I like the storage cubes from Target with the rattan baskets....easy to store toys but still looks nice and can be used for other things as she gets older.
pet nets are fun. i loved mine when i was a kid. we use those pop up hampers from target or ikea (really anywhere). that coordinate with the colors in my kids rooms. we can really stuff those things full!
If you can sew, you can make a lounging spot for reading. I don't know how to explain it like a pillow case with zipper but made with sturdy and comfy material. Something like canvas or jean material for the bottom and minky on top. Store all her stuff toys inside and it makes a comfy spot to read, sit or lounge in. When it gets dirty, you can throw it in the wash.
For toys, Ikea has this shoe cabinet you can hang on the wall. I like it more for books and toys. It comes in black and looks great as a headboard http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60239961/#/301...
My bil laid carpet for many years. They have those cardboard tubes at the center of the rolls of carpet, much like the ones in a roll of paper towels....
My sister took one of those rolls, it was long enough to go from floor to ceiling. She covered it with a carpet remnant and used curtain hooks to hand the stuffed animals on it in a corner, well, it was out by about 5 inches so that animals could hang all around it.
This was really cute and unique.
These are the style of hooks she used. Flimsy enough that if one was exposed and the little one fell against it they would bend and not do serious damage.
http://www.curtain-tracks.com/recmar-4136-steel-plated-dr...
We have a little round footstool that all the tiny stuffed animals can go in. The big ones are one the ends of the beds, and a few are on top of the tallest bookshelf, which reaches almost to the ceiling.
They have these 9 cube wooden shelving units (I bought ours at Target) that you can use both for open storage or use with the fancy canvas bins that come in a variety of colors and designs. I LOVE these for toys, because I can keep sets together and dust free.
We used to have an open bin shelving unit (the kind with the horizontal metal bars and the open plastic bins) and I HATED it. Nothing fit in them properly, and everything got dusty and I constantly had to clean toys.
For larger sets, I use Rubbermaid totes and store them in the basement. Every time my children want to play with dinosaurs, or Barbies, or the train set, or the Pet Shop stuff, I have to trudge downstairs and haul up a big tote...but worth it to keep the stuff out of the way and then they have more fun with it anyhow.
Lots of shoeboxes under the beds to store other sets that don't get played with as frequently but haven't been banished to the basement.
I am also a fan of rattan baskets with nice linen liners. :)
We have these from, IKEA. Storage nets and they are are great for stuffed animals, only $5:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70115578/
Fabric bins are really good too, there are lots of tutorials online to make your own.
The wall corner nets are cool too, that is what I did when I was a kid:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=pd_sl_1jq6pel720_b?rh=i%3Aaps...
This is a good idea for books, spice racks:
http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=spice+rack+book+shelf
More cool ideas:
http://pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=stuffed+toy+storage
My son has a very small bedroom with only a small closet as well. Although he is a boy, he has a lot of stuffed animals. We found some stacking plastic shelves (height- 13", width- 15", depth- 11 1/2") which we are using for displaying his stuffed animals. We have 4 stacked on top of his dresser 2x2. And we have 3 stacked in a corner on one wall, and 6 stacked in two rows of 3 on another wall. He organized his stuffed animals according to how he plays with them. it isn't crowded looking at all, and he can easily find which stuffed animal he wants to play with. Before we got the shelves, he had them all piled on his dresser, bed, and a chair we had in his room. If you can't find plastic shelves you might be able to build some and paint them purple, black, or white. We have a cute bookshelf for his books. I saw a very cute idea on using a red wagon as a book shelf in a child's toom a few months back. If you have one, and have enough space that might be a cute way to store things. You could always make it a purple or black wagon. It could be used for sutffed animals as well. We have a cork board on one wall that he can pin drawings, pictures, cards, artwork he has on. It gets changed as he does new drawings. We have seperated his toys into themes and each is stored in a clear plastic bin. Some we have slid under his bed. Others are stacked in the bottom part of his closet. Because his room is so tiny, we store a lot of his toys in the living room. Three larger boxes (stores his Thomas trains and track, Little people sets, and legos) in one corner of the living room, as well as a few smaller boxes slid under our sofa. We have rules about how many toys he can have out at once (one box worth, doesn't need to all come from the same box). He finishes what he is playing with before changing to a new set of toys. Cleaning up is part of playtime. My son is 5, and he always cleans up without being asked now. We started out with cleaning up being important and really reinforced it from the very beginning. You have a chance to organize her new room, with a new set of rules. I got my inspiration from the storybook, "The Berensteins Bears Messy Room." I also used the cartoon Special Agent Oso's three special steps song to teach my son how to play and keep things neat and easy to find. Step one: Decide what you want to play with and find it in your toyboxes or shelves. Step two: Have fun playing! Step three: Put things back, so you can find them easily next time. It really has helped with keeping things organized. My son rarly ever looses any of his toys. I guess I focused more on the practical side. I hope you get some great ideas.
I found some nice wood chest of drawers that held those big wicker baskets that can come in and out easily. I arranged my kids toys by theme such as one drawer had all balls, another had musical toys, another with duplo/lego pieces,etc. It was easy to pull out one drawer at a time, play, then pick up. I found them at Garden Ridge for about $150 for both pieces. You could look at places like Home Goods and Big Lots too.
We also put some toys away in big bins that were stored in the basement or other storage area and rotated toys in and out on a weekly or bi-monthly basis. Cuts down on the clutter and what was old to the kids became new again.
Also you could buy or make a hammock-like space to keep all of the stuffed animals in above the bed or in a corner of the room. Hope that helps!
A.
For large stuffed animals we have a big bucket like this http://www.drillspot.com/products/1587045/Homz_0402GRRB08...
And the bucket is fun for a variety of games.
I was very attached to my stuffed animals as a child so I have a soft spot for letting my kids keep theirs. But only a certain number are kept in my kids' room at a time and the rest go into storage. Then we rotate through them on occasion.
