If your kids already seem to have more ‘stuff’ than your home can accommodate, you are probably dreading the forthcoming festive season. You are probably expecting another truck load of plastic playthings to be dumped in your already overstocked home, and may be wondering where you are going to put it all.
Here are some amazingly creative, highly effective and rather clever ideas for finding storage for all the bits and pieces your little ones don’t seem to be able to live without!
1. Keep outside toys in buckets: Storing toys for outside in buckets will not only make it easier for your little ones to tidy up after themselves, it will also stop the dirt from being brought into the house. Find a simple shelving unit and use buckets labelled ‘balls’, ‘sand toys’ or ‘chalk’ to accommodate everything your children use in the garden. You could keep it outside to save space, but remember to make holes in the bottom of the buckets to stop them filling with water.
2. Put puzzles in pencil cases: Puzzles are a nightmare to keep track of, and there’s nothing worse than getting one done only to find a piece missing. They also tend to come in bulky cardboard boxes; not ideal for storage or for keeping the pieces safe. A great alternative is to use cheap pencil cases – easy to store and nicely protective.
3. Hang toy cars on a magnetic strip: Sick of picking up toy cars? Or even worse, standing on them?! Use a magnetic strip like the ones used for knives and hang all the toy cars from this, making a great feature as well as a practical storage solution.
4. Use tyres for storage: A couple of used tyres, stacked on top of each other and secured, can make a great storage space for soft toys, building blocks or outdoor toys. If you don’t think they look very nice, you can always give them a cheerful coat of paint, or even get your little ones to help!
5. Keep all your jars for storing small things: From peanut butter to pasta sauce, all those jars make incredibly useful storage places. From Lego to craft bits, dominoes to dinosaurs, if they are small they’ll go in a jar. To make them super portable, thread a length of ribbon through the lid and make it into a loop for little hands to carry.
6. Use a hanging basket in the bath: Hanging baskets for plants as well as hanging fruit baskets both make excellent storage for bath toys and sponges in the bathroom. Because they are mesh, the toys will have room to dry out and drain, therefore staying mould and smell free for longer.
Storingkid’s toys is never an easy job, particularly if your children are determined to hold on to every toy they’ve ever had. To free up some space, try getting them to put a single box of toys into self storage, and if they haven’t missed them after six months or a year, see if they would like to sell or donate them to a charity.
