Toys have always been the biggest source of clutter in my home, and I’m sure the same is true for most moms. I’ve learned a few tricks over the years to help me calm the toy chaos, especially while living in a small space.
Here are my best tips and tricks when it comes to toy storage ideas for small spaces. I hope they help!
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1. Cube Storage Bookcase System
I’m in love with my cube storage bookcase.
It holds a ton of toys and I love that I can sort like toys together in baskets, just like blogger from The Sweetest Occassion did.
It’s functional for small spaces, because it can be used in a living room, play room or bedroom. It can even serve doubel duty as a TV stand to really save room.
Using a storage cube bookcase like this is one of my favorite toy storage ideas for small spaces! Also, it can be anchored to the wall, so that they’re safe in any space.
2. Stuffed Animal Storage for Small Spaces
Stuffed animals are notoriously the worst type of kid toys to store, because they take up so. much. room.
They’re also the type of toys that my kids play with the least, but I can’t seem to let them go. Anyone else?
I found the perfect stuffed animal storage solution for our home.
It’s a bean bag chair that used stuffed animals as it’s stuffing. These are the before and after pictures of my daughter’s stuffed animal collection using this bean bag. I can’t believe how many stuffed animals it actually stores!
Related: 9 Clever Stuffed Animal Storage Ideas
3. Get Creative with Board Game Storage
I don’t have a designated toy closet or really a ton of room for board games. I use my cube bookcase for so many toys already, so I need a different space to store our games and puzzles.
You can use a hanging closet organizer to store your family board game collection! I found this idea by Joyful Homemaking and I think it’s brilliant!
It’s inexpensive and a great way to use the vertical space in any closet.
4. Use Vertical Space to Store Toys
Speaking of vertical space, utilizing it is one of the best tips I have when it comes to toy storage ideas for small spaces.
Using empty space on a wall or a back of a door is a great way to store toys.
I’ve seen people use magnetic bars to hold matchbox cars on walls, shelves or even spice racks to store smaller toys, pegboards to store nerf guns and over-the-door organizers to store barbies, arts and crafts and more.
The above is a perfect example of using vertical space!
These wire baskets are attached to what looks to be a toy cabinet. It’s such a creative use of space and it doesn’t take up any extra space. You could also simply attach these to any wall or the back of a door.
5. Double Duty Storage
Beside using vertical space, utilizing double duty furniture pieces is my favorite toy storage tip.
My favorite way of doing this is with a storage ottoman, so your toy storage doubles as seating. It could even triple as a coffee table if you’re in need of toy storage for the living room!
6. Toy Rotation System
I use a toy rotation system in my home and it has really helped us out in a variety of ways.
First of all, it cuts our toy clutter in half. Second of all, my kids forget all about the toys I have stored away so when I bring them out they play with them for hours. Win win!
7. Frequently Donate
I am consistently editing my space and donating items. Toys are constantly being donated if I know my kids never play with them. We only keep toys that they truly play with or can learn from.
Of course there are some great quality toys that they grow bored of over time, so if I know they’ll circle back to them, I’ll store them away in my toy rotation system.
8. Create a Mobile Station
Consider investing in a rolling cart for small toy like cars, Shopkins, action figures, or arts and crafts! They come in a bunch of fun colors too!
You can simply tuck it away at the end of the day. You can keep it organized with dividers and shallow bins as well.
I have one that I’ve used for both a diaper caddy and later on an arts and crafts station!
9. Keep a designated bucket or basket for a clean sweep of a room
I have a couple of buckets on our main floor. At the end of the day, all the loose toys that are still left out are thrown into these buckets.
The goal is to get my kids into the habit of grabbing this bucket and putting away all their “stuff” where it belongs before bedtime. This is a work in progress, so I’ll let you know how it goes. 😉
10. Limit What Kids Can Access
I used to let my kids access all their toys, all the time. This resulted in an absolute nightmare of a mess in their playroom.
Now, along with my toy rotation system, I also keep certain toys out of their reach.
If they’re bored, I offer specific toys as an activity to occupy their time. If they ask to play with it, I let them do so. We clean up and store it away once it’s done being played with. This has resulted in more independent play, which is an extra bonus.
Of course, my kids are preschool aged and younger, so as they get older I’m sure this tactic will change a bit.
What is your favorite toy storage tip for small spaces? Share in the comments!
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