How to: Easy storage for toys

Over the past few weeks we have looked at lots of techniques to let go of stuff. Last week we used the Space & Time’s Organising S.Y.S.T.E.M © to sort and declutter toys to wrangle back control from too many toys. Now, let’s look at easy storage for toys.

The purpose of easy storage is to create a permanent home for toys so they can be easily packed up after use. It’s probably a topic for a blog another day, but I  believe keeping focus on one project at a time is paramount to staying organised.

As mentioned in the blog last week, Step 5: Easy Storage, says: “Store your sorted collection in containers that suit your budget, are easy to repeat and maintain”.

Note in this definition the word container can be anything that “contains” or “restrains” your collection. A storage tub or plastic container works well for lots of toys. However, there are other ways that toys such as soft toys can be contained in a collection in a permanent home.

Let’s examine the statement suggesting containers should suit your budget, easy to repeat and maintain:

  1. Containers should suit your budget –
    • if you have a small budget this could mean that you make do with what you have. The containers or tubs or shelving you use may be cardboard boxes and the toys are stored on shelves you currently have at home.
    • Or if your budget is larger it could mean specifically purchased matching containers in a custom built toy room (don’t we all wish for this!?). From these examples you will see that matching containers often look neater stacked together, but the storage used must be easy to repeat and easy to maintain as per below.
  2. How you contain the toys should be easy to repeat
    • make sure the kids can use the containers themselves (easy to open and close, take the lid off and put the lids on again)
    • to make it easy for the kids to pack up, create labels including either words or pictures (depending on their age).
    • as an example of easy to repeat storage, my favourite method of storing Lego is by colour, but I know some families like to store lego in sets.
  3. How you contain the toys should be easy to maintain
    • stack only 2 – 3 items on top of each other (too many more than this makes accessing things on the bottom of the pile too difficult and toys won’t get put away correctly)
    • make it common practice to pack up after each session or
    • ensure the kids put one lot of toys away before they get out another set, this is a great skill to learn that can be applied to any project.

Taking time to create a permanent home for toys is well worth the effort. Kids are more likely to pack up after themselves if they can easily do it themselves. You (and the kids) can wrangle control back from the toys in no time at all and move you towards a simpler life with easy toy storage.

Do you use tubs, containers, bags or buckets? I’d love to hear your thoughts and see some pictures.Please share below your favourite way to store toys?

If you need a hand because the kids toys have taken over the house check out my decluttering services  or  Contact me today for a chat about how storing toys in ways that suit your budget, are easy to repeat and maintain will make a difference to your life.