Before kids (BK), Mom and Dad dwelled in a chic, fashionable home with pronounced lines, clean floors, and perfectly stacked cookbooks that we actually had time to use…now, your child is asleep and you still find yourself resentfully glaring at the rather large barnyard-laden eyesore rocking chair that uncompromisingly sings “Old McDonald” against your will! “Why did we have kids again?” you ask your spouse in a soft, desperate cry for help. Don’t give up yet: if there’s no place to put your child’s obnoxious tools of pleasure then you need to learn organizing ideas for how to store large toys. It’s normal to have a love/hate relationship with these objects of conspicuousness but thankfully, DIY Baby Blog has some easy solutions for storing large toys that will arm you for battle against the all-consuming blemishes that plague your once-peaceful home.
The Simple Solution to Storing Large Toys: Abstinence
If you were only worried about how to store large toys then the easiest solution would be to “just say no,” and prevent these items from entering your home in the first place. Where do these toys come from? As long as YOU aren’t the source of the problem, then lay down the ground rules for Grandma and Grandpa BEFORE they bring over the bright red, Elmo-enhanced toys of your child’s obsession. Yes, you would offend a few family members but they will ultimately get over it. Unfortunately, there are a few problems with this plan: (1) you may not want to be rude when your family thinks they’re doing something nice for your children, (2) you may actually want your child to enjoy playing with these ridiculously obnoxious toys, and (3) storing large toys isn’t the only problem; you also have large rockers, strollers, playpens and high chairs that in most cases you just can’t get away from. That being said, although moderation is simple, it’s not always easy, and you need to find some creative DIY organizing ideas for storing and collating your baby’s large toys and miscellaneous items.
Idea #1: Hang it Up! Store Large Toys on the Wall
Ideal for outdoor toys, hanging things up in the garage gets the big toys off the ground and out of your line of vision. There’s just something about hanging up stuff that makes you feel good. Take for example, the Big Wheel.
We could store the Big Wheel on the ground in the garage, stuck in a corner of the house or on the patio, but instead it’s tucked strategically away on a wall in the garage that would usually be considered wasted space. To go off on a tangent for just a moment, storing toys on the wall doesn’t have to be the extent of your hanging experience. You can hang adult stuff too, you know! We mounted our snowboards (since we live in Florida this is particularly useful J), step ladders, tools, and even came up with a creative way to hang the bottom of our heavy bag so we can drive under it! Oh, the possibilities…
Idea #2: Adjust Your Closet for Big Toy Organization Accentuation
Customizing your child’s closet may seem a little intimidating to a new DIYer but you can get some big returns with just a few easy adjustments and save yourself from the “big toy annoy” factor. It’s all about adjustable shelving. Most custom closet systems allow you to move the shelving up and down along two vertical rails so you can make room for tall items if need be.
You’ll see how we chose to store this large toy shopping cart neatly positioned in our boy’s customized closet. We placed the shelving at heights that would fit other big items as well, but in this case we just have a few baskets we found at the Dollar Store filled with a few small toys. We’re not taking full advantage of the available height, but it’s there if we need it!
Idea #3: Hide Big Toys in a Tasteful Storage System
Hopefully the storage unit we have in our patio doesn’t look too much like a coffin, because we think it fits pretty well in our outdoor living space. It’s absolutely perfect for storing large toys and other outdoor activities so we can avoid having big and little toys strewn throughout our lawn and flower beds (another eyesore we highly recommend avoiding). We found this storage container for right around $100 and it was well-worth the expense. Yes, we could have designed and built a storage system to meet our own custom specs, but we were lucky enough to find something off the shelf that adequately satisfied our needs.
We’ll admit it’s not a perfect setup, but for every home improvement project we choose to pursue we always do a cost-benefit analysis in our minds that’s considers the value of our time. With or without children, we recommend you do the same – as much fun as it may be to tackle something like an outdoor storage unit, it’s often much more valuable to spend that time playing with your kids, or on a date with your wife!
DIY Baby Blog aims to give and take great DIY tips, but we also want to learn how to create a better family life balance. At the end of the day, learning how to store large toys is trivial in comparison to learning how to grow as a family. Nevertheless, we want to hear from you! Please share your stories about living with your large, obnoxious, eyesore toys and what you’re doing to prevent them from taking over your house.
